Is Morgan Stanley the new Goldman Sachs?

It seems like Goldman Sachs has lost most if not all of its special reputation and prestige - especially recently given what is happening with their new CEO and the fact that they tend to be on the low end of compensation these days. As opposed to Morgan Stanley which pays the most out of the BB's in terms of compensation (at least for junior level) and that is now seen in a very positive light by most.

Would I be right in saying that? Or has Goldman Sachs still preserved some of its past aura? 

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I think perhaps this is just more related to the rise of boutiques. JPM and BAC will always be bulge brackets because they have a giant balance sheet behind them. I know some WSOer elitists will say "but but that isn't REAL IB", I mean cool story, I don't think they care when they cash their bonus check lol. But as far as pure advisory, if a team of solid bankers doesn't necessarily need to lead with capital and a balance sheet, what is to prevent them from taking their talents over to Centerview or Moelis, or starting their own thing like how some Qatalyst partners just launched their own firm Axom? If it's all about advisory and relationships, do bankers really need the umbrella of a Goldman or Morgan Stanley? If they lead with capital then yes, but the umbrella will be JPM or BAC.

 

I get what you mean. But I was more strictly speaking about the reputation of the firm. Goldman Sachs is not what is used to be on the street, nobody respects it more than the other banks anymore. If anything, the huge amount of MD's and Partners leaving the Goldman recently should give us an indication that the firm is having trouble recruiting and retaining talent. 

 


they screwed over their interns because they let HR run the show instead of bankers the past couple years, not because they don’t have great talent/brand. And while having a bunch of people with IQs 1-2 standard deviations below the talent they are supposed to be picking to do a job they themselves have never done is obviously an asinine practice (which every BB partakes in), it doesn’t reflect all that much upon the brand, especially bc MS is remedying the issue now.

 

Old folks jump ship because they will retire in the following years, so they don't have the patience to wait for a management turnaroud, but in the long-term GS will raise again on top because the culture and the values are there, in the brand, but DJ-Sol agenda is pure shit and doesn't align with what GS really is. So I think GS will get back to its real standards once the DJ- wannabe-public-company-CEO-boomer leaves his role.

incentives triumph ethics
 

These types of posts usually have a sliver of truth but are made with bad faith by trolls and interns and analysts trying to smear competitor firms. 
 

Having said that, the sliver of truth about Goldman’s IB practice is that they are less client friendly and are now short term greedy vs. the past. They have huge egos and rely on their brand instead of the practices that built it. This is working so far as the very strong brand supports and drives business from a recruiting, BD, and distribution perspective which perpetuates more business. However, in an environment with fantastic alternatives and on a long enough time horizon, I don’t see how you can be assholes forever in client services and not lose business. 

 

Guys before you give this weirdo you’re attention go look at his other posts and just recognize who you’re dealing with.

It’s not even about this specific post, I’m just recalling him going off about how he’s “dead sure he’ll be a billionaire.” I encourage you to ignore him.

 

Guys before you give this weirdo you’re attention go look at his other posts and just recognize who you’re dealing with.

It’s not even about this specific post, I’m just recalling him going off about how he’s “dead sure he’ll be a billionaire.” I encourage you to ignore him.

 

Prestige isn't something built overnight. Yes, GS has been a crapshoot as of recent, but in the end everyone knows goldman as the firm, and it takes a very long time for peoples views on something like prestige to shift

 

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