Goldman Sachs to Acquire Folio Financial

Through a letter penned and published by its chief executive officer, Steven Wallman, Folio Financial on Wednesday announced it has entered into an agreement to become a part of the Goldman Sachs Group.

PLANADVISER has independently confirm the news with Goldman Sachs, and according to Wallman, the acquisition “represents the culmination of discussions that started in 2019.”

The closing, he says, is subject to regulatory approval and is expected in the third quarter of 2020.

“Joining with Goldman Sachs fulfills Folio’s long-term goal of partnering with a pre-eminent financial services firm to increase the reach and impact of the investment technology and services that many hundreds of people over the last two decades have dedicated their lives to creating,” Wallman says. “This transaction is another landmark event in Folio’s history, as it will further enhance our innovations and bring scale to our business, particularly in the execution, clearing and custody space. Goldman Sachs and Folio share a commitment to serving the needs of our clients and to expanding the scope of sustainable, responsible and impact investing. The combination of Folio’s patented technologies and services with Goldman Sachs’ investment solutions and access to global resources will create material value for our clients.”

This acquisition is far from the first to be made in recent years by Goldman Sachs in the area of financial services technology. As Rob Foregger, co-founder of Next Capital, recently told PLANADVISER, Goldman Sachs’ technology acquisition and innovation strategy is “part of one of the biggest but somewhat overlooked financial news stories going on right now.”