The U.S. bank is poaching from heavyweight UBS in its wealth push – the second time it has done so in less than a year.
Goldman Sachs is hiring Gabriel Aractingi as its head of private banking in the Middle East and North Africa. Aractingi, who is based in Geneva, spent the last three years in a similar role at UBS, where he is a managing director.
The hire is emblematic of the U.S. bank's ambition to power its wealth business outside of the U.S., including from Switzerland, with high-profile hires under Swiss boss and European wealth co-head Stefan Bollinger. Goldman has nabbed Lombard Odier's wealth boss Dominique Wohnlich in Switzerland for the effort as well as several UBS bankers to the ultra-rich.
Aggressive Growth Plan
Aractingi joined UBS three years ago from Investcorp Bank, a Bahrain wealth manager where he was in charge of the Saudi Arabia business. He previously held the same role at Morgan Stanley.
Goldman wants to double its headcount as well as assets under management with the Middle East wealthy, Bollinger told «Bloomberg» on Thursday. «We’re committed to an aggressive growth plan internationally and a big part of that will be in the EMEA region,» he said.
Wealth Blueprint?
The world’s largest trading house is quietly seeking to reinvent itself as a trusted wealth manager in what may be the blueprint for the private banking industry, finews.com reported last year. Goldman revived its interest in Swiss private banking in 2019, three years after halting resources to a Genevan office.
