Global Markets Institute

Abby Joseph Cohen, President

Abby is President of the Global Markets Institute and senior investment strategist. She serves on the firm’s Investment Retirement Committee. She became a partner in 1998 and has served on the Partnership Committee.

Abby joined Goldman Sachs in 1990 having specialized in quantitative strategy and economics at other major financial firms. She began her career as an economist at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, DC.

Abby’s extracurricular activities focus on education and public policy. She serves as a presidential councillor at Cornell University and on the boards of the Weill Cornell Medical College, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and the Brookings Institution. She previously served as chair of the board of the AIMR, now known as the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute, from which she received the Distinguished Service Award. Abby serves on the investment committees of Cornell University and Major League Baseball. She is on the board of the Council for Excellence in Government, the national board of the Smithsonian Institution, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Abby is a frequent guest lecturer at several universities and graduate schools of business.

Abby holds degrees in economics from Cornell University and The George Washington University. She has received three honorary doctorates, including one in engineering. Abby has been recognized as a leader in US portfolio strategy for more than 15 years, and has been ranked No. 1 by Institutional Investor magazine and Greenwich Associates. Her career is the subject of a Harvard Business School case study and a BusinessWeek cover story. She has been honored by many groups, including the Financial Women’s Association, New York Stock Exchange, the Wall Street Week Hall of Fame and leading financial publications.

Esta E. Stecher, Chair

Esta E. Stecher is executive vice president and general counsel of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and general counsel and a managing director of Goldman Sachs & Co., its US securities subsidiary.

Ms. Stecher joined Goldman Sachs in 1994 and was named partner and head of the Tax Department. In 2000 she became general counsel. In this role, she serves as counsel to the Management Committee and co-heads the global legal organization. She also co-chairs the Compensation Policy Committee and the Business Practices Committee and has senior oversight responsibility for the Tax Department. Ms. Stecher earned her J.D. degree at Columbia University.

Robert D. Hormats, Managing Director

Robert D. Hormats is Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs (International) and managing director of Goldman, Sachs & Co. He joined Goldman Sachs in 1982.

Mr. Hormats has been a visiting lecturer at Princeton University and is a member of the Board of Visitors of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Dean's Council of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Mr. Hormats' publications include Abraham Lincoln and the Global Economy; American Albatross: The Foreign Debt Dilemma; and Reforming the International Monetary System. Mr. Hormats earned a B.A. from Tufts University with a concentration in economics and political science; an M.A. and a Ph.D. in international economics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Sandra Lawson, Senior Global Economist

Sandra Lawson is the Senior Global Economist in the Global Markets Institute at Goldman Sachs. Her work focuses on long-term issues affecting economic development and the growth of capital markets. Through a monthly publication on the BRICs, Sandra has looked at these countries’ roles in global trade and commodities markets, their capital flows, infrastructure needs and environmental risks, as well as the potential for education and improved health to raise growth rates. Her other work has analyzed demographics in G7 countries, infrastructure demand in the emerging world, the growth of domestic debt markets in China and India, debt relief in sub-Saharan Africa and the impact of globalisation on multinational firms. Most recently, she has written about the growth premium that broader female education could generate in the BRICs and N-11 countries.

Sandra joined Goldman Sachs as an Equity Strategist in Hong Kong and subsequently worked as an Economist in London and New York before joining the Global Markets Institute in May 2008. She has degrees from the Yale Law School and Dartmouth College.

Michael Moran, Vice President

Michael has been a member of Global Investment Research since 1999. Michael focuses on accounting/regulatory issues, specifically addressing their impact on financial results. Recent areas of research focus include pension and postretirement liabilities, earnings quality, environmental liabilities, and financial reporting changes. Michael is a CFA Charterholder and has an MBA in finance from New York University's Stern School of Business as well as a BS in Accounting from Villanova University. He previously worked as a CPA for Ernst & Young LLP. Michael is a member of the firm's Investment Review Committee and the FASB's recently formed Investors Technical Advisory Committee.

Douglas Gilman, Associate

Douglas Gilman joined the Global Markets Institute as an Associate in 2007, upon completion of an M.Phil. in International Relations at the University of Oxford. From 2003 to 2005, he served as an Analyst in the Special Execution Group within the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Douglas worked with the Council on Foreign Relations and the House of Commons (UK), where he served as a Hansard Scholar and Research Associate, working closely with the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. Douglas received his B.A. in International Relations and Political Science, with a certificate in Business and Public Policy, from the University of Pennsylvania (Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude), and his M.Phil. from the University of Oxford, where he was a Gilbert Murray Trust Scholar and a Roger Short Memorial Scholar. His research interests include global economic governance, institutional accountability and theories of regulation. Douglas has written on these and other topics in various journals.