Goldman Sachs Group Inc., known
for advising the world's richest and most powerful, is building a so-called
robo-adviser geared to mass affluent customers, according to a job listing
posted Monday on the bank's website.
A Goldman spokesman declined to
comment.
The job posting for employees to
help build the platform comes as Goldman is looking at ways to broaden its
customer base outside the super wealthy, including making deeper inroads into
new consumer-focused businesses.
The bank last year launched
Marcus, its first major foray into consumer lending, as well as a complementary
deposit-taking platform after acquiring GE Capital's online bank. It also
acquired Honest Dollar, an online retirement savings platform for small businesses
and startups.
The robo platform would sit
within the bank's rapidly growing investment management division, according to
the ad. The unit, which Goldman has been trying to build out in recent years to
diversify its revenue, posted a record $1.38 trillion in assets under
supervision at the end of 2016.
Goldman has for years grappled
with how to tap into the mass affluent segment, broadly defined as those with
less than $1 million in investable assets, without diluting the brand of its
private wealth business which is considered a jewel within the bank, according
to people familiar with the matter. Goldman's U.S. private wealth business
typically advises clients with an account size of around $50 million.
Goldman has in the past
considered expanding Ayco, a wealth advisory firm it purchased in 2003, as a
way to push more deeply into the mass affluent segment, the people added.
While the robo-advice market was
initially developed by startups such as Wealthfront and Betterment with
ambitions of upending the traditional financial advice sector, large firms such
as Charles Schwab Corp and Vanguard have launched similar services.
Other large firms are partnering
with or buying existing players.
UBS Group AG and Wells Fargo & Co are partnering with
online financial adviser SigFig Wealth Management, while BlackRock Inc acquired
FutureAdvisor.
Morgan Stanley is launching its
own robo-advisor later this year, primarily for the children of its existing
clients. CEO James Gorman has said that firms which combine digital and human
advice will be more successful in the future.
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