Long-time syndicate manager Richard Kolman will step down from his position at Goldman, Sachs & Co. by the end of the year, the company has confirmed. He is departing after 29 years with the company. Ed Droesch, formerly a managing director and head muni underwriter at Citigroup Investment Banking, will succeed Kolman, sources said. It is a return of sorts for Droesch, who was in charge of underwriting competitive deals for Goldman before he left in 1996 to lead all muni underwriting at Smith Barney Inc., which later became part of Citigroup.Droesch has already left Citigroup and will start his new job at Goldman after Labor Day, once he has completed his “gardening leave,” sources said. These periods of leave are commonly required of managing directors who leave their firms for a competitor.Kolman will continue as head underwriter at Goldman until Droesch arrives. He will then assist with the transition period until he leaves. Kolman’s plans for after he leaves Goldman are unknown at this time.Droesch took over as syndicate manager at Smith Barney amid a sensitive time for the desk. He replaced Brian Austin, who had died suddenly the month before — just a day after being named William Gottdenker’s successor as head of the desk.In 1996, Goldman was the most active underwriter of muni bonds, senior managing 283 deals worth a combined $19.6 billion, according to Thomson Financial. Citigroup’s predecessor firms were a close second, running the books on 522 deals worth a combined $19.56 billion.These numbers reveal a difference in strategies that continues to today. While Citigroup does lots of volume through managing lots of deals — both large and small — Goldman tends to focus on managing larger deals, but fewer of them.Citigroup and its predecessors have been the top muni underwriter every year since then, though. During that period, Goldman has ranked as high as third — in 1997 — on underwriting league tables and as low as 10th — in 2005.Thomson’s data shows that Citigroup has so far remained in the top spot again this year, managing $35.3 billion through the beginning of this week. Goldman is on pace to be the eighth-busiest underwriter, having managed $11.1 billion.While Goldman is known for resisting the some of the leadership stratification that exists in other shops, Kolman is a long-time managing director and was named a co-head of municipal finance in 2000.The firm has since reorganized the department, and Tracy Wolstencroft was last spring named head of a newly expanded group that would also focus on infrastructure finance and public-private partnerships.Goldman also confirmed yesterday that Donna Garban, formerly head of their municipal money markets group, left the firm at the beginning of this month. She wanted to spend more time with her family, the company said. Managing director Hector Negroni has taken up Garban’s duties, said spokesman Michael DuVally. Negroni was recently promoted as Goldman’s new head of municipal trading when his predecessor, John Willian, took another, non-muni position within Goldman.
