Goldman Sachs ambitious direct-to-consumer business model โ Marcus, created to compete with the likes of J.P Morganโs Chase and Citi, now merged with the wealth and asset management division, has raised questions on its retail banking strategy.
Notably, the bank acquired more than 22+ companies over the last couple of years, to largely build and complement its consumer banking segments. Some of these acquisitions include:
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1/ NextCapital - a fintech company that provides automated advice to corporate retirement plan participants
2/ GreenSkyยฎ - the worldโs largest fintech platform for home improvement consumer loan originations
3/ United Capital and by extension FinLife CX โ the former a registered investment advisor with $25 billion AUM and the later a digital platform that helps independent advisors grow their business and enhance relationships with their clients.
4/ Clarity Money - an app that uses machine learning to help consumers better manage their personal finances and offer actionable insights.
While the bank aimed to diversify its revenue streams and strengthen its balance sheet with this strategy, all things point to another strategy pivot with โplatform playโ lining-up beside the wealth & asset management and trading & investment banking divisions.
Maybe a better approach to help GS take a step forward would be
1/ To understand how existing and acquired businesses complement each other
2/ Knowledge of the possible cross-selling opportunities within platform ecosystem
3/ Hard lessons learnt from itsโ Marcus venture.
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