U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs is rebuilding its business with private clients. Online bank Marcus will act as a platform for rich as well as retail clients going forward. Switzerland however will get a special treatment.
The pandemic has not hurt the digital bank of Goldman Sachs, which the American giant had named «Marcus». In fact, the unit added more new assets in the first half of 2020 than in the whole of 2019, according to Harit Talwar, who spoke in an interview with «Handelsblatt» (behind paywall). Talwar is the head of the retail business at Goldman Sachs and one of the brains behind Marcus.
But while Marcus is up and running in the U.K., the start was delayed for the German market. And for Switzerland, the whole launch is currently under reconsideration.
Reaching Out
Talwar now aims to rebuild the digital bank into a financial platform, with the focus put on additional banking services and digital investment opportunities. The bank had very good investment managers working for the wealthy and ultra-rich, he said. Their know-how will now be pooled with the inherent reach of the digital bank, allowing the company to approach even more clients.
A second change will affect the multi-banking startup Clarity Money, which henceforth will do business under the brand name of Marcus Insights. It will help clients keep an overview over their accounts, cards and investments and identify options of where to best achieve savings and make new investments.
Offering More Standard Solutions
The changes are part of the plan by the bank to better serve the mass affluent market. Goldman Sachs’ Marcus brand will provide robo advisory to this segment starting later this year and target clients with investable assets of between $100,000 and $1 million.
Reaching out to this clientele with a standard solution is the most efficient way forward, an insight shared by Switzerland’s No. 1, UBS. It will also serve the European affluent clientele separately in future.
The Swiss Way
Talwar however pulled the plug on rumors that Marcus will launch in Switzerland, as it will focus mainly on its domestic market in the U.S. for the time being.
Instead, the bank will target the traditional wealth management business in Switzerland. For that purpose, the Americans nabbed two heavyweights from rival UBS in June – Alain Krueger and Marc Mandosse. Krueger is now the co-head of Goldman Sachs in Geneva alongside Marie-Ange Causse.
