(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. promoted top private wealth-management executive Meena Flynn to co-lead its One Goldman Sachs initiative, a move that underscores the Wall Street giant’s effort to build out services targeting the world’s ultra-wealthy.
Flynn, who serves as global co-head of private wealth management, will additionally run One Goldman Sachs alongside co-head Sam Morgan, according to a memo to staff seen by Bloomberg News. Flynn succeeds Kim Posnett, who has held the role since 2021 and will continue in her position as global head of the technology, media and telecommunications group within global banking and markets.
The bank has been expanding its One Goldman Sachs initiative, an effort that began as a pilot program in 2019 to break down silos between product lines and increase collaboration within its businesses to provide a more streamlined service to clients. The initiative is “highly accretive” to multiple parts of its business, the bank said in its 2022 annual report.
Meena Flynn
“The success of One Goldman Sachs in the past has largely been banking and markets driven, which has been very important for the firm,” Goldman Sachs President John Waldron said in an interview. “But this new iteration is about trying to improve the synergies between banking and markets, and asset and wealth management. We’re adding Meena because she reflects our investment in asset and wealth management.”
Flynn, who is also a member of the operating group for wealth management, is one of only a handful of female executives who run a revenue-producing unit at the company. Beth Hammack, once seen as a top choice to become the next chief financial officer, is leaving after 30 years at the Wall Street giant, people with knowledge of the matter said earlier this month.
Read More: Goldman’s Beth Hammack, Set to Crack Top Ranks, Is Leaving
Goldman is seeking to expand its private wealth-management unit as part of a strategy outlined by Chief Executive Officer David Solomon to make it less reliant on volatile trading revenue. The asset- and wealth-management division posted revenue of $4.39 billion in the fourth quarter, up 23% from a year earlier.
“The ability to connect within the division and across the firm will better serve our clients in a multitude of ways,” Flynn said in an interview. “It’s about scale of the infrastructure, education and then execution.”
Flynn said she plans to gather feedback from across the firm about what’s working and what’s not, and then educate people so they understand the various solutions the bank has to offer.
Flynn, who joined the New York-based company in 2000, was named managing director in 2008 and partner in 2014. She will also continue in her role co-leading the One Goldman Sachs Family Office initiative in the Americas, according to the memo.
“Meena is a long-standing senior partner of the firm — we always viewed her as a very effective client-centric person,” Waldron said. “She did an exceptional job driving the family office initiative and she’s the perfect person for this initiative.”
