Goldman Sachs is looking to sell off its investment advisory unit — a move that would reverse CEO David Solomon’s ill-fated attempt to expand the bank’s clientele beyond the ultra-rich.
The Wall Street investment giant is looking to offload its Personal Financial Management unit, which manages around $29 billion in assets.
Solomon has come under fire from both partners at the bank and rank-and-file employees who have been put off by his leadership style — as well as his moonlighting as an amateur disc jockey — as Goldman’s earnings have plunged this year.
“David is direct and focused on results,” a Goldman spokesperson had previously said.
Putting PFM up for sale would be the second time in the last year that Goldman is looking to undo a deal made by Solomon, who took over the bank in late 2018, succeeding Lloyd Blankfein.
In 2019, Solomon pushed to acquire United Capital in a deal worth $750 million. It had $25 billion in assets under management at the time.
“Personal Financial Management (PFM), our proprietary RIA (registered investment adviser) business, is a very small component of our overall wealth franchise,” Goldman Sachs said in a statement.
“We see continued opportunities to invest in this segment but with less strategic impact to GS.”
The bank added: “As such, we are currently evaluating alternatives for that business as we determine where to invest our resources and where we see the greatest opportunity.”
“We expect to find an outcome that benefits both our clients and our advisors.”
The PFM is a registered investment adviser that grew out of what was once United Capital, the Newport Beach, Calif.-based firm that managed assets for high-net-worth clients — or those whose financial assets are valued at north of $1 million.
Last year, Solomon reorganized the PFM unit by folding it into its asset and wealth management unit, which counts 16,000 clients who hold $1 trillion in assets.
News of the potential sale was first reported last week by RIA Biz.
Earlier this year, Goldman announced it was putting up for sale its online consumer lending business, the fintech firm GreenSky, which was initially valued at $2.24 billion in 2021 but whose closing price dropped to $1.7 billion in March of last year.
Sixth Street is said to be leading a consortium that includes KKR, PIMCO, and CardWorks in bidding for GreenSky, according to Fortune.
Apollo Global Management is also reportedly involved in the bidding process.
Goldman is likely to take a large writedown for GreenSky.
Those involved in the bidding process have offered less than half of what Goldman paid for the company, according to reports.
Goldman’s struggles this year have reportedly caused a rift between Blankfein and his hand-picked successor.
Blankfein last week denied a New York Times report that he offered to return to the firm to assist Solomon.
The 68-year-old Blankfein, who so far this year has lost some $50 million due to Goldman’s falling stock price, was reportedly livid by Solomon’s performance as chief executive.
Goldman last month reported a 58% drop in earnings for the second quarter — falling short of Wall Street estimates.
Shares of Goldman Sachs were down by some 1.28% as of 2:30 p.m. Eastern time on Monday.
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Goldman Sachs mulls sale of investment advisory unit -- undoing David Solomon strategy - New York Post
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