Goldman Sachs hires ousted McKinsey head Kevin Sneader for top Asia-Pacific role
- Kevin Sneader will serve as co-president for Asia-Pacific, excluding Japan
- Sneader was not reelected as McKinsey’s global managing partner in February
Sneader, 54, joins Goldman after 32 years at McKinsey and will serve alongside Todd Leland. He will relocate to Hong Kong later this year after being based here from 1996 to 1998 and from 2014 to 2020.
In his new role, Sneader will be responsible for overseeing Goldman’s ambitious expansion plans in the region, particularly in China. He will also serve on Goldman’s management committee.
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Asia accounted for 14 per cent of Goldman’s revenue in 2020, or US$6.2 billion, and 3 per cent of its pre-tax profit, or US$419 million.
“It is particularly exciting to be joining at a time when tackling the complexity and capturing the opportunities of Asia have never been more important for clients inside and outside the region,” Sneader said.
Goldman is among a group of foreign banks, insurers and asset managers that are taking advantage of rule changes allowing them to seek full control of joint ventures and acquire new licences as China further opens up its financial sector.
Sneader joined McKinsey in London in 1989, working in Asia, Europe and the US in various roles. He was managing partner of the firm’s United Kingdom and Ireland business, and later led its Asian offices from 2014 to 2018, where he helped oversee McKinsey’s expansion in the region.
He was named global managing partner for McKinsey in 2018, but was not re-elected as the consulting firm’s top executive in February. He was the first person in more than four decades to serve just one three-year term as managing partner.
The move to replace Sneader at McKinsey followed his efforts to resolve a series of scandals that enveloped the firm, including a more than US$600 million settlement with state prosecutors over its work with opioid manufacturers in which he issued a personal apology.
