Goldman names 70 partners to 2012 class

Goldman Sachs Group Inc named 70 new partners to its 2012 partnership class, the smallest number since the investment bank went public in 1999.

Goldman's partner naming, a relic from its past as a private investment bank, occurs every two years and is a closely watched event on Wall Street. The prior partner class in 2010 included 110 people.

Goldman has been cutting staff since last year as it looks to cut costs in a weak revenue environment and the smaller partner number is reflective of that. The investment bank tries to keep its partner pool at around 1 percent of the overall workforce, which stood at 32,600 at Sept. 30.

Among the new partners are Russell Horwitz, who is Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein's chief of staff; Kent Clark, an executive in the hedge fund products group of Goldman's asset management division; and Huw Pill, Goldman's chief European economist.

As of Nov. 2, Goldman had 407 partners, according to a regulatory filing. Below is the full list of new partners: Vivek Bantwal Pat Fels John Mallory Michael Ronen Heather Bellini Pete Finn Joseph S. Mauro Jami Rubin Brian Bolster David Fishman Charles M. McGarraugh Yann Samuelides Jill Borst Sheara Fredman Xavier C. Menguy Joshua S. Schiffrin Michael Brandmeyer Jacques Gabillon Amol Naik David Schwimmer Jason H. Brauth Francesco Garzarelli Jo Natauri Gaurav Seth Stuart Cash Nick Giovanni Una Neary Michael Siegel Alex Chi Brad Gross Gregory G. Olafson Michael Smith Kent Clark Anthony Gutman Lisa Opoku Josh Struzziery III Richard Cormack Leland Hensch Gerald Ouderkirk III Damian Sutcliffe Jack Daly Russell W. Horwitz Francesco Pascuzzi Michael Swell Anne Marie B. Darling Roy Joseph Anthony W. Pasquariello Ryan Thall David Dase John Kim Huw Pill Bobby Vedral Olaf Diaz-Pintado Marie Louise Kirk Dmitri Potishko Simon Watson Robert Drake-Brockman Hugh Lawson Sean Rice Toby C. Watson Alessandro Dusi Scott Lebovitz Francois J. Rigou Yoshihiko Yano Edward A. Emerson Ericka Leslie Scott M. Rofey Antonio F. Esteves Luca M. Lombardi Jeroen Rombouts

(Reporting By Lauren Tara LaCapra; Editing by Mauren Bavdek and Andre Grenon)