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Goldman's LCN Deal Extends Its Push to Scale AWM & Durable Revenues
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In sync with the broader effort to scale Asset & Wealth Management (AWM) and increase the share of recurring, fee-based revenues in its earnings mix, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS - Free Report) entered an agreement to acquire LCN Capital Partners.
Over the past several years, Goldman has sought to reduce earnings volatility by expanding capital-light, fee-generating businesses and reducing the reliance on balance-sheet-intensive investing. The AWM business has become a key pillar of that strategy. According to the Goldman 2025 annual report, the company has doubled its more durable revenues since 2020 while reducing historical principal investments by more than 90%, from roughly $64 billion to $6 billion. Within AWM specifically, management fees and private banking and lending revenues have seen a 12% CAGR since 2021. The AWM segment rose 15% year over year in the first six months of 2026.
Goldman has supported this strategy through a combination of organic fundraising, partnerships and targeted acquisitions. Previously, Goldman partnered with T. Rowe Price to develop public and private-market solutions for retirement and wealth clients, acquired venture-capital platform Industry Ventures, and completed the acquisition of Innovator Capital Management to expand its active ETF capabilities. In August 2026, it agreed to acquire NEOS Investments, further expanding recurring asset-management revenues. The planned buyout of LCN extends this strategy into another area, specialized private real estate.
Goldman’s acquisition of LCN strengthens Asset & Wealth Management business by adding a specialist platform in sale-leaseback, build-to-suit and triple-net-lease investments. Although LCN’s roughly $3 billion in AUS is small relative to GS’s more than $4 trillion firmwide AUS, Goldman can leverage its broader franchise to scale the business.
Overall, the planned acquisition of LCN underscores Goldman’s continued focus on expanding the AWM business and building a more durable revenue base. Alongside its prior acquisitions and strategic partnerships, the latest planned buyout reflects GS’ disciplined approach to adding differentiated investment capabilities that can attract third-party capital and generate recurring management fees. Over time, successful scaling of these platforms should further support Goldman’s transition toward a more capital-light business model, improve the quality of its revenue mix and reduce earnings volatility.
Goldman’s Competitive Landscape?
Two close peers of GS are JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) and Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) , which are also making efforts to expand their AWMbusinesses.
JPMorgan’s AWM segment is a steadier, fee-led profit engine inside the bank, spanning asset management and the private bank. For the first half of 2026, the segment’s revenues rose 15% from the year-ago period. As of June 30, 2026, JPMorgan’s assets under management were $5.14 trillion, up 18% year over year, while client assets increased 19% to $7.66 trillion.
Morgan Stanley’s Wealth and Asset management push is more than a diversification story. For the first half, Wealth Management revenues and Investment Management revenues were $20.6 billion, nearly half of Morgan Stanley’s $41.9 billion in firmwide net revenues. As of June 30, 2026, total client assets across Wealth Management were $8.08 trillion, while assets under management or supervision reached $2 trillion under the Investment Management division.
GS shares have jumped 47.2% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 29.5%.
Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Goldman trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14.65X, above the industry’s average of 14.17X.
Price-to-Earnings F12M
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GS’s 2026 and 2027 earnings implies year-over-year rallies of 34.2% and 4.9%, respectively. Estimates for both years have been revised upward over the past month.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
Goldman's LCN Deal Extends Its Push to Scale AWM & Durable Revenues
In sync with the broader effort to scale Asset & Wealth Management (AWM) and increase the share of recurring, fee-based revenues in its earnings mix, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS - Free Report) entered an agreement to acquire LCN Capital Partners.
Over the past several years, Goldman has sought to reduce earnings volatility by expanding capital-light, fee-generating businesses and reducing the reliance on balance-sheet-intensive investing. The AWM business has become a key pillar of that strategy. According to the Goldman 2025 annual report, the company has doubled its more durable revenues since 2020 while reducing historical principal investments by more than 90%, from roughly $64 billion to $6 billion. Within AWM specifically, management fees and private banking and lending revenues have seen a 12% CAGR since 2021. The AWM segment rose 15% year over year in the first six months of 2026.
Goldman has supported this strategy through a combination of organic fundraising, partnerships and targeted acquisitions. Previously, Goldman partnered with T. Rowe Price to develop public and private-market solutions for retirement and wealth clients, acquired venture-capital platform Industry Ventures, and completed the acquisition of Innovator Capital Management to expand its active ETF capabilities. In August 2026, it agreed to acquire NEOS Investments, further expanding recurring asset-management revenues. The planned buyout of LCN extends this strategy into another area, specialized private real estate.
Goldman’s acquisition of LCN strengthens Asset & Wealth Management business by adding a specialist platform in sale-leaseback, build-to-suit and triple-net-lease investments. Although LCN’s roughly $3 billion in AUS is small relative to GS’s more than $4 trillion firmwide AUS, Goldman can leverage its broader franchise to scale the business.
Overall, the planned acquisition of LCN underscores Goldman’s continued focus on expanding the AWM business and building a more durable revenue base. Alongside its prior acquisitions and strategic partnerships, the latest planned buyout reflects GS’ disciplined approach to adding differentiated investment capabilities that can attract third-party capital and generate recurring management fees. Over time, successful scaling of these platforms should further support Goldman’s transition toward a more capital-light business model, improve the quality of its revenue mix and reduce earnings volatility.
Goldman’s Competitive Landscape?
Two close peers of GS are JPMorgan (JPM - Free Report) and Morgan Stanley (MS - Free Report) , which are also making efforts to expand their AWMbusinesses.
JPMorgan’s AWM segment is a steadier, fee-led profit engine inside the bank, spanning asset management and the private bank. For the first half of 2026, the segment’s revenues rose 15% from the year-ago period. As of June 30, 2026, JPMorgan’s assets under management were $5.14 trillion, up 18% year over year, while client assets increased 19% to $7.66 trillion.
Morgan Stanley’s Wealth and Asset management push is more than a diversification story. For the first half, Wealth Management revenues and Investment Management revenues were $20.6 billion, nearly half of Morgan Stanley’s $41.9 billion in firmwide net revenues. As of June 30, 2026, total client assets across Wealth Management were $8.08 trillion, while assets under management or supervision reached $2 trillion under the Investment Management division.
Goldman’s Price Performance, Valuation, & Estimates
GS shares have jumped 47.2% in the past year compared with the industry’s growth of 29.5%.
Price Performance
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Goldman trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14.65X, above the industry’s average of 14.17X.
Price-to-Earnings F12M
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GS’s 2026 and 2027 earnings implies year-over-year rallies of 34.2% and 4.9%, respectively. Estimates for both years have been revised upward over the past month.
Estimate Revision Trend
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Goldman currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.