With $464 billion raised in alternatives since 2019 and wealth management fees up 17% year-over-year, the firm is pressing its advantage.
Goldman Sachs reported a strong first quarter for its asset and wealth management business Monday, posting record assets under supervision just as its flagship private credit fund sidestepped a wave of industry redemptions that forced several rivals to cap withdrawals.
Assets under supervision in the firm’s asset & wealth management division hit a record $3.65 trillion as of March 31, up $44 billion from the prior quarter and marking 33 consecutive quarters of long-term fee-based net inflows. Net inflows of $62 billion during the quarter were spread across institutional, wealth management and third-party distributed client channels.
The division generated net revenues of $4.08 billion in the first quarter, a 10% increase year-over-year, driven by management and other fees, which climbed 14% year-over-year to $3.08 billion. Wealth management fees were a standout, rising 17% year-over-year to $1.77 billion.
Goldman’s alternatives platform contributed $597 million in management and other fees, up 13% from Q1 2025. The firm raised $26 billion in gross third-party alternatives capital during the quarter and has pulled in $464 billion across strategies since 2019.
David Solomon, the firm’s chairman and chief executive officer, said Goldman “delivered very strong performance” in the quarter even “as market conditions became more volatile.” He also emphasized that “the geopolitical landscape remains very complex – so disciplined risk management must remain core to how we operate.”
The news comes just after Goldman Sachs Private Credit Corp – the Wall Street giant’s flagship private credit fund with $15.7 billion in assets – reported that first-quarter redemption requests came in at 4.999% of outstanding shares; that’s just under the standard 5% quarterly cap, allowing it to fulfill all withdrawal requests in full. Peers including Blue Owl Capital, Morgan Stanley, BlackRock and Apollo were forced to cap redemptions as withdrawal requests across the sector surged.
Goldman Sachs’ fund pulled in roughly $1.04 billion in new subscriptions during the quarter, keeping net flows positive despite broader market turbulence.
Goldman attributes the fund’s relative stability to its investor composition, with institutional investors accounting for more than four-fifths of its Goldman Sachs Asset Management private credit platform, many sourced through private wealth channels where clients have historically maintained long-term exposure to illiquid assets.
“While retail and some wealth management investors are pulling back from private credit, we believe many institutional investors are recognizing this dislocation as an attractive entry or re-entry point into the asset class,” the fund said in a letter to shareholders.
The firm also sees opportunity in the broader disruption. With retail capital retreating, Goldman says competition among lenders is easing – improving deal terms through stronger covenants, higher spreads and greater borrower costs. The firm is raising a $10 billion direct lending fund, with due diligence underway on more than $10 billion in institutional commitments across its senior direct lending strategies.
More broadly across other parts of its business, Goldman’s results topped expectations as its equities trading unit produced record results, alongside higher-than-expected revenue from investment banking. With earnings coming in at $17.55 per share and revenue at $17.23 billion – compared to pre-earnings estimates of $16.49 per share and $16.97 billion, respectively – the bank reported a 19% profit climb from a year earlier to reach $5.63 billion.
However, the firm’s fixed income operations experienced a 10% drop to $4.01 billion, raising eyebrows as it lagged a StreetAccount estimate by a sizeable $910 million. Goldman attributed that miss to lower revenue from intereest-rate products, credit products, and mortgage-related securities.
