Responding to increasing demand for diversification, Goldman Sachs is making private credit investment available to defined contribution retirement plans.
Goldman Sachs Trust Company has introduced the Goldman Sachs Collective Trust – Private Credit Fund (GS Private Credit CIT), which provides access to a variety of private credit investments through funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The investments include North American and European direct lending and private placements and a “liquidity sleeve” designed to support certain daily liquidity requirements, the company stated in a news release. GS Private Credit CIT is managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management as the investment adviser.
“This solution is designed to meet the practical needs of retirement plans,” Greg Wilson, Global Head of Retirement at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said in the release. “By combining our scale and long history as an innovator in private credit with our broad experience in the defined benefit and defined contribution space, we aim to deliver access to attractive investment opportunities in an accessible format for the defined contribution market. We are proud to be part of Great Gray’s vision for a fully integrated retirement solution.”
Professionally managed portfolios and solutions, such as target date funds, multi-manager bond funds and other multi-manager CIT-based solutions such as those used in managed accounts, will have access to GS Private Credit CIT.
Early User: Great Gray’s New Panorix Target Date Series
Collective investment trust solutions provider Great Gray Trust Company is including the GS Private Credit CIT in its retirement-focused Panorix Target Date Series.
Panorix has a glidepath from BlackRock that allocates funds to public and private markets. It includes liquidity and cashflow management by Wilshire Advisors LLC, BlackRock’s index equity, index fixed income and private equity offerings, and the GS Private Credit CIT. Such investment capabilities were previously available primarily to institutions, according to Black Rock.
“The addition of private credit completes the vision behind Panorix, a purpose-built retirement solution that brings together institutional-quality public and private markets in one seamless structure,” Great Gray CEO Rob Barnett aid in the release. “By collaborating with Goldman Sachs, BlackRock and Wilshire, we’re unlocking broader access to sophisticated strategies that were once out of reach for everyday savers — all while staying anchored to fiduciary standards and participant-first design.”
Private Credit as a Retirement Fund Diversifier
Goldman Sachs’ Multi-Asset Solutions team manages GS Private Credit CIT, which draws on the company’s $142 billion private credit platform. Goldman will utilize its global deal sourcing network and proprietary underwriting capabilities, which previously were available only to institutional investors.
The launch comes in response to increasing demand for private credit as a diversifier, according to the release. More companies are turning to private markets for financing, meaning that public markets provide a smaller portion of investment opportunities, Goldman Sachs said, adding that retirement portfolios face increased concentration risk as a result. Consequently, demand for private credit has increased, with 22% of plan advisors saying they expect to add private markets to defined contribution plans, according to a recent NAPA Advisor Research study.
GS Investment University
In conjunction with the rollout of GS Private Credit CIT, Goldman announced the launch of Goldman Sachs Investment University. The digital education platform provides webinars, research and practical guidance on public and private market strategies that offers advisors, plan sponsors and fiduciaries guidance on building public and private market retirement portfolios.
“We believe the growth and development of private market DC strategies is a long-term trend and reflects a broader shift in the capital markets,” said Chris Lyon, Global Head of Defined Contribution for Goldman Sachs Asset Management. “Innovative solutions have improved the accessibility of these asset classes, and through thoughtful plan design, we believe private market investments can be an important driver to help bridge the retirement savings gap for millions of Americans.”
