Interview, Fireside Chat
Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon on the Firm’s Performance, the Global Economy & What to Expect in 2022
- Macroeconomic discourse is expected to shift in 2022 toward growth and inflation, with the economy entering a phase of above-trend inflation and slower, more sluggish growth as COVID-19 becomes endemic.
- A "Fed pivot" is anticipated to drive higher interest rates, which will exert downward pressure on equity valuations.
- Given an average public company CEO tenure of four and a half years, the prevailing inflationary period is projected to feel dominant rather than transitory over the next couple of years.
- While regulatory hurdles may increase for large transformative deals, the M&A environment is expected to remain strong, driven by mid-sized transactions ranging from $1 billion to $10 billion.
- Strong companies are predicted to adopt aggressive strategies to consolidate and enhance their positions through M&A.
- Specific deal timelines include the Green Sky acquisition closing very shortly, with integration proceeding slowly via an independent platform before merging into the digital banking platform, and an investment in partners (NN) closing around the end of the first quarter.
- Goldman Sachs plans to provide an updated forward view and outlook for the next few years in February.