By Catherine Ngai
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc (NYSE:GS) is creating a new commodities finance team that will move staff from the securities division into the investment banking division, according to an internal memo on Monday.
Colleen Foster, global head of commodities sales, will lead the new team, called "commodity finance solutions," the memo said. Her group will work closely with existing teams inside Goldman's investment bank that sell derivatives and structured finance products, with the goal of drumming up more business from corporations.
Goldman, the fifth largest U.S. bank, has been trying to turn around its commodities unit after posting one of its worst years on record. Top executives, including Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein, have told investors they are looking to increase trading revenue by leveraging the relationships investment bankers already have with corporate clients.
"We've underutilized the power of our leading investment banking franchise to serve as a risk manager and liquidity provider to more companies," Blankfein told investors in a presentation last month. [nL2N1Q30H6]
A joint venture between Goldman's investment banking and trading units has generated 16 new commodity-related transactions since the fall, Blankfein said.