Goldman Opens Its Own Robo-Shop

Goldman Sachs, famously referred to as the “great vampire squid” is extending its tentacles further into Main Street.

The prestigious investment bank — which typically reserves its private wealth management services for those with >$10 million in investable assets — is launching a robo-advisor platform.

All you need to join is a cool grand.

Robot World

Marcus Invest, as the robo-advisor platform will go by, will allocate and automatically rebalance its clients’ portfolios based on Goldman’s investment strategy committee.

• While Goldman’s high-touch wealth management services can run as high as 1% of an account balance, Marcus Invest customers will pay as little as .35%.

While not as flashy as Goldman’s Gucci-laden investment banking division, CEO David Solomon has been making a steady push towards less volatile business lines. Marcus Invest will slot into the broader Marcus consumer division which offers savings accounts and personal loans. Last year Goldman raked in $1.2 billion in its consumer arm, up 40% vs. 2019.

Marcus a Bit Late to the Party

The digital investment advice market will reach $449 billion in assets under management this year, according to Cerulli Associates.

Goldman enters the fray more than a decade after startups like Betterment and Wealthfront led the first wave of robo-advisory platforms. It’s also the last big U.S. bank or brokerage to roll out an automated-investing platform.

the takeaway

Importantly, Goldman says the product was not designed to maximize user engagement or “gamify” the stock market (looking at you, Robinhood). Users will not initially be able to buy individual stocks.