Due to a need for caution in the current economic environment, Goldman Sachs has opted to postpone the launch of its planned robo-advisor service until 2021. The investment bank also said it’s slowing its hiring of financial advisors.
The company's president and COO John Waldron made the announcement during a presentation at a financial services industry conference.
"[W]hile we continue to pursue growth in our overall wealth franchise, we are acting prudently in the current environment," said Waldron. "We have decided to slow our advisor hiring activity for this year and we will defer the launch of our digital wealth offering into 2021."
In an attempt to grow from a company focused on the uber elite and into a firm that could serve a much wider group of investors, Goldman has planned on hiring more human advisors as well as launching a robo-advisor.
Lately, the investment bank has been making large acquisitions of financial services assets. In May, it signed a deal to buy Folio Financial, and last year it paid $750 million in cash to purchase registered investment advisor United Capital, which the company has since rebranded as Goldman Sachs Personal Financial Management.
