Goldman Sachs becomes the latest financial firm to launch on Instagram

Goldman Sachs opened an Instagram account on Tuesday to attract a younger audience.Goldman Sachs Instagram Account (Screenshot)

• Goldman Sachs launched an official Instagram account on Tuesday, which features posts ranging from key research findings to notable speakers at the firm, to unique hobbies of its employees. 
• Financial firms are increasingly adopting social media to engage millennials and Gen Z over the past few years as they struggle to retain and recruit top university graduates. 

As it tries to court millennials and Gen Z to consider a career on Wall Street, Goldman Sachs on Tuesday became the latest financial firm to launch an Instagram account. 

The account, @goldmansachs, displays a number of photos showcasing unique findings from Goldman research on shipping and 5G technology, a slideshow of a Goldman technologist grilling barbecue in his spare time, and highlights of an interview with U.S. Olympic fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad. 

It’s the latest attempt by Goldman to use social media to reach out to millennials which represent over two-third of its workforce. Goldman already has a presence on Facebook, Twitter,  LinkedIn, YouTube, and WeChat with over 2.4 million followers in total. The bank has also advertised on Snapchat starting in 2015. 

“Instagram gives us an opportunity to connect with the general public by sharing insights into topics on the minds of our clients, as well as providing an intimate look into life at Goldman Sachs, and we think people will find there’s a lot more to our firm than simply being a financial services company,” a Goldman spokeswoman told Business Insider in an email.

Goldman is somewhat late to the Instagram party. Other banks, including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America have had accounts on the platform for years. 

Goldman’s efforts come as financial firms broadly struggle to attract and maintain top university graduates who may be lured by the promise of better hours and big stock options packages at Silicon Valley companies. 

A Harvard Business School study of 2017 graduates found only 5% of that year’s graduates went into investment banking and sales and trading, the traditional focus of firms like Goldman. That compares to 10% in 2011. 

Meanwhile, 16% of graduates said they were going into technology, up from 11% in 2011. 

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