DealBook reports that another Goldman Sachs partner is set to leave the firm.

George Mattson, who runs the global industrials group, had a long client list of blue chips, the likes of GE, GM and others. His group had a great year in 2011, ranking as the most active deal advisor in the big industrials industry. So why would he leave? Especially if he was not in danger of being culled?

There’s no way of really knowing. But it’s always tempting to couch this sort of news in larger trends, and there’s no denying that more partners are leaving the gilded bank. More than 30 partners have left since October, according to the article, including the co-heads of the securities unit and the co-head of its investment management unit. The firm seems to have a made a conscious decision to keep the partner ranks small.

Some might conclude that there must be a subtle effort underway to encourage retirement. At the same time, others might conclude that more employees are looking into the future and seeing less robust growth, the end of an era frankly, and that has prodded many to quit. Most likely, it’s all of the above.

The big issue really is what these ex-partners will do next. The traditional "Goldman Sachs Way" has been for people to make their fortune and then do something for the good of society. We can only hope tradition holds.

For more:
- here’s the article
- a successor is named

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