Business

Goldman Sachs names 70 new partners to 2012 class

Goldman Sachs Group Inc named 70 new partners to its 2012 partnership class, the smallest number since the investment bank went public in 1999.

Goldman’s partner naming, a relic from its past as a private investment bank, occurs every two years and is a closely watched event on Wall Street. The prior partner class in 2010 included 110 people.

Goldman has been cutting staff since last year as it looks to cut costs in a weak revenue environment and the smaller partner number is reflective of that. The investment bank tries to keep its partner pool at around 1 percent of the overall workforce, which stood at 32,600 at September 30.

Among the new partners are Russell Horwitz, who is Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein’s chief of staff; Kent Clark, an executive in the hedge fund products group of Goldman’s asset management division; and Huw Pill, Goldman’s chief European economist.

As of November 2, Goldman had 407 partners, according to a regulatory filing.