Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein Sees Signs of Improving Economy
May 20 2016 - 10:14AM
Dow Jones News
By Justin Baer
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s chairman and chief executive said he
sees signs that economic growth is accelerating, evidence that
should improve conditions for many of the Wall Street firm's
businesses.
Federal Reserve officials recently indicated that the central
bank could raise interest rates sooner than the market expects, and
"underlining that is the feeling that the economy is starting to
accelerate at a faster rate," Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's top
executive, said Friday during Goldman's annual shareholders meeting
in Jersey City, N.J.
"We see the same things they must be seeing," Mr. Blankfein
said, noting how economic and political uncertainty has dented
corporate and investor confidence in the past year. That weakened
trading activity, and slowed the pace of deal-making and
investing.
An advisory vote on Goldman's executive-pay practices received
the support of investors holding about 66% of the firm's
shares.
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis, two top
proxy advisers, had recommended shareholders vote against the
nonbinding measure on Goldman's executive-pay policies.
Goldman paid Mr. Blankfein $23 million for his work in 2015,
down from $24 million the previous year.
"Total CEO pay declined by only 4% and remained relatively high
despite lagging company performance," ISS wrote in a report.
ISS also recommended voting against the election of Lakshmi
Mittal. Mr. Mittal, chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal, serves on
more than three public-company boards, the proxy firm said. Mr.
Mittal, along with the other directors, was re-elected on
Friday.
Goldman's annual shareholder meeting was held at the firm's
office tower in Jersey City, a short ferry ride across the Hudson
River from its downtown Manhattan headquarters.
Goldman had used recent meeting locations to showcase its growth
and operations in other part of the country: Salt Lake City;
Irving, Texas; and San Francisco.
The meeting's return to Jersey City, home to a range of
revenue-generating and support activities, follows a quiet build of
its workforce in what is remains the tallest building in New
Jersey. The firm ended 2015 with more than 3,000 employees based in
the office tower, up from some 2,700 a year earlier, a person
familiar with the matter said.
Write to Justin Baer at justin.baer@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 20, 2016 09:59 ET (13:59 GMT)
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