PriyaPatelGoldman Sachs is increasing efforts to attract ultra-rich clients, focusing on lending to private wealth customers with an average of $60 million deposited. Loans to clients such as hedge funds are expected to generate the highest revenue for Goldman’s trading partners in at least three years. The bank’s loans and lending commitments, not including consumer lending, totaled $327.5 billion at the end of Q3 2020, a third more than the same quarter in 2019. Goldman is seeking to diversify its revenue as it moves away from consumer lending and is set to report earnings on January 16.
The report also found that Goldman’s revenue from private banking and lending to wealthy clients rose 12% in the first nine months of 2020 compared to the same period the prior year. Additionally, equities financing revenue for the same nine-month period was higher than the previous three years. The bank shifted away from consumer lending last year through exits from credit card partnerships and the sale of its GreenSky consumer finance platform and associated loans. Chairman and CEO David Solomon said the sale demonstrated the bank’s progress in narrowing the focus of its consumer business.
