Goldman Sachs has been expanding the number of its employees at locations other than New York and San Francisco for some time now. While the primary motivation is to cut costs, its offices in Texas are also home to business units that boost revenue.
The Goldman Sachs Dallas and Irving offices have a combined headcount of more than 1,000 employees. Taken together, Dallas/Irving is the seventh-largest location globally and is the firm’s third-largest office located in the U.S., behind New York/New Jersey and Salt Lake City.
But while Salt Lake City primarily houses support functions, 13 of its 16 divisions – including investment banking and securities – are represented in Dallas/Irving. One of the largest divisions there, however, is realty management, which works with the investment banking, securities and investment management divisions on everything from real estate loans on commercial and residential property to sourcing deals in the hospitality sector.
“The firm’s offices in Texas – Dallas, Irving and Houston – are an important part of our global footprint,” said Thomas Dowling, the head of Irving office and CEO of the realty-management division at Goldman Sachs. “In Dallas and Irving, key revenue-producing roles reside in investment management, investment banking and securities,” he said.
Dallas/Irving offices provide expertise in real estate, lending, wealth management, equity sales and risk management.
“Irving is also home to a number of finance, operations and technology professionals who play important roles in the firm’s lending, control and risk management functions,” Dowling said.
Recruitment for revenue-producing jobs
Irving was a natural place to establish a Goldman Sachs office because it was already seeded by a significant number of employees from Archon Group, a former wholly owned subsidiary of the firm. Archon was integrated in 2012 into various divisions across the firm, and a hiring push commenced almost immediately thereafter.
While the Texas office is important for Goldman Sachs, current recruitment is primarily focused on New York and Salt Lake City. Of the 265 live roles in the Americas currently, just 21 are in Dallas/Irving. Nonetheless, Dowling says it’s a focus of recruitment at the bank – both at a graduate and experienced level.
“For campus roles, the fall semester is where we concentrate on the recruitment process,” Dowling says. “While many of our campus recruiting efforts are focused on Texas-based schools, we look for talent across the U.S.”
Last year, Goldman hired students from schools in the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest and Northeast regions and lured them to Texas.
At the experienced level, Goldman recruits throughout the year. Most, predictably, are sourced from the local market, but Dowling insists it’s a desirable location.
“Although the majority of lateral hires are from within Texas, we are experiencing increased interest in relocating to Texas given its many advantages,” Dowling says.
New hires have relocated to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex from states such as New York, Florida and Virginia last year.
Why Goldman Sachs is growing in Texas
One of the main functions of the Dallas/Irving office is to support for lending, wealth management, real estate investing and risk management. Goldman has previously stated its desire to become more of a regular ‘bank’ and it has been hiring for investing and lending across multiple locations. In a November presentation, CFO Harvey Schwartz revealed that 41% of Goldman’s lending activity went to large corporates and 31% went to rich individuals. Of these, 28% were residential mortgages.
“Our strengths play well into the firm’s strategy to enhance its position as a bank,” Dowling says.
The Dallas region has become the centralized hub for the private bank, with the Dallas and Houston private bank loan book more than doubling since the end of 2012.
“The region offers a growing economy and access to a robust and diverse talent market,” Dowling claims. “Given the high growth rate of the Texas population, there is a large talent base for skilled professionals.
Realty-management recruitment a priority
The realty-management division is currently looking to hire professionals to work in the Irving office with expertise in commercial real estate, construction, hotels, multi-family lending and pooled loans. Dowling says that as well as analytical and communication skills they also look for “enthusiasm and intellectual curiosity”.
That, and an interest in real estate investments and the financial markets, of course.
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