Goldman VP departs bank to rejoin Lazard’s advisory group

Spencer Gyory, who joined Goldman Sachs to work on its secondaries advisory group, has left the bank and will rejoin Lazard, sources told affiliate title Buyouts.

The move is the latest in a slew of relocations in the secondaries advisory space, as both established and new players look to add talent. Market volume is expected to grow this year after slowing in 2022 and sources say the market is stocked with inventory, both active and pending.

Gyory will start at Lazard in May, one of the sources said. His exact title is not clear. A spokesperson with Lazard declined to comment.

Gyory’s departure comes after the head of Goldman’s secondaries advisory business, Alex Mejia, left last September. Mejia joined mid-market investment bank Baird to lead the build-out of a secondaries advisory team.

Gyory joined Goldman in 2021 as a vice-president, along with Mejia and fellow vice-president Josef Menasche from Campbell Lutyens, who remains with the group. Goldman continues to support the business and sees ample opportunity in the market, a source close to the bank told Buyouts.

“The secondary advisory market continues to be a key area of focus for Goldman and under my continued leadership, we anticipate growing our capabilities in this space and continuing to provide a differentiated service offering that leverages the full breadth of our leading investment banking franchise,” David Kamo, partner at the firm, said in a statement last year.

Lazard’s private capital advisory group is led by Holcombe Green. Last year, Abhi Mitra, a managing director with Lazard’s group, joined UBS, Secondaries Investor reported.

Overall volume last year hit around $106 billion, according to Campbell Lutyens’ full-year secondaries volume report. While down from the record year of 2021, last year’s activity was still the second-highest volume on record, according to several activity surveys.

The expectation is that this year’s volume will pick back up, keeping those on the sell-side and buy-side busy. However, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and subsequent banking crisis may again slow volume.