Goldman Sachs Resignation Letter

This resignation letter masking as an Op-ed piece is on the front page of the New York Times today.  The author takes Goldman Sachs to task for losing its traditional client centric focus and becoming more interested in how it can make money off of its clients instead of helping them.  The article really doesn't lend itself to an excerpt but I think it is an important piece and should be read.  I will however quote one sentence out of the story. "It astounds me how little senior management gets a basic truth: If clients don’t trust you they will eventually stop doing business with you. It doesn’t matter how smart you are."  This quote bothered me because it seems that too often the major investment houses never seem to understand this basic tenant.  Trust is my business is our major stock in trade.  Sadly Goldman seems to be succumbing to the same philosophy that has been tearing the fabric of the investment business apart for the past 15 years.

In my days as a broker working for three different investment houses I had an annual meeting at the end of each year with my boss.  These would be reviews of how I'd performed and what my goals were for the upcoming year.  I always had bosses that were interested in my production {how much I had produced in sales commissions} and how many new accounts I thought I could open in the next year.  I never had a boss ask me about the performance for my clients or how they had done that year.  Goldman used to seem to me to be above that.  No it seems they are the same as everybody else.