REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
- New York-based Goldman Sachs is considering shifting its asset management operations to Florida, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.
- If the plans pan out, the bank would join other New York-headquartered financial services firms, like Manhattan-based hedge fund giant Elliott Management, making similar moves out of the state.
- The plans to shift asset management to South Florida may ultimately not materialize, and the firm may go for a different city where it has been growing, like Dallas, according to people Bloomberg spoke with.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Goldman Sachs, an icon of New York finance headquartered in a downtown Manhattan skyscraper a short walk from Wall Street, is considering shifting its asset management operations to Florida, according to a new report.
Company executives have looked at possible South Florida office space near Miami, covering areas like Palm Beach County and Fort Lauderdale, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg News.
If the plans pan out, the bank would join other New York-based financial services firms in making similar moves out of the state and to cheaper states and markets as the coronavirus pandemic spurred a wave of remote work.
Goldman Sachs has been speaking with local Florida officials and considering the lower taxes there, per the report. While Bloomberg reported that it is unclear how many people could locate there, staff would include a mix of back-office staff and investment professionals, according to two of the people Bloomberg spoke with.
A spokesperson told Bloomberg that the firm is “executing on the strategy of locating more jobs in high-value locations” across the US, but had no specific plans to announce at this time. A spokesperson did not return Business Insider’s request for comment on the reported plans.
The plans to shift asset management to South Florida may ultimately not materialize, and the firm may go for a different city where it has been growing, like Dallas, according to people Bloomberg spoke with.
A wave of exits from New York and other pricey cities
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted executives in finance and other industry to rethink their commercial real estate footprints. Office space and real estate is often companies largest expense after employees' compensation.
In October, Bloomberg and the Financial Times reported that hedge fund giant Elliott Management plans to move its headquarters from midtown Manhattan to West Palm Beach, Florida.
Meanwhile, Blackstone, the massive Manhattan-based private equity firm, is planning to open an office in South Florida and hire about 215 employees, according to an October report from Bloomberg.
Most of those employees will be back-office technology staffers, according to the report.
It's not only banks and money managers moving out of pricey cities amid widespread remote work and the lure of lower taxes, either. Technology executives have plotted their exits from the San Francisco area, and Charles Schwab, long headquartered in San Francisco, will move its headquarters to the Dallas area.
Read more: Is Silicon Valley finally dead?
Sheila Patel, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said in an interview with Business Insider this summer that the firm has dealt with commuting issues at its new European headquarters that opened just last year in London.
"It has basically no car park because we wanted to discourage driving; it's the city. Boris said, people should drive into the city. What are they supposed to do with their car when they get there?" Patel said, referencing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
