Goldman Sachs

Manager: Lloyd Blankfein
Age: 52
Appointed: 2006
Value added: 49.3% pa (1st)
Chop rating: 0/5

Blankfein has the job that everybody wanted. Goldman is at the top of its game. But it’s a big jump from the coach’s bench to the manager’s office. Can he cope with the pressure and keep clients happy in the face of Goldman’s win-at-all-costs tactics?

Star players:
Gary Cohn and Jon Winkelried, co-presidents, have stepped into Blankfein’s boots easily and helped steer the firm to its best ever year

Rising star: Michael Sherwood, co-global head of securities and co-CEO of Goldman Sachs in London. Woody famously ran the firm’s European debt syndicate desk at the tender age of 24 and has been around for so long its hard to think of him as a rising star, but he is still only 40. Could he be the first Brit to be CEO?

Weakest link: Where? For some time it has had a very different formation to other firms that others are now trying to copy. But can you do it without the best talent pool? The relative weakness in bond and securitized product origination could be a concern if playing conditions change dramatically.