May 14, 2020
Louis Diamond Quoted
By Oisin Breen
Goldman Sachs took another big step into the RIA business with the acquisition of custodian Folio Institutional.
The New York giant revealed its acquisition of Folio Financial Inc. today (May 14), with an expected close in the third quarter this year — and the latest overt move by Goldman CEO David Solomon to make his company much more like Fidelity Investments or Charles Schwab & Co.
Not that Goldman wouldn’t play a very strong hand were it to get into RIA custody, says Louis Diamond, principal of New York-based Diamond Consulting, via email.
“Advisors leaving a wirehouse firm with a major brand sometimes worry about leaving that behind so leveraging the Goldman name and story could be very powerful,” he says.
“On top of that, should Goldman open up the other parts of the organization [like] lending, asset management, alternatives, [and] family office services, it would be a home run!”