(Bloomberg) — Goldman Sachs Group Inc. expects U.S. inflation to come in below 4% this year, while growth in equities will be relatively flat, according to Meena Lakdawala-Flynn.
“In the U.S., we do think that inflation is peaking right about now,” Lakdawala-Flynn, co-head of global private wealth management at the bank, said Thursday at the Bloomberg Wealth Summit in New York.
“We think the probability of a recession has increased in 2023.”
Wealthy clients are focused on profitability, and are looking for exposure to assets in health care, energy and disruptive technology, as well as real estate, she said.
“Within equities, we’re recommending that our clients have exposure to names that have pricing power, that have strong margins,” said Lakdawala-Flynn, who has led the business since early 2021 along with John Mallory.
Interest in digital assets such as nonfungible tokens and cryptocurrencies is also continuing, she said.
“Where we are focusing our clients is on the underlying infrastructure, the picks and shovels,” Lakdawala-Flynn said.
Female Clients
“One of the biggest demographic shifts we are seeing is women managing more money,” the Goldman executive said in a subsequent interview on Bloomberg Television.
Within households, the first transfer of wealth is typically to a woman whose husband pre-predeceased her, she said, and so “you have seen a significant increase in the number of women managing the financial matters for their household as well as women coming into wealth.”
Goldman has added dozens of advisers to its private-wealth unit across Europe, the Middle East and Africa in recent years as it seeks to diversify revenue streams beyond its core strengths of dealmaking and trading.
The bank has also sought to broaden the range of clients it targets with its wealth-advisory services.
While private wealth management focuses on the ultra-high-net-worth segment, including individuals as well as families and foundations, it also caters to the high-net-worth crowd through its Ayco business and through the recently re-branded Goldman Sachs personal financial management division.
Revenue at Goldman’s wealth-management and consumer unit rose 25% to $7.5 billion in 2021 from a year earlier.
It had about $751 billion of assets under supervision at year-end.
(Updates with Bloomberg TV interview in seventh paragraph.)
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