Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s dealmakers celebrated one of their own rising to the top of the firm by delivering an unexpected boost to his first month.

Wall Street’s top advisory franchise delivered in a quarter where most of its competitors were beset by a halt in the pace of completed merger transactions and underwhelming debt-underwriting activity. The investment-banking group posted a 10 per cent gain last quarter, vaulting past analysts’ estimates for a drop.

David Solomon, who took over as chief executive officer on Oct. 1, spent a decade atop the investment-banking division, helping cement its expansion. A number of senior executives he worked with at the time now form a key part of the team he’s putting together to shepherd the entire firm, including President John Waldron and incoming Chief Financial Officer Stephen Scherr.

After putting his management team in place over the last few weeks, Solomon will have to turn his attention to appeasing shareholders, with the stock down almost 16 percent this year through Monday. That slump compares with a decline of just 5.8 percent for the S&P 500 Financials Index.

Shares of Goldman Sachs rose 0.9 per cent in early trading in New York.

Investment-banking revenue of US$1.98 billion surpassed the average analyst prediction of US$1.75 billion for the quarter.

Trading desks turned in a muted performance across Wall Street, largely owing to subdued volatility. The trading division at Goldman Sachs, which has already seen major leadership changes since Solomon was appointed as heir apparent, turned in US$3.1 billion in revenue, slightly below analysts’ expectations as fixed-income trading revenue slumped 10 per cent.