Goldman Poaches ex-McKinsey Boss to Bolster Asia Business

Kevin Sneader, a former McKinsey executive, has been hired as Goldman Sachs' co-president for Asia-Pacific, months after he was fired from the top post at the global consulting firm.

Sneader will assist in the day-to-day administration of Goldman's activities in the area, including China, where the firm recently received regulatory clearance for a wealth management joint venture with ICBC, one of China's major banks.

"Kevin's worldwide and Asian expertise, as well as his extensive contacts with global and Asian customers in numerous industries, will be invaluable as we implement our plan", according to David Solomon, Goldman's CEO.

Beginning in November, Sneader will join Todd Leland as Goldman's co-president in the area, located in Hong Kong. Richard Gnodde, the CEO of Goldman Sachs International, who controls the bank's activities outside of North America, will be his boss.

“It's especially thrilling to be joining at a time when managing Asia's complexity and seizing its potential has never been more critical for clients inside and beyond the region,” Sneader said.

Last year, one of Goldman's Asian subsidiaries pled guilty to bribery charges as part of a $2.9 billion worldwide settlement with regulators over the 1MDB money-laundering affair.

Sneader, who was born in Scotland, served as the Asia-Pacific chair of McKinsey for four years until being named global managing partner in 2018. He was instrumental in establishing McKinsey as the largest of the global consulting companies in China and throughout a region that the industry still considers to be one of its most potential development areas.

In February, he was defeated for re-election as McKinsey's global managing partner, making him the first individual in that position since 1976 to serve only one three-year term.

The firm's 650 senior partners voted on Sneader's handling of various issues, including US lawsuits over the consultancy's guidance to opioid makers and its work in authoritarian nations.

Sneader took over as CEO of McKinsey as the firm dealt with the repercussions from a South African corruption scandal, and moved rapidly to tighten internal risk controls, be more careful about which customers it took on, and apologize for behavior that he described as "arrogant or irresponsible."