Gary Cohn, (left) President and Chief Operating Officer of The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., is photographed with Jack Curtin, head of Goldman Sachs in Canada, on March 27 2014.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
One of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s most experienced bankers is set to retire after almost four decades at the firm, most recently as head of the Canadian branch of the famed securities firm.
Goldman said in an internal memo that Jack Curtin, the chairman and chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs Canada, will step down at the end of the year. The firm is bringing home an experienced Canadian, Peter Enns, to take his place.
Mr. Curtin has been at Goldman for 38 years, and is one of the most seasoned bankers the firm has anywhere. He grew up near New York, and his first job at Goldman was as a messenger, ferrying securities as well as laundry and mail for senior executives.
He is one of only two Goldman partners remaining who achieved partnership during the 1980s, according to Bloomberg News. The other is Goldman chief executive officer Lloyd Blankfein.
Mr. Curtin has served twice as head of the firm's Canadian operations. He ran them in the late 1990s, then returned to the job in 2010. In his most recent stint, Goldman has expanded in key areas such as energy and its ability to advise Canada's busy pension funds.
Where once Goldman had more of a "suitcase banking" style, with personnel flying in from New York when needed, the firm now numbers about 75 homegrown professionals in Canada. In addition to investment bankers, the firm runs a large portion of its North American oil and gas trading from Calgary.
Goldman "has become a fairly firm fixture in the Canadian financial services landscape," Mr. Curtin said in an interview.
In his time at the firm, he has seen Goldman change significantly. The firm expanded from focusing on investment banking and trading for clients to a wider business that included trading for its own accounts. It is now shifting back as regulatory changes force banks out of many proprietary trading businesses.
"We're migrating back in a way to what the firm looked like before," he said.
Mr. Curtin has spent so much time in Toronto that he is now a landed immigrant, and he expects to remain in the city, though with a little more time for his hobby of sailing. After his retirement, he will remain as an advisory director, enabling him to help Goldman retain ties to key clients.
"Jack has helped to shape and define our franchise in Canada. Under his leadership, the firm has grown steadily in Canada, serving the country's most important corporations, governments, institutional investors and high net worth individuals," said the internal memo, which was signed by Goldman co-heads of investment banking Richard Gnodde, David Solomon and John Weinberg.
Mr. Curtin's next job will be helping to get Mr. Enns settled. The incoming head of Goldman Sachs in Canada has been working in Hong Kong leading the firm's efforts to do business for financial institutions in Asia.
Mr. Enns already has some of the most important relationships he will need in Canada, having covered the country's banks and insurance companies before moving to Hong Kong.
Mr. Enns joined Goldman in 1996. He was named a partner 10 years later. He worked in New York on the financial institutions team. In 2010, he took the role of head of the financial institutions group in the Asia Pacific region, with the exception of Japan.
"Peter will continue to define and focus our strategy so that we are identifying the best opportunities for growth and building upon our strong client franchise in Canada," Goldman said in its internal announcement.
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