Goldman Sachs leveraging revamp to boost Asia investment banking share, says regional top banker

HONG KONG: Goldman Sachs will leverage a major revamp in Asia to capture a larger share of the investment banking market and capitalize on “strong tailwinds”, the Wall Street bank’s newly appointed regional investment banking chief told Reuters.

Since September 2024, the bank has unified its merger and acquisition (M&A) teams, combined financial and strategic investor units and introduced a capital solutions group in the region, before merging three investment banking businesses and appointing Iain Drayton to head the integrated regional franchise last month.

The 19-year Goldman veteran, speaking for the first time since the revamp, said the regional integration is seen as a way to “expand the overall commercial opportunity in Asia-Pacific”.

“By operating as a unified APAC platform, we can provide broader insights, more seamless execution, and deeper, regionally coordinated coverage,” he said.

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Before the revamp, Goldman Sachs’ investment banking businesses in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and the rest of Asia were separately operated.

Drayton, who previously led the Asia operations excluding Japan, said there has been a clear pickup in large-scale M&A and a meaningful uptick in equity capital markets activity across the region following the integration.

“On an APAC basis, we’re seeing some strong tailwinds at the moment — quite a contrast to the headwinds that defined the past two to three years,” Drayton said.

“Market sentiment, investor engagement, and transaction momentum are all moving in a more constructive direction.”

Wall Street banks have voiced concerns over delays for deals as U.S. tariff policies roiled markets and stalled activity.

But dealmaking has resumed and markets have stabilised in Asia in recent weeks, with investors poised to deploy capital where valuations are compelling, Drayton said.

Goldman Sachs ranked top in Asia Pacific’s equity capital markets league table this year as of Monday, having worked on $12 billion worth of such deals, ahead of rivals JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley, data from Dealogic showed.

The bank placed third in announced M&A, advising on $111 billion of deals, trailing Nomura Holdings and Morgan Stanley, the data showed.