Today we're going to talk about the world's leading investment banks--$Goldman Sachs Group (GS.US) $。

Founded in 1869 and headquartered in New York, Goldman Sachs Group is one of the world's oldest and largest investment banks. During the 2008 financial crisis, there were only two major American investment banks that retained their independence and survived. One is$Morgan Stanley (MS.US) $One is$Goldman Sachs Group (GS.US) $. While former partner Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, Goldman Sachs Group turned to receive US $10 billion from the US government and US $5 billion from Buffett. Instead of bankruptcy, he grew stronger.

Business overview

Goldman Sachs Group ploughs the whole industry chain of investment bank, and its business is divided into four departments: investment banking business, global market business, asset management business and consumer and wealth management business.

(1) Investment banking

The company provides investment banking services to a variety of enterprises, financial institutions, investment funds and governments, including strategic advisory services related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, anti-hostile takeovers, restructuring and divestitures, public offerings, private equity and debt underwriting.

In addition, the company provides loans to corporate customers, including relationship loans, intermediate market loans and acquisition financing. The company also provides transaction banking services to some corporate customers.

(2) Global market business

The business provides market-making and clearing services such as fixed income, stocks, currencies and commodities for institutional clients. In addition, the division also provides financing for institutional clients.

(3) Asset management business

Through accounts such as mutual funds and private equity funds, the company provides asset management services to a range of institutions and high net worth clients, covering almost all major asset classes.

The company also makes equity investments and alternative investments. Goldman Sachs Group also invests in corporate debt and provides financing for real estate and other asset businesses.

(4) Consumer and wealth management business

The department provides investment and wealth consulting solutions for individuals, including financial planning and consulting, brokerage transaction execution and asset management.

The company also provides loans, deposits and investment services through its consumer banking digital platform Marcus by Goldman Sachs and private banks, and issues credit cards to consumers.

The king of global mergers and acquisitions, the first for five years in a row

Since 2017, Goldman Sachs Group has been the number one M & A consultant in the world for five consecutive years. The total value of M & A transactions completed leads the industry and enjoys a global reputation.

According to GlobalData's financial transaction database, Goldman Sachs Group is the top financial adviser on the value and volume of M & A transactions in 2021. Goldman Sachs Group advised on 468 deals worth about $1.2 trillion, the most valuable of all. Aurojyoti Bose, chief analyst at GlobalData, commented that about 50 per cent of the deals advised by Goldman Sachs Group were $1 billion. Of these, there are 27 mega-deals worth more than or equal to $10 billion. Goldman Sachs Group has played a vital role in the field of global M & A transactions.

Despite the economic downturn this year, the financing environment is not so favourable. But M & An activity remains good this year.

Goldman Sachs Group strategist Sienna Mori pointed out that even in the summer, which traditionally belongs to the "off-season of mergers and acquisitions," this Monday alone, $21 billion worth of mergers and acquisitions were announced, including private equity firm Vista Equity Partners's agreement to buy tax management software providers for $8.4 billion in all-cash.$Avalara (AVLR.US) $, and$Pfizer Inc (PFE.US) $) plans to acquire drug makers of sickle cell disease (SCD) for $5.4 billionGlobal Blood Therapy (GBT.US) $。

The transformation of digital power C-end, the scale of assets under management continues to rise.

In 2016, Goldman Sachs Group launched his online digital consumer financial services platform, Marcus, marking a formal foray into consumer lending and retail banking. The launch of Marcus will help Goldman Sachs Group to diversify the sources of funds and improve the level of liquidity.

March 2019$Apple Inc (AAPL.US) $Choose Goldman Sachs Group as the issuing bank to issue credit cards. This credit card is of great significance to the business layout of both parties.It is not only Apple Inc's first credit card, but also regarded as the beginning of Goldman Sachs Group's entry into personal financial business, and Goldman Sachs Group's first consumer credit card.. Only a month and a half after the launch of Apple Card, Goldman Sachs Group has issued a credit line of $10 billion to users, with outstanding results living up to Cook's expectations of "the most successful credit card issue in history."

Goldman Sachs Group's C-end road has not been plain sailing. Goldman Sachs Group's credit card size was about $12 billion at the end of June, up from $5 billion a year ago. However, this figure is dwarfed by established competitors such as JPMorgan Chase & Co.$JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.US) $Credit card loans totaled $165 billion last quarter.

In early August, Goldman Sachs Group disclosed in a regulatory filing that the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was investigating the business practices of its credit card division in a number of areas, including how the bank handled customer refunds and resolved bill disputes. The investigation focuses on Goldman Sachs Group's credit card account management regulations in the United States, of which Apple Card is an important part.

Of course, there are also noteworthy places, in recent years, Goldman Sachs Group in the management of assets continues to rise. The consumer and wealth management business generated a record quarterly net income of $2.18 billion, 25 per cent higher than in the second quarter of 2021, according to Q2 in 2022. The company's assets under management (AUS, Asset Under Supervision) increased by $101 billion in the quarter, bringing the total size to $2.495 trillion. It has recorded 11 consecutive years of growth since 2011.

Assets under management reflect the market's trust in the investment ability of investment banks. Goldman Sachs Group's assets under management include the assets of the company's institutional clients, the assets of third-party distributors (both of which are included in the asset management department), and high net worth client assets (including consumer and wealth management).

The dividend is solid, increasing by 300% in three years.

As an investment bank, Goldman Sachs Group is often regarded as a company with unstable profits. However, the company has not been stingy in terms of dividends. Since it went public in 1999, the company has recorded 22 consecutive years of dividends. Thanks to the rise in global asset prices released by the Federal Reserve in recent years, the company has made a lot of money, and its net profit hit an all-time high in 2021.

In order to repay shareholders, the company has raised dividends several times. After the second quarter of this year, the company raised its third-quarter dividend by 25%, from $2 a share to $2.50 a share. It has grown from US $0.8 per share in 2019 to US $2.50 per share, an increase of more than 300%. Goldman Sachs Group may be a very attractive value choice for dividend investors.

According to Tipsrank, 17 Wall Street analysts have rated Goldman Sachs Group in the past three months, with 13 buy ratings and 4 hold ratings, with an average target price of $394.27, meaning about 13% upside.