Title:                          Traditional Financial Advising in the Age of Fintech Case

Subject Area:          Corporate strategy

Region:                      United States

Industry:                  Financials Services – Private Wealth Management & Fintech

Company:                 Goldman Sachs, Inc.

Challenge:            In the face of increasing competition of automated investing software, Goldman Sachs Private Wealth Management division, in the financial services industry and located in New York, NY, has to differentiate itself in the market of increasing technology to avert declining revenues in this segment. ● The team was very passionate about the sustainability challenge and conducted extensive research into the corporate company and industry to evaluate different scenarios and assess which one would be the most successful considering the mission, value, and vision of the company.

Investing in Social Capital: Embedding in Industry

• Conducted company, market, and industry research by retrieving data from varying  sources: Goldman Sachs Company Website, Goldman Sachs 2019 & 2018 Report, SEC Regulatory Compliance, Statista, Market Data, NYU Business Journal, News Articles (i.e. Accenture, IBM), and Magazines (i.e. NY Times)
• Received first-hand knowledge and experience from author Mr. James MacKrell, a former PWM seasonal employee, who worked under Mr. John McRoy

Investing in Personal Capital: Elucidating the Team’s Professional Core

• Our team consists of members with a wide range of expertise and subject areas, drawing upon unique work experiences in banking, marketing, consulting and accounting roles.
• Diversity of subject areas and work experience allowed our team to bring a wide variety of expertise to the table, and maximize our recommendation for Goldman Sachs.
• Members of our team have various business-related majors conducting similar in-depth research and case analysis as well as co-op experiences, including:

Katherine Lian – Finance, Management, and Marketing – Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Amundi Pioneer Asset Management

Tess Alonge – Finance – GE, Jefferies, and Hercules Capital

Noumou Dembele – Supply Chain Management and Management – Abbott, TriGlobal and Gulab Fashions

James MacKrell – Finance and Accounting – John Hancock, Merrill Lynch, and Goldman Sachs

Ghala AlShamri– Accounting and Finance – PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)

Investing in Professional Capital: Team Relevance & Rigor

• To solve the challenge, the team conducted extensive research, synthesized information using Strategy in Action course concepts (SWOT Analysis, Porter’s Five Forces, BCG Matrix, etc.), and collaborated as a team to identify the three strategies from strengths & opportunities matches from SWOT Analysis
• The team found that Goldman Sachs has strong human capital capabilities and valuable resources in terms of the quality of their service and reputation. The company operates in a growing market with an increasing focus on technology, and in a rapidly changing industry to meet the needs of younger generations.
• The team recommends a focused differentiation strategy that positions the company to offer an inclusive and all-encompassing financial advising service to address high net worth clients’ financial goals and aspirations with personal individualized planning that robo-advising lacks.
• Solving this real-life challenge with rigor and relevance allowed our team members to practice methods of business strategy and hone skills that will be leveraged in our future careers