Goldman Sachs has signaled it is taking a step down to provide services to the masses. With online banking offerings, mutual funds and ETFs, Goldman is looking to widen its customer base. The investment bank may even have a robo-advisor offering clients advice, reports CNBC:
While the bank hasn’t officially said what form the product will take, one option is a robo-advisor, according to people with knowledge of the plans. Most robo-advisors have low or no account minimums to start investing.
Presumably, the company could offer mutual funds and ETFs created in-house through its digital channel. (Goldman already uses robo-advisor Betterment to distribute some of its smart-beta funds.) That was part of the rationale of moving Marcus into the investment management division, according to a statement from CEO Solomon, President John Waldron and incoming CFO Stephen Scherr.
“We plan to launch a broader wealth management offering, combining Marcus’ digital capabilities with the more established sales channels and products currently housed within the investment management division,” the executives said in the release.
The division is being renamed consumer and investment management, and Tim O’Neill and Eric Lane, the current co-heads of investment management, will run it. Harit Talwar, who joined Goldman in 2015 from Discover Financial, will run the digital finance business globally, while Omer Ismail will manage it in the Americas.
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