Goldman Sachs creates new consumer finance division

Goldman Sachs CEO David SolomonReuters

• Goldman Sachs is creating a new, combined consumer and investment management division, according to a memo on Monday.
• The new unit will be led by existing Goldman investment management heads Tim O’Neill and Eric Lane.
• The move is intended to allow Goldman’s consumer digital finance business to grow its customer base and launch new products.

Goldman Sachs has big ambitions for its small-but-growing consumer finance business, Marcus.

It’s a key part of CEO David Solomon’s plans to boost revenue at the bank, and one that could become a $1 billion revenue opportunity in the next few years.

To supercharge Marcus’ growth, Goldman said on Monday that it’s creating a new unit to house both its digital finance business and its investment management division. The goal is the next step in Goldman’s plan to take the Marcus platform from its consumer banking roots to a more full-service wealth offering. 

“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,” Goldman said in a memo, which was signed by Solomon and president John Waldron. 

The memo also pointed to Goldman’s Ayco business, which works with corporate HR departments, as an opportunity to provide Marcus services to millions of employees. 

Read more: A Goldman Sachs unit hidden in an office park in Albany, New York holds clues to the future of wealth management

Marcus was first launched in the US in 2016 and is a big part of the firm’s effort to diversity revenue sources and boost earnings as once lucrative trading revenue has slowed in recent years. 

Earlier in October, Goldman launched a Marcus savings account service in the UK, which offers customers a savings account paying an interest rate of 1.5% for one year. Around 50,000 customers in the country has signed up for the retail product in the span of one week.

Marcus now has 2 million customers and $4 billion in consumer loan balances, Goldman said in the memo.

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