But first, investors to the front of the line, please.
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1. Goldman's big day.
All eyes are on 200 West Street in lower Manhattan today, the global headquarters of Goldman Sachs and site of the bank's second-ever investor day.
If you're not familiar with what an investor day is, think of it as a chance for a company to give an update on how things are and where they're headed.
Ahead of today's meeting, I identified the biggest questions people are wondering about Goldman Sachs' future.
Can David Solomon convince investors and analysts he's got the bank on the right track?
In many ways, this is the ONLY question that matters today.
The CEO has instigated three restructurings during his four-year-plus tenure. That's meant the bank's future successes or failures would largely fall on his shoulders. Unfortunately for Solomon, there have been more of the latter than the former recently, and some people have had enough.
But having some of your top executives lose faith in you is one thing. Losing shareholders' confidence is another game entirely.
It'll be interesting to see how Solomon addresses the crowd. Refusing to cop to one's mistakes is somewhat par for the course on Wall Street, but ignoring how difficult the past few months have been might come off as tone deaf and risk putting Solomon on the bad side of a group he can't afford to annoy.
Will new details emerge regarding the asset and wealth management division that show the business is heading in the right direction?
Goldman's asset and wealth management division will likely get plenty of attention today. The division's global head, Marc Nachmann, and its chief investment officer, Julian Salisbury, are both set to present.
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There is a reason the unit is getting the spotlight. Analysts, who will also be in attendance today, love wealth-management businesses because they're predictable. Deal flow and trading comes and goes, but managing rich peoples' money leads to consistent fees.
What the hell is going on with Platform Solutions?
If Goldman's global banking and market division is the bank's superstar and asset and wealth management is the up-and-comer, Platform Solutions is the Island of Misfit Toys. That moniker isn't meant to criticize the individual businesses in the division as much as to describe the seeming randomness of putting them all together.
The bank describes the unit as the place for "cloud-based, developer-centric financial products and services," but the commonalities between the businesses — transaction banking, BNPL, consumer banking, and a financial cloud — are somewhat scant.
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One similarity in the unit is its heavy reliance on tech, as opposed to other areas of the bank that might be more relationship driven. Goldman has touted itself as being a tech-first firm, but simply housing the most innovative tech projects in a group that has been a drain on the bottom line might not serve as the best recruiting tool for new tech talent.
So what can be said about Platform Solutions that won't make people consider it "equities in Dallas"?
In other news:
2. Chime is working on its own version of ChatGPT. The fintech's CTO told Insider the neobank wants to leverage a chatbot to help its engineers work faster. But it's not planning on using OpenAI's or Google's AI offerings. Here's why.
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3. Speaking of David Solomon... Goldman's CEO appeared on a recent episode of the bank's podcast, "Exchanges at Goldman Sachs." From inflation to ChatGPT to US-China relations, a lot was covered. Here are nine of the best quotes from the interview.
4. Part of the brains behind the XFL is a former Goldman banker. Gerry Cardinale, who runs investment firm RedBird Capital, teamed up with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and his business partner Dany Garcia to relaunch the spring football league. More on Cardinale's playbook for bringing back the XFL.
7. And you thought you were having a bad year... Billionaire Gautam Adani has seen his net worth drop by more than $80 billion since the start of the year. But before you set up a GoFundMe, realize he's still the 30th richest person in the world. Read more about Adani's very bad 2023.
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8. Bare Minimum Mondays to help your Sunday Scaries. Self-employed TikToker Marisa Jo Mayes went viral for her revelation that Monday's at work are just about trying to get by. No word on what happens if it bleeds into Too-Tired Tuesdays and Whatever Wednesdays. More on that here.
10. A little goes a long way (part 2)! From where you should park your car to how your should prioritize tasks, these "micro-habits" can go a long way in helping your mood and productivity. Check out all 10 here.
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