The Other Side
Of the Street
Their titles may be different, but these investment bankers, card
executives, fund managers and private-equity investors are under the
same pressures as their banking counterparts—and are meeting the
challenges head on.
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“”The business I represent has had a record year...though it is not something we celebrate given what has gone on in the industry. Stacy Bash-Polley GOLDMAN SACHS
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1 NICOLE ARNABOLDI
VICE CHAIRMAN//ALTERNATIVE INVESTMENTS OF
CREDIT SUISSE
Nicole Arnaboldi, vice chairman of alternative investments of Credit Suisse, has long hewed to a belief that
bear markets often present the best opportunities to generate profits.
This past year didn’t quite shape up that way, given a
portfolio writedown in line with markets that Arnaboldi
says was “not fun.” But one challenging year hasn’t shaken
her belief that there are opportunities aplenty while financial markets are still in the process of returning to a sense
of equilibrium.
To position the group to take advantage of those expected opportunities, Credit Suisse has expanded the asset
management distribution team with the appointment of 18
new professionals around the world. “That’s a huge investment to make in this environment,” Arnaboldi says. “We
want to invest for the future. People are going to continue
to put capital in alternative investments; we’re going to
continue to grow, and we want the best team of people to
build relationships with key clients on a global basis.”
Also, the group has launched several new funds over
the past year, some of which exploit niche markets, such
as leveraged senior loans and preferred REIT stock, and
some of which target markets that have held up fairly well,
such as Swiss real estate.
Notwithstanding a big rebound in the credit markets
over the past few months, Arnaboldi says, “there are still
dislocations that create market opportunities—they aren’t
over yet.”—Allison Bisbey Colter
2 STACY BASH-POLLEY
PARTNER/MANAGING DIRECTOR//GOLDMAN SACHS
& CO.
At a time when Wall Street firms have had few success stories either in relative or absolute terms, the accomplishments of Goldman Sachs’ fixed-income sales unit stood
out in terms both qualitative and quantitative.
“I can say publicly that the business I represent has had
a record year,” Goldman partner and managing director
Stacy Bash-Polley says. “I feel very proud of this accomplishment, though it is not something we celebrate given
what has gone on in the industry.”
Interaction, both external and internal, were a key to
achieving that success, says Bash-Polley, who co-heads
fixed income sales at the firm. At the height of the finan-
cial crisis, Goldman’s senior leadership stepped up internal communications, always keeping the tone “calm and
reassuring.” Lunches for managers, meetings with sales
teams, and plenty of time on the trading floor all went into
the mix.
Bash-Polley also made structural changes, such as
pulling sales people outside of product silos. “I wanted to
think through the boundaries around products, think the
way clients were thinking.”
“Stacy has led the sales business during extraordinary
times—keeping her people focused, motivated and positioned to deliver outstanding results,” says Harvey
Schwartz, co-head of Goldman’s securities division “She
has a unique ability to think qualitatively about our industry and client landscape.”—Joseph Rosta
3 CHRISTINA GOLD
PRESIDENT AND CEO//WESTERN UNION
Western Union has long been synonymous with consumer
money transfers, but Christina Gold, its president and
chief executive officer, is determined to expand the company’s repertoire deeper into the global payments space.
Its latest deal, a $370 million acquisition of Custom
House Ltd., a Canadian business-to-business payments
outfit, gives Western Union 40,000 new business customers whose payments average $25,000 per transaction.
Though profits were down the past two quarters,
Western Union generated more than $600 million in cash
flow from operations in the first six months of 2009, and
posted $1.3 billion in revenues for the most recent quarter,
according to Gold. “While many other companies are cutting
back and curtailing their investments right now,” she says,
“we’re well-positioned to deliver on our strategic priorities.”
One of those priorities for the money-transfer giant:
mobile money transfers for consumers. Gold says that
Western Union has seen “great progress this year” in its
pilot program, particularly in traditionally underbanked
countries like Kenya, where six million now conduct
banking services through their mobile phones on Western
Union’s service.
A one-time president of Avon North America, Gold
joined Western Union in 2002 from Excel
Communications, where she was president and CEO.
Stewart Stockdale, executive vice president and president
of the Americas for Western Union, credits Gold for leading Western Union’s worldwide growth and expansion
into new channels, including banking and prepaid.
