The losses stem from the addition of new business lines, pandemic effects and expense bleed. New accounting rules will also force the firm to set aside more money as loan volumes grow. The figure is also greater than the roughly $1b hit Goldman estimated for 2020, saying it would be the low point for the Marcus venture.
“We would hope and expect that Goldman holds the managers’ feet to the fire in the consumer operation,” said Mike Mayo, an analyst at Wells Fargo & Co. Bleeding money in that unit “could have additional scrutiny if legacy businesses don’t perform as well as in the past couple of years.”