Updated
Updated · Chief Investment Officer · Jul 9
Goldman Sachs Wins $70 Billion Verizon, Lockheed OCIO Mandates, Lifting Platform to $480 Billion
Updated
Updated · Chief Investment Officer · Jul 9

Goldman Sachs Wins $70 Billion Verizon, Lockheed OCIO Mandates, Lifting Platform to $480 Billion

3 articles · Updated · Chief Investment Officer · Jul 9

Summary

  • $70 billion in new outsourced-CIO mandates from Verizon and Lockheed Martin will add $30 billion of defined-benefit assets and $40 billion of defined-contribution assets to Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
  • Those wins lift Goldman’s OCIO assets to $480 billion as large retirement-plan sponsors increasingly hand investment management to a single outside manager after years of funding surpluses.
  • Verizon and Lockheed have also been shrinking pension risk through insurer transfers, including Verizon’s $5.9 billion retiree deal in 2024 and several Lockheed transactions since 2021.
  • Goldman has been building scale in the market with other large mandates, including $43.4 billion from UPS, $40 billion from Shell’s European pension funds and $25 billion from Eli Lilly.

Insights

As corporations dismantle expert teams, is outsourcing pensions a strategic masterstroke or a risky surrender of control?
As a few giants manage trillions in retirement funds, what systemic risks are being quietly created for the market?