Goldman Sachs has always been synonymous with wealth in the United States. That almost universal truth will probably never change. When viewing the firm from the outside looking in, you’d think it’s employees, and more specifically, it’s wealth advisors were as satisfied as they’ve ever been. You’d be wrong though.
If anything the firm is going downstream in their services with their interests to merge with traditional B/D’s or small retail firms like United Capital . They also bought Folio Financial—a 20-year-old online brokerage that pioneered the idea of offering fractional shares and customized stock portfolios to investors.
As Goldman has executed several acquisitions over the past 18 months advisors at the firm have begun to wonder why the firm is hell bent on going “downmarket” so aggressively. That term has become a familiar refrain with elite advisors that have left and joined competitors.
It is our belief that the unrest is more widespread than a few departures have shown, and the exodus is about to accelerate. There are more reasons beyond than just a philosophical shift in their customer base.
Competitor firms are offering recruiting deals that have gotten more creative and much larger than Goldman teams are used to hearing. Specifically, AS AN EXAMPLE, ACCORDING TO A RECRUITER SOURSE, UBS has decided to go ‘all-in’ with Goldman teams and have committed to capital intensive deal components that make it possible to ignore the firm. Needless to say, Goldman teams are listening.
ACCORDING TO ANOTHER RECRUITER SOURSE, Without giving away the full structure of what UBS is doing to command the full attention of long time Goldman loyalists, we do know that they are no longer basing their deal on W2 income; but rather gross annual revenue.
Like we said, Goldman teams are listening.
AP
