A pair of major mandates totaling $70 billion in retirement assets — one from Verizon $VZ Communications and one from Lockheed Martin $LMT — will be handled by Goldman Sachs $GS, the firm disclosed Thursday, marking one of the more sizable recent wins in the outsourced corporate investing space.
Of the total, Verizon's defined-contribution retirement assets — the kind typically held in 401(k) plans — account for $40 billion, with the remaining roughly $30 billion representing pension assets spread across the two companies, Goldman said. The firm did not specify the individual split of pension assets between the two companies.
"Large plan sponsors are consolidating responsibilities with one partner with the investment expertise and depth of platform to manage their bespoke needs," Marc Nachmann, Goldman's global head of asset and wealth management, said in a statement.
Behind the transactions is a structural trend: as retirement portfolios expand in scope and complexity, requiring knowledge across both public and private markets, major employers have been turning over day-to-day investment stewardship to specialized outside managers. BlackRock $BLK, Russell Investments, and Mercer are among the rivals Goldman faces in pursuing these kinds of mandates.
As of the end of the first quarter, the outsourced chief investment officer unit managed approximately $480 billion, sitting within a broader asset and wealth management division whose total reach extends to roughly $3.7 trillion, according to the company.
Expanding the outsourced investing unit fits into Goldman's broader push to diversify its revenue mix away from the cyclical swings of trading desks and deal-making toward income streams that remain more predictable over time. Goldman's asset management arm has been collecting fees across a range of transactions, including bond underwriting and advisory work tied to the AI capital expenditure buildout, with investment banking fees reaching $2.84 billion in the most recent quarter — up nearly 50% from a year earlier.
The appeal of arrangements like these lies partly in their durability — retirement mandates tend to produce fees that flow steadily for years, making them prized assets in what has become a fiercely contested corner of the investment management industry.