<p>For each one, can someone give a real definition for what each of the departments do? The more frank and possibly non-PC the better. "Innovative investment solutions" doesn't explain anything. I want to hear something like "this dept is usually math majors who don't need social skills" and "people in this department come from all different backgrounds, and this is what they need to be successful," etc. </p>
<p>Shouldn't be too tough for someone with knowledge of the company. Thanks.</p>
<p>Investment banking in a nutshell is a department that raises capital through IPO’s or issuing debt and also helps oversee and facilitates mergers & acquisitions.</p>
<p>Finance: Internal finance (budgeting, accounting… what you’d think of as normal corporate finance)… Lower risk, lower reward, more conventional finance position.</p>
<p>Securities: Sales & Trading and maybe they also throw capital markets in there. Primary origination (capital markets) and secondary trading (sales & trading) in securities (Equities, Fixed Income, etc). Fast paced work environment, though most of the characteristics depends on different specifics (Sales vs Trading, Fixed Income vs Equity, Product area). I know most about this so feel free to ask.</p>
<p>Merchant Banking/PE: This is one of the ways that GS takes positions for itself in various companies, real estate, etc. Also does it on the behalf of clients. I may be wrong but I don’t think they generally higher undergrad directly into this group, I think it is a lot of the top talent in the bank.</p>
<p>PureAdvisory you must have the worst attitude on this whole board. I always see you commenting, but its never anythign useful. Try giving constructive criticism rather than just slamming on others…</p>
<p>BK22889, do you work at GS? It seems like you’re confused a bit about how Goldman operates. Your point may be valid, but for the most part capital raising is done outside of the Securities division.</p>
<p>At GS, capital raising is done in the Financing Group, which sits in IBD, not Securities. GS Securities has a myriad of sales and trading desks, as well as a few principalling desks. The division is first split into FICC and Equities. Then, it is split into products (Macro, Delta One, corporate solutions, equity derivatives, credit, etc.). These products are then further split into sales and trading (granted, some products have sales people but don’t have traders and vice versa - this depends on the product). Within the trading of these products, it is split further into agency/flow trading and proprietary trading (though, not all desks have a prop function). The main principalling desks at GS are the following: SSG and GSPS, the former sitting in FICC and the latter sitting in Equities. Both of these groups use Goldman capital to invest across a variety of strategies, including distressed, illiquids, event-driven, and public/private. Obviously, SSG and GSPS are different from GS PIA (which sits in Merchant Banking) in that they don’t invest through a fund structure on behalf of institutional clients. They are referred to as principal desks because these groups have an enormous exposure to principal risk. These are NOT the only two principal groups in Securities; there are a few other “secret” and mysterious principal groups with very interesting mandates.</p>
<p>C-Revs, you wrote the following:</p>
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<p>Just wanted to clarify that GS does NOT take principal positions through it’s merchant banking division. MB, by definition, implies investing client money. PIA has taken interns and analysts out of college in the past, although historically it has been very difficult to do so. </p>
<p>I would also disagree with the notion that “a lot of the top talent in the bank” is in MB. If you look at the senior guys at Goldman, they were all in some way connected with Securities (Blankfein, Viniar, Holmes, Evans, etc.). More importantly, Goldman Sachs as a firm prides itself on having talent across the board, and not just in one concentrated division. If you think PIA is where all the revenues come from and that the top talent is all there, you don’t know how Goldman runs its businesses. That’s not a jab at you because most people don’t know.</p>
<p>If anyone has any questions about Goldman Sachs, or investment banking/S&T in general, feel free to ask me.</p>
<p>That was just the impression I got from my good friend who started in a very selective part of ibd and moved over after becoming an associate. Of course maybe they were misleading me a little bit haha.</p>
<p>“Just wanted to clarify that GS does NOT take principal positions through it’s merchant banking division.”</p>
<p>I thought typically the GP needs to put a certain percentage of the AUM along with the LPs in funds. Or are you referring to 100% GS capital in the fund?</p>
<p>I have interned at Goldman in the securities division. I completely agree that most is done outside the securities division, but there is at least one desk that I know of that handles it from within.</p>
<p>Not necessarily, although it’s common. At GS, there’s a big difference between principal investing (ex. Securitives Division - SSG) and fund investing (ex. Merchant Banking Division - PIA). PIA guys don’t have “principal” risk in the same sense SSG does.</p>