Five years ago, when Goldman made a historic pivot away from its prop and flow trading, investment banking and central banker incubating bread and butter, and into a consumer digital deposit and lending platform via “Marcus”, it prompted a lot of raised eyebrows across Wall Street and at Goldman Sachs itself, where the strategy shift “was initially met with cynicism from some of Goldman’s own investment bankers, who openly derided it.”
Yet despite the snickers that Goldman was becoming a subprime lender to offset its declining capital markets dominance, Marcus plowed ahead with new offerings and partnerships, and got a lift from the industry’s deposit windfall this year. According to Bloomberg, it is on the cusp of generating $1 billion in annual revenue (which remains a small fraction of the bank’s tally of roughly $40 billion.
Yet not everything appears to be going to plan at 200 West Street, because as Bloomberg reports, the banker who was instrumental in spawning and helping guide Goldman’s tentacular embrace of Main Street is giving up his post in a management shuffle at the consumer unit. Read more…..
Chart of the Day
Icarus TV
U.S. stocks jumped on Monday, bouncing back from the longest weekly losing streak in a year for the S&P 500 and the Dow, with technology, banks and travel shares leading the advance. All the 11 major S&P 500 sectors were up in early trading. The S&P 500 financials index jumped 2.6% and was on track for its best day in two and a half months.
