Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs recently agreed to purchase Dwight Asset Management from Old Mutual . Dwight is a fixed income manager that specializes in stable value funds. The firm currently has $42 billion in assets under management. Stable value funds provide 401k plan participants with a very low risk fixed income option. The Dwight acquisition will allow Goldman to enhance its offerings in the defined contribution or 401k market. Stable value options are one of the largest asset classes in the 401k space...

Reuters reports that an investment arm of Goldman is near to closing a deal to buy Taikang Life, China's number 4 life insurance company. The French insurer Axa currently owns a 15.6 percent stake in Taikang that is reportedly worth $1.05 billion. Goldman's bid for the assets competed with several other private equity companies. Source: Reuters

The recent hearings on Capitol Hill involving Goldman Sachs and other financial institutions seems to have breathed life into the broad incorporation of fiduciary status within the investment industry. A pair of senators recently proposed to restore fiduciary language into the Wall Street Transparency and Accountability Act of 2010.

Goldman Sachs seems to have faired extraordinarily well through its proprietary trading activities over the past year as the S&P index has risen 73 percent. Meanwhile, a Bloomberg National Poll conducted in March indicates that only three in ten respondents (that's right, 30 percent) say the value of their portolio has risen at all during the past year.