Goldman Sachs exec Chris Kojima to leave

1:14 pm Tuesday, October 03rd, 2023

By Saeed Azhar

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Chris Kojima, a Goldman Sachs executive in the asset and wealth management unit, will leave the investment bank at year-end after almost 28 years, an internal memo seen by Reuters on Tuesday showed.

Kojima co-heads Goldman’s client solutions group, which handles sales and client service for pensions and institutions.

He will join private equity firm General Atlantic in early 2024, two sources familiar with the matter said. GA, which invests in high-growth businesses, manages $77 billion in assets, according to its website.

Kojima is among the latest high-profile executives to leave Goldman’s asset and wealth management division, which manages $2.7 trillion in assets. Julian Salisbury, the former chief investment officer of asset and wealth management, left earlier this year to join investment firm Sixth Street.

Other prominent exits from the unit include Mike Koester, who retired after serving as co-president of alternative investments. Jo Natauri, the Wall Street bank’s head of healthcare investing, also is leaving at the end of the year.

Matt Gibson, appointed to co-lead the client business with Kojima in 2023, will assume full responsibility for the unit. He reports to Marc Nachmann, head of the asset and wealth management unit.

“Chris founded and led businesses that are incredibly important to Goldman Sachs, and our business today is stronger because of his leadership,” Nachmann said in a statement.

Kojima’s also has served as global head of Goldman’s alternative investments and manager selection group, now called the external investment group. He led that business from its inception in 2008 to 2019.

He first joined Goldman Sachs as an investment banking associate in 1995, and was named managing director in 2002 and a partner in 2008.

“I’m looking forward to a long relationship with Goldman Sachs as an alumnus, client, and advocate,” Kojima said in an email to Reuters, signaling he may join a firm that works with the investment bank.

(This story has been corrected to change the date of Matt’s role to 2023, not late 2022, in paragraph 6)

(Reporting by Saeed Azhar; Editing by Louise Heavens, Lananh Nguyen, Paul Simao and Richard Chang)