Scavengers and scratchers of value
When American investment banks began pouring into east Asia back in the early 1990s, they were greeted with considerable scepticism - for good reason. After all, Wall Street's powerhouses had turned bullish about Asia's prospects several times in the past, only to cut and run when the region failed to live up to their exaggerated expectations. And when that doyen of Wall Street firms, Goldman Sachs, which had doubled the size of its Hong Kong headquarters between 1993 and 1994, pared its headcount by almost half following the emerging market rout in early 1995, cynics felt more than vindicated.
What a difference three years makes - at least for Goldman, which has shed its carpetbagger image and become one of Asia's solid citizens. Indeed, around Asia these days, Goldman is held up as a paragon of commitment.
Send in the Green Berets
Much of the credit for this turnround goes to Henry Cornell, who runs the firm's Asian direct-investment operation, based in Hong Kong. Cornell, a 41-year-old Goldman partner renowned for his no-nonsense style, commands the kind of loyalty most Hong Kong executives can only dream about.