The wealth management arm of Goldman Sachs saw a 5% fall in net revenue year-on-year in Q4 2019.
2019 saw the wealth management arm earn $4.34bn in net revenue, while the quarter took in $1.18bn. This was a 6% rise compared to Q4 2018. It was also a 7% rise compared to the previous quarter.
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The bank attributed the higher quarter revenue to higher fees offset by lower incentive fees.
In addition, it continued to scale its online deposit platform. Consumer deposits increased $24bn in 2019 to hit $60bn.
In Q4 2019, overall, net income drastically fell 26% year-on-year to lie at $1.73bn for Goldman Sachs. Net income in 2019 was also 20% lower than in 2018, reaching $7.9bn.
Net revenues in Consumer banking were $228m, 23% higher than the fourth
quarter of 2018, driven by higher net interest income, primarily reflecting an increase
in deposit balances.
The consumer and wealth management arm totalled 14% of Goldman Sachs’ entire revenue for 2019.
“Strong performance in the fourth quarter helped us to deliver solid results for the year, while continuing to invest in new businesses. We aim to drive higher returns in the future, and look forward to sharing our strategic goals and financial targets at Investor Day later this month,” said David M. Solomon, chairman and chief executive officer at Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs intends to double its employee strength in China over the coming five years, it announced at the beginning of 2020.
The banking major plans to grow its headcount to 600 in the country, according to Bloomberg.
In August 2019, Bloomberg reported that Goldman Sachs submitted an application with the China Securities Regulatory Commission for a majority stake in its local securities joint venture (JV).
The bank plans to increase its stake in its China JV to 51% from the existing 33%.
Goldman Sachs Asia-Pacific operations outside of Japan co-president Todd Leland said: “The leadership in China understands the value of global capital flows.”
