Stifel, others, and creative planning in a circle Sources from Goldman's Personal Financial Management
According to people with knowledge of the situation, a sizable registered investment advisory business, a number of independent broker-dealers, and local brokerage Stifel Financial are among a pool of potential buyers for Goldman Sachs' mass affluent wealth subsidiary, Personal Financial Management.
PFM may be sold, as Goldman stated on Monday that it is "evaluating alternatives" for the business that it acquired in 2019. A Goldman spokesperson who sent that message through email stated that she was unable to confirm any potential buyers.
Other prospective bidders include registered financial advice business Creative Planning, independent broker-dealer LPL Financial, and Osaic, formerly known as Advisor Group. Two reports claim that Osaic made an early offer that was unsuccessful.
It seemed doubtful that a deal would be announced this week due to the wide spectrum of interest and the early stage of the process, according to insiders. According to wealth management investment banker David DeVoe, other companies, such as private equity purchasers, are probably also interested. He did not specify whether he is a representative of any bidders.
Other significant domestic and foreign wealth management corporations as well as private equity firms are potential bidders, according to DeVoe in an email. "The wealth management industry as a whole is appealing due to the consistent income it produces."
A representative for Stifel declined to comment or confirm whether an offer had been made. Osaic and LPL spokespeople did not respond to calls for comment. Peter Mallouk, CEO of Creative Planning, did not respond to emails seeking
One of the reports claimed that Milton Berlinski played a role in Osaic's discussions. Berlinski is a co-founder at Osaic's private equity investor Reverence Capital Partners and was a founding member of Goldman's financial services investment banking group. An inquiry for comment from Berlinski was not answered.
The buyer would want to tie a portion of the purchase price to the number of advisors or assets that finally transfer, which may make the deal challenging to organize, the source continued.
When PFM was still known as United Capital Financial Partners and was in charge of managing about $25 billion in assets, Goldman bought it for $750 million. According to PFM's most recent ADV report, its advisory assets were valued at $13.2 billion. The Goldman representative said that it has "assets" worth $29 billion.
The former CEO and founder of United Capital, Joe Duran, who parted ways with Goldman earlier this year, stated he is not one of the prospective bidders. According to industry website Citywire, which previously disclosed Goldman's plans to sell PFM and Osaic's proposal, Duran is additionally gathering capital to invest in RIAs.
In the meanwhile, companies looking to hire consultants and competitors are trying to take advantage of the ambiguity.
According to Cary Carbonaro, who previously worked at PFM in Orlando, Florida but departed in August 2022, with Goldman's acquisition of United Capital, the advisers "gave up all their freedom" in conforming to the giant firm's web of policies, rules, and regulations. She is currently employed at ACM Wealth, a dual-registered business with $6 billion in assets, per their
The likelihood is that everyone is attempting to depart. Because the Goldman name was the only reason they stayed, Carbonaro continued.
The decision by Goldman to sell PFM is a part of a larger shift away from serving mass market consumers. According to sources, Goldman is also aiming to stop its credit card deal with Apple and is seeking to spin off GreenSky, a fintech firm that it acquired in 2021 to market loans for home improvements.
However, Goldman is continuing to pursue its expansion into the asset custody market for independent registered investment advisory companies. With the acquisition of Folio Financial in 2020, it started the company. This year, it announced a number of agreements to hold assets for sizable RIAs.
We additionally continue to expand and invest in our services to the Our asset management, custody, structured notes, stock lending, and deposit taking products and services are used by third-party RIAs, according to a statement from a Goldman representative.