Can Goldman's Expansion in Private Equity Credit Drive Growth?

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS is aggressively expanding its private equity and alternatives business through acquisitions, platform enhancements and integration of new investment capabilities, which will likely support its growth over the long run.

In sync with this, in October 2025, Goldman agreed to acquire Industry Ventures, a leading venture capital platform that invests across all stages of the venture capital lifecycle. The planned acquisition of Industry Ventures underscores Goldman’s intent to strengthen its position in private markets and expand access to high-growth technology companies for clients globally.

In September 2025, GS partnered with T. Rowe Price in a $1-billion deal to co-develop retirement and wealth products. Later, the firms expanded the partnership to roll out alternative investment offerings for wealthy clients in 2025 and retirement savers in 2026. In January 2025, the company also launched initiatives to grow private credit and other asset classes, including forming the Capital Solutions Group and expanding its alternatives team.

Further, Goldman is expanding its private equity credit services internationally, focusing on Europe, the U.K. and Asia. The company is also expanding distribution of alternative investments to third-party wealth platforms, targeting $8 billion in client assets for 2025, up from $5 billion in 2024, alongside an increase in its asset management team dedicated to individual investors.

GS’s efforts will enable it to provide clients with access to differentiated sourcing and investing capabilities across private credit and private equity opportunities. Management expects to witness high-single-digit annual growth in private banking and lending revenues over time. The company also expects to raise $100 billion in alternatives this year, substantially exceeding its prior full-year fundraising expectations.

Private Credit Expansion Efforts By Other Finance Firms

Citigroup, Inc. C is broadening its presence in the lucrative private lending business through collaborations. In sync with this, in September 2025, Citigroup launched an $80-billion customized portfolio offering with BlackRock Inc., providing clients with tailored exposure across public and private markets. In June 2025, the company announced a partnership with Carlyle Group to expand asset-based private credit opportunities in the fintech specialty lending space.

In September 2024, Citigroup and Apollo Global Management APO inked a deal for a subsidiary of Citigroup and certain affiliates of Apollo to establish a revolutionary $25-billion private credit, direct lending program. The program will initially focus on North America, potentially expanding to additional geographies. Through the program, Apollo's scalable, substantial capital base will be combined with Citigroup's broad banking client reach, origination and capital market capabilities.

Goldman’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates

GS shares have gained 42.8% year to date compared with the industry’s growth of 36.5%. 

Price Performance

From a valuation standpoint, Goldman trades at a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14.95X, below the industry’s average of 15.07X.

Price-to-Earnings F12M

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for GS’s 2025 and 2026 earnings implies year-over-year rallies of 20.7% and 12.6%, respectively. Estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been revised upward over the past seven days.

Estimate Revision Trend

Goldman currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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