Goldman Sachs has named former United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as a senior adviser, adding a veteran policymaker to its roster as banks navigate rising geopolitical and regulatory uncertainty.
The investment bank announced Sunak’s appointment on Tuesday.
Sunak, who remains a Conservative member of parliament from a seat in northern England, previously worked at Goldman as an analyst in the early 2000s before joining a series of hedge funds.
Through a combination of his past career in financial services and the family wealth of his wife, whose father co-founded the Indian IT services company Infosys, Sunak became the wealthiest British prime minister, drawing criticism of being out of touch with most UK voters.
He has remained largely out of the spotlight since resigning as leader of the Conservatives after the party’s worst defeat in more than a century in July last year. He took up posts at Oxford and Stanford universities earlier this year.
Goldman’s hiring of Sunak, who had also served as the UK’s finance minister, adds to a long list of senior politicians taking up positions in finance, where their policy backgrounds and global networks are viewed as strategic assets.
“I am excited to welcome Rishi back to Goldman Sachs,” Goldman CEO David Solomon said in a statement. “In his role, he will work with leaders across the firm to advise our clients globally on a range of important topics, sharing his unique perspectives and insights on the macroeconomic and geopolitical landscape,” Solomon said
Former British finance ministers George Osborne and Sajid Javid have also made the move to finance with Osborne holding positions at asset manager BlackRock and advisory firm Robey Warshaw and Javid becoming a partner at investment firm Centricus.