Goldman Sachs President Harvey Schwartz on Mentorship, Markets and More

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Harvey Schwartz traces his rise from a difficult New Jersey upbringing and near-miss college path to senior leadership at Goldman Sachs, emphasizing how mentors, persistence, and willingness to take risks shaped his career. He also discusses leadership, technology-driven change, client growth challenges, and why low rates and quantitative easing have reshaped markets.

Main Topics: Personal origin story and resilience (Priority: 5/5): Schwartz describes losing his mother at 14, struggling through high school, and taking an unintended year off before college. His path was redirected by a mentor at the gym, Linda, whose advocacy helped get him admitted to Rutgers. Rutgers as a turning point (Priority: 5/5): At Rutgers, Schwartz discovered he liked learning, gravitated toward economics, and began building confidence. He also frames Rutgers as a mission-driven institution serving many first-generation and financially assisted students. Career path through Citibank and Goldman Sachs (Priority: 5/5): He explains that his career was not linear or preplanned, moving from back office to credit analysis, risk management, commodities, FX, fixed income sales, banking, securities, and eventually CFO before becoming president and co-COO. Leadership, mentoring, and taking risks on people (Priority: 5/5): Schwartz argues that real leadership means investing in people, understanding their strengths and weaknesses, and taking risks to stretch them. He says effective mentoring is built on trust, support, and mutual responsibility. Martial arts, persistence, and confidence (Priority: 4/5): He recounts how karate taught him persistence through repetition rather than toughness alone. The lesson of practicing a difficult punch until it became a strength parallels how he approaches work and stress. Client challenges, growth, and technology disruption (Priority: 5/5): Schwartz says clients are primarily struggling to create growth in a slow-growth global economy, while technology is disrupting industries like retail and forcing firms to rethink delivery models. Goldman is investing heavily in engineering and online consumer lending through Marcus. Market outlook: monetary policy, inflation, and volatility (Priority: 4/5): He highlights the surprise dominance of monetary policy and quantitative easing over fiscal policy after the financial crisis, along with unexpectedly low inflation and low volatility. He sees this as a structural market shift rather than complacency.

Key Arguments: A mentor’s willingness to take risk on a young person can change that person’s life trajectory, as Linda did for Schwartz by pushing Rutgers to reconsider his application. Leadership is not just authority or certainty; it is the willingness to invest in people, understand their capabilities, and help them grow through stretch opportunities. Career paths are often unpredictable and non-linear; success comes from being open to opportunities and learning from transitions rather than following a fixed plan. Discomfort and insecurity can be productive if paired with persistence, as shown by Schwartz’s experience in martial arts and later in leadership roles. For clients, the central challenge in today’s economy is growth, especially in a low-rate, low-top-line-growth environment. Technology is a long-term secular force that is changing industries, client behavior, and Goldman Sachs’ own business model, including consumer lending. The most surprising market development has been the scale and duration of quantitative easing, which has helped stabilize economies while suppressing inflation and volatility.

Data Points: Age when his mother died: 14 - Schwartz says his mother passed away when he was 14, which destabilized his adolescence. Years at Citibank: 1989 to 1997 - He worked at Citibank before joining Goldman Sachs. Year he joined Goldman Sachs: 1997 - Schwartz says he showed up at Goldman Sachs in 1997 without a prescribed path. Year he became CFO: 2012 - He notes he became Goldman Sachs’ CFO in 2012. Estimated share of Goldman resources that are engineers: more than 25% - Schwartz says technology talent now represents over a quarter of the firm’s resources. Rutgers undergraduate population: nearly 50,000 - He cites Rutgers’ scale as part of its mission. Rutgers students receiving financial assistance: approximately 80% - Used to illustrate Rutgers’ access-oriented mission. Rutgers first-generation college students: 20% - He notes one in five undergraduates are first in their family to attend college. U.S. GDP growth: around 3% - He references current growth as stronger than in the immediate post-crisis period. Europe GDP growth: around 3% - He groups Europe with the U.S. as improving but still moderate growth. China growth: close to 7% - He mentions China as still growing strongly despite global concerns. Time for morning routine: 18 to 20 minutes - In the lightning round, Schwartz says he gets ready for work quickly.

Pivotal Quotes: "“It’s people’s willingness to take risk investing in other people that is the defining characteristic of an effective mentor.”" — Harvey Schwartz: On what makes mentorship meaningful and why Linda’s intervention mattered so much. "“It’s okay to make a mistake.”" — Lloyd: Advice Schwartz received when he was newly co-heading fixed income sales and hesitant to act. "“You don’t have to do that punch. And you can also be a white belt forever.”" — Chris: Martial arts instructor’s lesson that pushed Schwartz toward persistence and repetition.

Implications: The episode frames leadership as talent development, not bravado, and suggests firms should embrace technology, adaptive career paths, and risk-taking mentorship. For listeners, it offers a model of resilience and a reminder that economic growth remains the core challenge for clients and institutions.