The companies on the Global 500 employ 70.2 million people, and their revenue represents more than one-third of the world’s GDP.

Fortune Global 500

With a combined revenue of $21 trillion and $2.1 trillion in profits, the 2026 Fortune 500 is the definitive list of America's largest companies.

Fortune 500

The 300 companies on this year’s list brought in over $12.5 trillion in revenue for the latest 12 months, with the median revenue figure at $24 billion.

America's Most Innovative Companies

AI is a major force shaping this year’s list—but it’s far from the only story.

World's Most Admired Companies

The corporations on our annual list of the world's 500 largest companies combined to generate $41.7 trillion in revenue over the past year.

Almost $20 trillion in revenue—and a record-breaking $1.87 trillion in profits. Introducing the 2025 Fortune 500, the definitive list of the biggest companies in America.

The 300 companies on this year’s list brought in over $12.6 trillion in revenue for the latest 12 months, with the median revenue figure at $22 billion.

Leaders in all industries rely more than ever on Big Tech—and appreciate the giants that deliver, at scale, without drama.

The corporations on our annual list posted aggregate revenues of $41 trillion for the second year in a row.

Industries included in the sector are banks, insurance, and real estate companies.

Fortune Sector Leaders: Financials

The Fortune 500, in its 70th year in 2024, ranks the biggest U.S. companies by revenue.

The 26th edition of the list shows how much esteem Big Tech giants command among other business leaders.

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The 25th Fortune World’s Most Admired Companies list suggests that tech giants’ peers respect them as much as ever.

WMAC 2023-Goldman Sachs

The corporations on our annual list of the world’s largest companies delivered a record $41 trillion in aggregate revenues.

The Fortune 500, in its 69th year in 2023, ranks the biggest U.S. companies by revenue.

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The financial services firm, best known for its prominent investment banking wing and asset management unit, rose two spots on this year’s list, growing revenue 5.7% despite a tumultuous year for the financial sector. 
<ul> 
 	<li>The company brought in $68.7 billion in revenue as it opened new offices and expanded its client base.</li> 
 	<li>Goldman Sachs’ profits plunged in 2022 as the private and public markets took a beating. The bank brought in $11.3 billion, down 48% from the year prior.</li> 
 	<li>In May 2023 the firm reportedly noted in an internal memo its plan to open an office in Abu Dhabi, thus expanding its Middle East footprint.</li> 
 	<li>Also in May, the firm agreed to pay $215 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging Goldman Sachs had been underpaying women across several divisions.</li> 
</ul>

Just as it dominates our economy, Big Tech now dominates Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation.

WMAC 2022-21-Goldman Sachs

Aggregate sales hit $37.8 trillion last year—an increase of 19%, the highest annual growth rate in the list’s history.

Fortune collaborated with the Diligent Institute to rank the most innovative boards of directors among S&P 500.

Modern Boards 2022 Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs scored high in gender equality and board expertise. The board of the investment banking giant is led by Adebayo O. Ogunlesi, who is the chairman and managing partner of private equity firm Global Infrastructure Partners and before that was an executive at Credit Suisse. Former president of Harvard University Drew G. Faust is on Goldman’s board, as is Michele Burns, the former CFO of Marsh &amp; McLennan Cos. and CEO at Mercer, the human resources consultancy; Ellen J. Kullman, former CEO of DuPont; and Jan E. Tighe, a former vice admiral of the Navy, where she was deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare and director of naval intelligence.

Fortune Modern Board 25

This year’s Fortune 500 marks the 68th running of the list.

F500 2022-Goldman Sachs

Coming off a record year in pretty much everything, Goldman Sachs barreled into 2022 ready to do more. The bank reported record net revenues in 2021, while leading the field in announced and completed mergers and acquisitions. It advised on over 200 deals in 2021, which together were valued at more than $1 trillion and represented a dominant market share of more than 24%. Goldman’s impressive 2021 was dampened somewhat by a less-than-stellar beginning to 2022, when it recorded a 42% slump in Q1 profits. The invasion of Ukraine has made the dealmaking environment much less appealing, despite promising growth for Goldman’s wealth management and trading arms.

After a year in which humanity leaned more heavily than ever on tech giants, see which companies topped Fortune's ranking of corporate reputation.

WMAC 2021-26-Goldman Sachs

Total revenue for the world’s biggest companies fell 4.8% to $31.7 trillion this year—the first decline in half a decade.

G500-2021-193-GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP

In spite of the pandemic, 2020 was a banner year for Goldman Sachs. The bank emerged from the global health crisis with profits up 12% and its highest net revenues in over a decade, boosted by big numbers in trading and dealmaking. Robust results from underwriting and issuance, amid a flurry of IPOs and SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies), helped too. In early 2021, Goldman narrowly evaded hefty losses from its dealings with family office Archegos, whose bets imploded in a fiasco that cost many of Goldman’s peers billions of dollars. Meanwhile, the bank continued its multiyear push into consumer banking, launching Marcus Invest—a belated entry into the popular robo-adviser market catering to Main Street investors.

This year’s Fortune 500 marks the 67th running of the list.

F500-2021-59-Goldman Sachs

For an astounding 13th straight year, Apple claims the top spot in Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation, based on a survey of almost 3,800 executives, directors, and analysts.

Our 2020 list of the 100 best companies as ranked by their employees. See which companies made the list.

Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For

This year's Fortune Global 500 generated $33.3 trillion in revenues and $2.1 trillion in profits.

G500-2020-202-Goldman-Sachs

For much of its long history, Goldman Sachs served corporations and wealthy clients, not average individuals. In search of more predictable sources of revenue, the bank is now looking to Main Street and beyond. Under the leadership of CEO David Solomon, Goldman Sachs has expanded its push into consumer banking, grown its wealth management business, and launched a treasury services business for corporations, all with the aim of offsetting volatile revenues from trading. Its consumer push is making a big splash: Last year, the bank announced that it was issuing tech giant Apple’s digital-first credit card.

The 40 companies highlighted on this year's list support personal growth, outside-the-box thinking, and diversity in the workplace.

best workplaces new york 2020-The Goldman Sachs Group

Employees say: 
 
"From the most senior person to the most junior, people here are extremely responsive and generally willing to help each other regardless of title."

Best Large Workplaces in New York

The best workplaces in financial services and insurance balance technological growth with the well-being of their talent.

Best Large Workplaces in Financial Services- 2020-The Goldman Sachs

Employees say: 
“It's a rare combination in that the organization is comprised of competitive, driven, and impressive people; that said, it's the most collaborative environment that emphasizes team culture and rising tides lifting all ships like no place else.” 
Read Great Place to Work review .

Best Large Workplaces in Financial Services and Insurance

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 66th running of the list.

F500-2020-060-Goldman-Sachs

For much of its long history, Goldman Sachs served corporations and wealthy clients, but not average individuals. Now, in search of more predictable sources of revenue, the bank is looking to Main Street and beyond. Under the leadership of CEO David Solomon, Goldman Sachs has expanded its push into consumer banking, grown its wealth management business, and launched a treasury services business for corporations, all with the aim of offsetting volatile revenues from trading. In particular, its consumer push is making a big splash: Last year, the bank announced that it was issuing issue tech giant Apple’s digital-first credit card.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2019 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

Our 2019 list of the 100 best companies as ranked by their employees. See which companies made the list.

This year's Fortune Global 500 generated $27.7 trillion in revenues and $1.5 trillion in profits.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 65th running of the list.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2018 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

Our 2018 list of the 100 best companies as ranked by their employees. See which companies made the list.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 64th running of the list.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2017 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

Our 2017 list of the 100 best companies as ranked by their employees. See which companies made the list.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 63rd running of the list.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2016 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

Google/Alphabet is the No. 1 place to work for the seventh time in 10 years. Six newcomers include Veterans United at No. 30, Hilton Hotels at No. 56, and Slalom Consulting at No. 100. IKEA’s U.S. arm returns to the list, along with GoDaddy and Sheetz.

This year's Fortune Global 500 generated $27.6 trillion in revenues and $1.5 trillion in profits.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 62nd running of the list.

Business insiders have spoken: Asked which companies they most admire, more than 4,100 executives, directors, and analysts chose these top 50 All-Stars.

This year’s list marks Fortune's 18th year of partnering with Great Place to Work. Google ranks No.1 for the sixth time, and 16 new companies make impressive debuts, including Acuity (No. 3), Twitter (No. 24), and Riot Games (No. 13).

The world's 500 largest companies generated $31.2 trillion in revenues and $1.7 trillion in profits in 2014. Together, this year's Fortune Global 500 employ 65 million people worldwide and are represented by 36 countries.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 61st running of the list. Wal-Mart claims the top spot again. See who made the list.

Google tops the list once again, marking its eighth appearance and fifth time as No. 1.

Global business is back. After limping through a worldwide financial crisis and economic slowdown, the 500 largest companies ranked by revenues shattered all sorts of performance records in 2013: They racked up combined revenues of $31.1 trillion, up 2.5% from 2012, and profits soared 27% to nearly $2 trillion. China’s 95 companies (up from 89 last year) posted $5.8 trillion in revenues. The U.S. has four fewer companies on the list than last year but remains (for now) the country leader, with 128 corporations on the list—including No. 1 Wal-Mart Stores—reporting $8.6 trillion in revenues. 

Wal-Mart stayed on top as its sales crept closer to half-a-trillion dollars. Apple moved into the top five. And UnitedHealth Group continued its steady climb. 

Perks

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Subsidized childcare

Compressed work weeks

Fully-paid sabbaticals

On-site fitness/subsidized gym

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Health insurance for part-timers

Sick days for part-timers

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Goldman Sachs Group is a global investment banking, securities, and investment management firm. It caters to corporations, financial institutions, and high-net-worth individuals. In 2023, it was the world’s second-largest investment bank by revenue. In 2019, Goldman partnered with Apple to introduce the Apple credit card. Almost four years later, the bank was looking for an exit from the arrangement, part of its efforts to scale back its retail ambitions.

Q2 2026

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Q4 2024

Goldman Sachs Group (GS): Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings

legacy

Goldman Sachs Group

goldman sachs group

Good morning. My name is Katie and I'll be your conference facilitator today. I would like to welcome everyone to the Goldman Sachs Fourth Quarter 2025 Earnings Conference Call. On behalf of Goldman Sachs, I will begin the call with the following disclaimer. The earnings presentation can be found on the investor relations page of the Goldman Sachs website and contains information on forward-looking statements and non-GAAP measures. This audio cast is copyrighted material of the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., and may not be duplicated, reproduced, or rebroadcast without consent. This call is being recorded today, January 15th, 2026. I will now turn the call over to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David Solomon and Chief Financial Officer Denis Coleman. Thank you. Mr. Solomon, you may begin your conference.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for joining us. I'm very pleased with our strong performance in the fourth quarter. We generated earnings per share of $14.01, an ROE of 16%, and an ROTE of 17.1%. For the full year, we delivered earnings per share of $51.32, a 27% increase versus last year, an ROE of 15%, and an ROTE of 16%. Before we review our financials in detail, I want to discuss our longer-term performance and provide an update to you on our strategy. Beginning on page one, in 2020, we held the firm's first Investor Day and laid out a clear and comprehensive strategy to grow and strengthen the firm. We also set a number of targets so we would be held accountable for our progress.

Since then, guided by our purpose to be the most exceptional financial institution in the world, supported by our core values of client service, integrity, partnership, and excellence, we continue to successfully execute on this strategy. We increased firm-wide revenues by roughly 60%. We grew EPS by 144%. We improved our returns by 500 basis points, and we delivered a total shareholder return of over 340%, the most of our peer group over this time frame. As you can see on page two, we achieved this while also materially improving the risk profile of the firm and enhancing the resilience of our earnings. We have doubled our more durable revenues. We have reduced historical principal investments by over 90% from roughly $64 billion down to $6 billion.

The results of these multi-year efforts to scale capital-like businesses and reduce our capital intensity were reflected in our most recent CCAR stress test, where we've driven a 320 basis points improvement in our stress capital buffer. All in, we have strengthened and grown the firm through a relentless focus on delivering excellence to our clients. Turning to page three, I want to highlight our strong execution in 2025. Our success is fueled by our world-class interconnected franchises that deliver One Goldman Sachs to our clients around the globe. In Global Banking & Markets, we maintained our position as the number one M&A advisor in investment banking and number one equities franchise alongside our leading position in FICC. We improved our standing with the top 150 clients in these businesses, which has contributed to 350 basis points of wallet share gains in GBM since 2019.

We significantly increased our more durable FICC and equities financing revenues, which grew to a new record of $11.4 billion for the year and generated returns in excess of 16% in the segment. At Asset & Wealth Management, we are a top five active asset manager, a leading alternatives franchise, and a premier ultra-high net worth wealth manager. We've consistently grown more durable management and other fees in Private Banking and Lending revenues, which were both records in 2025, and also raised a record $115 billion in alternatives. Our strong execution has led to improvement in both the margins and the returns in this segment. Importantly, we're taking the final steps needed to narrow our strategic focus. In addition to completing the transition of the General Motors credit card program last August, last week we announced an agreement to transition the Apple Card portfolio.

Let's turn to page four for a deeper dive on our franchises, starting with Investment Banking, where we have been the number one M&A advisor for 23 consecutive years. Very few, if any, service businesses of our size can claim longstanding leadership to this degree. This is a reflection of the strength of our client relationships, as well as the quality of our people and the advice and execution capabilities they bring to our clients. Since 2020, we've generated an incremental $5 billion in advisory revenues versus the number two competitor. And in 2025 alone, we've advised on more than $1.6 trillion of announced M&A transaction volumes, over $250 billion ahead of the next closest peer. Over the last year, we've seen high levels of client engagement across our Investment Banking franchise, and we expect activity to accelerate in 2026.

Our outlook is supported by a number of catalysts: corporate focus on strategic repositioning, scale, and innovation, the tremendous public and private capital fueling growth in AI, as well as a strong pickup in sponsor activity. Given our best-in-class sponsor franchise, we are especially well positioned to help sponsors deploy the $1 trillion of dry powder they hold and monetize the roughly $4 trillion of value across their portfolio companies. Increased levels of engagement are reflected in our backlog, which stands at its highest level in four years. M&A transactions often kick off a flywheel of activity across our entire franchise. Whether it's acquisition, financing, hedging activity, secondary market making, or investing opportunities for our AWM clients, it is unquestionable that there is a significant multiplier effect, and as the number one advisor for over two decades, we are uniquely positioned to capture the significant forward opportunity.

Moving to page five, another growth engine for GBM has been our leading origination and financing businesses. Last year, we announced the creation of the Capital Solutions Group, formalizing a hub to provide our clients a comprehensive suite of financing, origination, structuring, and risk management offerings across both public and private markets. On the public side, we are optimistic about the outlook for equity and debt underwriting, particularly amid the resurgence in the IPO market and a higher acquisition finance-related activity, where we have a longstanding track record and leading market positions. On the private side, our ability to structure holistic solutions has led to a number of asset-backed financings across infrastructure, transportation, and data centers, supported by strong origination and structuring that feed opportunities across our client franchise and our Asset Management platform.

These capabilities have supported our deliberate strategy to grow our more durable financing revenues, providing a ballast to our results and comprising 37% of total FICC and equity revenues in 2025. Since 2021, these have increased at a 17% CAGR, and with risk management always top of mind, we still expect to prudently drive growth from here. On page six, we illustrate the strength and resilience of the FICC and equities intermediation businesses, where we have a demonstrated ability to deliver strong results in a broad array of market environments. While client activity levels in different asset classes ebb and flow in any given quarter, our overall results have been remarkably consistent over time. This reflects the breadth and diversification of these businesses, which have been bolstered by our share gains. We see even more opportunities to further strengthen our franchise.

This includes investing to improve our market-making capabilities and broaden offerings for active and passive ETF issuers. In addition, we are working to close share gaps with key client segments, including insurers, wealth managers, and RIAs, as well as in certain product areas like corporate derivatives. Geographically, we are looking to close the share gap in Asia in part by focusing on these areas. Turning to page seven, our Asset & Wealth Management business has $3.6 trillion in assets under supervision, with global breadth and depth across products and solutions. We've grown more durable revenues across management and other fees in Private Banking and Lending at a 12% CAGR ahead of our target, and we continue to see significant opportunities across Wealth Management, alternatives, and solutions. We have also improved our AWM margins and returns. And given our growth outlook across these businesses, we are setting new targets.

We are increasing our pre-tax margin to 30%, pre-tax margin target to 30%, which will help drive high-teens returns in AWM over the medium term. Let's dive deeper into our key growth opportunities, starting with Wealth Management on page eight. Over the last 50 years, we have built a premier franchise with $1.9 trillion in client assets that is centered around meeting the distinct investing, planning, and borrowing needs of the ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices, endowments, and foundations. Over the last five years, we drove long-term fee-based inflows at an annual pace of 6% and grew Wealth Management revenues at a CAGR of 11%. We expect further growth from here. Specifically, we are broadening our client base by increasing the number of advisors and content specialists globally. We are expanding our loan product offerings in line with client demand.

We are enhancing alternatives investment offerings to facilitate clients moving closer to their optimal target allocations. And we are continuing elevating the overall client experience, including via enhanced digital offerings and more expansive thought leadership engagements that leverage the convening power of Goldman Sachs. To sharpen our focus on future growth and Wealth Management, we are introducing a new target of 5% long-term fee-based net inflows annually across the platform. On page nine, we highlight our other key growth opportunities in Asset & Wealth Management: alternatives and solutions. We have a leading alternatives platform where we've raised $438 billion since our 2020 Investor Day, and we have grown alternatives management and other fees to a record of $2.4 billion. We continue to scale our flagship fund programs while concurrently developing new strategies.

Given our success in strengthening and growing our alternative platforms, we believe we can raise between $75-$100 billion annually on a sustainable basis. As these funds continue to be deployed, we expect double-digit growth in alternative management and other fees. We expect fee-paying alternative assets under supervision to reach $750 billion by 2030. This further supports our existing target of generating $1 billion in incentive fees annually. We are also pleased with the progress across our Solutions business, where we see secular growth in demand for our products and services. We are the number one outsourced OCIO manager in the U.S., providing clients a one-stop shop for their investment needs, advice, portfolio construction, risk management, and hedging, and we've won significant global mandates this year from firms including Eli Lilly and Shell.

We are also the number one separately managed account platform and the second largest insurance solutions provider. Looking forward, we see continued opportunities for growth, including in third-party wealth in the context of alternatives offerings, ETFs, and customized solutions like direct indexing. In addition, we are expanding our capabilities in the retirement channel via partnerships, further deepening our strong relationships with insurers and enhancing our offerings for institutional clients, including sovereign wealth funds. Turning to page ten, building on our strong organic growth, we are accelerating our growth trajectory in Asset & Wealth Management through our recent strategic partnerships and acquisitions. Our collaboration with T. Rowe Price will deliver a range of public and private market solutions for retirement and wealth investors. Last month, we announced the launch of co-branded model portfolios, the first of four planned product offerings.

We recently closed the acquisition of Industry Ventures, a venture capital platform that adds an attractive technology investment capability to our market-leading secondary investing franchise, XIG, where we now have over $500 billion in assets under supervision. Most recently, we announced the acquisition of Innovator, which significantly scales our businesses to be in the top 10 of active ETF providers globally, particularly in the fast-growing outcome-based ETF segment. While the bar for transformational M&A remains very high, we will continue to look for ways to accelerate growth in Asset & Wealth Management. Turning to page 11, we have a long history of prudent and dynamic capital management, and our philosophy remains unchanged. We prioritize investing across our client franchises at attractive returns, sustainably growing our dividends, and returning excess capital to shareholders in the form of buybacks. We see meaningful opportunities to deploy capital across our franchise.

This includes leaning into acquisition financing as M&A activity accelerates, supporting growth in equities and FICC financing, and increasing lending to our ultra-high net worth clients. That said, given our strong earnings generation capability and excess capital positions, we also have capacity to return more capital to shareholders. Today, we are announcing a $0.50 increase in our quarterly dividend to $4.50, representing a 50% increase from a year ago. In addition, we have $32 billion of remaining buyback capacity under our current share repurchase authorization. And while we are mindful of our current stock price, we will remain dynamic in executing repurchases. Turning to page 12, as we continue to grow the firm and strategically deploy our balance sheet to support client activity, our unwavering focus remains on maintaining a disciplined risk management framework and robust standards.

We have been on a multi-year journey to diversify our funding footprint, including building strategic deposit-raising channels such as Private Banking, Marcus, and Transaction Banking. This has significantly improved our funding structure. Our deposits have grown to $501 billion and now represent roughly 40% of our total funding. We continue to optimize activity in our bank equity, which held 35% of firm-wide assets at year-end versus 25% at the time of our first Investor Day.

Overall, this progress underscores our commitment to the diversification and resiliency of our funding profile, which has improved our funding costs and our financial flexibility. All in, our robust capital position, diversified funding mix, dynamic liquidity management, and strong risk discipline are foundational to the strength and stability of our balance sheet, allowing us to meet the evolving demands of our clients. Moving to page 13, last quarter, we announced the One Goldman Sachs 3.0.

We announced the launch of One Goldman Sachs 3.0, our new operating model propelled by AI. We are excited to embark on this effort, starting with six work streams we identified as ripe for disruption. Our people have begun thorough assessments of opportunities for efficiency, and we will then invest to re-engineer these processes from the ground up. We will be measuring and driving accountability, and we will update you over the coming year with additional details regarding these metrics. Let's turn to page 14. The exceptional service we provide our clients is a direct result of our people, who are our most important asset. Our client franchise is powered by our best-in-class talent and culture, and it is critical that we continue to invest in them. Goldman Sachs is an aspirational brand around the globe, which allows us to attract quality talent at all levels.

As an example, in 2025, we had over 1.1 million experienced hire applications, a 33% increase from last year. In our summer internship program, we maintained a selection rate of less than 1%. Many of these individuals will have long careers at the firm, exemplified by the fact that roughly 45% of our partners started as campus hires. While some leave for opportunities elsewhere, these firms often become important clients to Goldman Sachs. Today, more than 650 of our alumni are in C-suite roles at companies with either a market cap greater than $1 billion or assets under management greater than $5 billion. On page 15, we outline our firm-wide through-the-cycle targets.

Given the successful execution against our strategic priorities, we are confident that we will continue to deliver on these, and in the near term, we believe there are catalysts that position us to exceed our return targets. We have the number one M&A advisory. We are the number one M&A advisor within our leading Global Banking & Markets franchise that is poised to capitalize on a cyclical upswing in Investment Banking activity. A scaled Asset & Wealth Management business with higher margin and return targets and clear opportunities for future growth and tailwinds from a more balanced regulatory regime. In closing, I am incredibly proud of what we have delivered, and I'm confident that we will continue to serve our clients with excellence and drive strong returns for our shareholders. Let me now turn it over to Denis to cover our financial results in more detail.

Thank you, David, and good morning. Let's start with our results on page 16 of the presentation. In the fourth quarter, we generated revenues of $13.5 billion, earnings per share of $14.01, an ROE of 16%, and an ROTE of 17.1%. For the full year, we delivered earnings per share of $51.32, a 27% increase versus last year, an ROE of 15%, and an ROTE of 16%, improving 230 and 250 basis points respectively compared to 2024. As David mentioned, we announced an agreement to transition the Apple Card portfolio. For the quarter, the transition had a net positive impact of $0.46 to EPS and 50 basis points to ROE, as a $2.3 billion revenue reduction was more than offset by a $2.5 billion reserve release upon moving the portfolio to held for sale.

Given that we are taking our final steps to narrow our strategic focus, you will have seen we implemented minor organizational changes and made corresponding updates to our segments, which are incorporated in our earnings presentation today. Turning to results by segment, starting on page 18, Global Banking & Markets produced record revenues of $41.5 billion for the year, up 18% amid broad-based strength versus last year. In the fourth quarter, investment banking fees of $2.6 billion rose 25% year-over-year, driven by increases in each of advisory, debt underwriting, and equity underwriting. For 2025, we maintained our number one position in the league tables for announced and completed M&A and also ranked first in leveraged lending. We ranked third in equity underwriting and second in common stock offerings, convertibles, and high-yield offerings.

Even with very strong accruals in the fourth quarter, our Investment Banking backlog rose for a seventh consecutive quarter to a four-year high, primarily driven by advisory. As David mentioned, we are optimistic on the Investment Banking outlook for 2026 and the multiplier effect this activity has across our franchise. FICC net revenues were $3.1 billion in the quarter, up 12% year-over-year. In intermediation, the 15% year-over-year increase was driven by rates and commodities, and in financing, revenues rose 7% to a new record on better results within mortgages and structured lending. Equities net revenues were $4.3 billion in the quarter. Equities intermediation revenues were $2.2 billion, up 11% year-over-year on better performance and derivatives. Equities financing results hit a quarterly record of $2.1 billion, up 42% versus the prior year amid record average balances in prime.

For the full year, total equities net revenues were a record $16.5 billion, surpassing last year's record by over $3 billion, helped by the multi-year investments we've made in this business. Moving to Asset & Wealth Management on page 20. For 2025, revenues were $16.7 billion, and our pre-tax margin was 25%. Segment ROE for the year was 12.5%, and in the mid-teens, when adjusted for the 230 basis point impact from HPI and its related equity, as well as the FDIC special assessment fee. In the quarter, management and other fees were a record $3.1 billion, up 5% sequentially and 10% year-over-year. Private Banking and Lending revenues rose 5% year-over-year to $776 million, as higher results from lending and deposits related to Wealth Management clients were partially offset by NIM compression in the Marcus deposit portfolio.

Incentive fees for the quarter were $181 million, bringing our full-year incentive fees to $489 million, up 24% versus the prior year. We expect to make further progress in 2026 towards our annual target of $1 billion. Now moving to page 21, total assets under supervision ended the quarter at a record $3.6 trillion, driven by $66 billion of long-term fee-based net inflows across asset classes and $50 billion of liquidity inflows. In conjunction with our new long-term fee-based inflow target in Wealth Management, we are providing enhanced disclosures outlining inflows and long-term AUS by channel. Turning to page 22 on Alternatives, alternative AUS totaled $420 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, driving $645 million in management and other fees. Gross third-party fundraising was $45 billion in the fourth quarter and $115 billion for the year.

Moving to page 24, our total loan portfolio at quarter end was $238 billion, up sequentially reflecting higher collateralized lending balances. Provision for credit losses reflected a net benefit of $2.1 billion, including the previously mentioned reserve release associated with the Apple Card portfolio. Let's turn to expenses on page 25. Total operating expenses for the year were $37.5 billion. Compensation expenses were $18.9 billion and included $250 million of severance costs, driving a full-year compensation ratio net of provisions of 31.8%. Full-year non-compensation costs of $18.6 billion were up 9% year-over-year, driven primarily by higher transaction-based activity. While the operating environment for our businesses continues to improve, we remain committed to our key strategic priority of operating more efficiently and are maintaining a rigorous focus on advancing our productivity and efficiency initiatives as part of One Goldman Sachs 3.0. Our effective tax rate for 2025 was 21.4%.

For 2026, we expect a tax rate of approximately 20%. Next capital on slide 26. Our common equity tier 1 ratio was 14.4% at the end of the fourth quarter under the standardized approach. In the fourth quarter, we returned approximately $4.2 billion to common shareholders, including common stock repurchases of $3 billion and dividends of $1.2 billion. In conclusion, our strong performance this year reflects the strength of our client franchise and our multi-year execution on our strategic priorities. We see a highly constructive setup for 2026 as the improving Investment Banking environment and our deep client connectivity position us to capture significant opportunities across the entire firm. At the same time, we remain mindful that the operating environment can shift quickly. Economic growth, policy uncertainty, geopolitical developments, and market volatility are factors we continue to monitor closely.

And as always, disciplined risk management will remain central to how we serve clients and allocate resources. Even so, with solid momentum and growth opportunities across our businesses, we are optimistic on the forward outlook for Goldman Sachs and remain confident in our ability to deliver for clients and drive strong returns for shareholders. With that, we will now open up the line for questions.

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now take a moment to compile the Q&A roster. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, press star, then two on your telephone keypad. If you're asking a question and you are on a hands-free unit or a speakerphone, we'd like to ask you use your handset when asking your question. Please limit yourself to one question and one follow-up question. We will take our first question from Glenn Schorr with Evercore.

Hi, thanks very much. Great thoughts and detail in there. One narrow one first. I guess I'll ask it simply. How do you plan to scale wealth from here? And I want to include that if you could, your aspirations, meaning we had a little experiment with United Capital, but you're amazing in ultra-high net worth, and I'm curious about the rest of wealth. You've done a couple of things in RIA land, so maybe we could talk about that and then zoom out after that. Thanks.

Sure. And I appreciate the question, Glenn. I think our ultra-high net worth franchise is extraordinary. I think we have a leading position here in the United States, strong position, but obviously with room for more share and footprint in Europe and in Asia. But I think it's a highly differentiated offering for wealthy individuals and people that have very, very complex needs from a wealth perspective. That business scales with people. You heard in technology, but you heard in our remarks that we're continuing to invest in and broadening the footprint and the coverage available and the resources to expand that ultra-high net worth footprint.

As you point out, we did do an experiment with United Capital, but we've reached the conclusion that the right way for us, given our manufacturing capability and Asset Management, to really explore broader access to wealth is through third-party wealth channels. And so I think you know we're making very significant investments in our third-party wealth capability. That includes partnerships with RIAs and footprint with RIAs. And we have great product manufacturing capability.

We can use others' distribution very, very effectively, given our brand and our very, very complete and diverse product offering, and that will help us continue to scale. But in direct full-service product wealth, we're going to stick with ultra-high net worth wealth. And what's interesting is, obviously, you've got a bunch of secular things going on that are growing the available people that need these services.

You have a huge generational wealth transfer that's going on that's bringing a whole new generation in that needs these services, and it's a very fragmented business, and we think we have a very differentiated offering with lots of upside. Look, you heard what we said about our capabilities and wealth and our target to continue to grow those long-term fee-based wealth assets by 5% as we go forward.

I appreciate all that, David. Bigger picture, obviously, really strong results, good backdrop. Middle of the range, despite all these strong results, because I think there's mixed operating leverage or people always want more operating leverage during big market peaks. So I'm going to flip the comment around and just ask, what's your level of confidence you've raised the floor with everything that you've laid out and everything you've executed on? Because in the past, when markets pull back off highs, returns for you and others would drift back to the low double digits and sometimes a little bit lower. But I guess I'm curious on how much you think with all that progress you've built, how much have you raised the floor?

I think we've raised the floor. I think we've raised the floor meaningfully based on the work we've done, the growth that we've done. In particular, the growth of durable revenues, which will be less affected, not affected, but less affected if we get into some sort of a downturn or a more challenging environment. If you step back to our Investor Day the firm's returns in the 10 years before our Investor Day averaged 9 and change percent. And so I think we now are operating with a Global Banking & Markets franchise that should run mid-teens through the cycle.

That doesn't mean you couldn't get a very tough environment where it runs lower, but you can also get environments, and this is part of what we've said about 2026, where it has the potential to run higher. But I think we've uplifted the floor very significantly. Now, of course, in very severe downturns, it slows down activity. It impedes confidence, but I just think the firm is bigger, more diversified, much more durable, and better positioned when we have that kind of environment than we've been before. Now, I'm not going to predict the future, and I know it's never a straight line, but I think we've uplifted it very materially.

Thank you. We'll take our next question from Ebrahim Poonawala with Bank of America. 

Good morning. I guess maybe just sticking with the full-cycle ROE, David, maybe the other end of the spectrum, when I talk to investors, just given where the stock's trading, given the performance you've had, and two structural things seem to be happening at Goldman Sachs. One is, obviously, the regulatory backdrop changing is creating more capital flex, and the productivity focus that you've had doubled down with the Goldman Sachs 3.0. Is it fair for a shareholder to assume that absent big peaks and falls, that the business is rebasing to maybe something better than mid-teens returns towards closer to high teens, or is that sort of misplaced and misunderstanding kind of the business dynamics?

Well, I appreciate the question. And look, our goal is going to continue to be to work very, very hard to do everything we can to continue to take the returns higher. We were very pointed in our comments on the last slide in that presentation that we're reaffirming our mid-teens targets. I certainly remember it is not that many quarters ago where many people on this call would ask questions about how we were going to get to mid-teens.

So we've arrived. I think we were pointed in saying this is an environment where the potential to be positioned to exceed targets in the near term is there. But as the previous set of questions just pointed out, there'll be other environments where there could be headwinds. So I think we're very comfortable that we are operating as a mid-teens firm. We think that we can do things that over time will drive upside to that, but we're not going to set targets until we're very comfortable that we've further elevated the firm.

I think one of the most important things coming out of the presentation is the next step in Asset & Wealth Management journey to tell you that given the work we've done and the progress we've made, we now have more confidence that we can operate that business at a higher margin, 30%, which drives a higher return. And so we're comfortable putting that target out, and that, of course, elevates the overall performance of the firm. The other thing I just want to highlight that comes out of your comment is people think about the regulatory environment as changing the capital rules and giving us more capital flexibility.

But I'd also highlight the regulatory environment of the last five years put costs and burdens on the firm that we now won't have going forward that actually gives us flexibility to invest over time in other things that drive growth. So it's not just the capital stuff that's important. It's also the fact that we and others in the industry were burdened by additional costs that now can be directed to what I'd call more productive growth and return for our clients and for our shareholders.

Goldman Sachs Group (GS) Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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