Goldman beefs up asset management business Goldman Sachs is to beef up its asset management business as part of a strategy to tap into the retirement savings of a wave of ageing baby boomers. Goldman Sachs Asset Management, a unit of the Wall Street bank, has agreed to buy Dwight Asset Management for an undisclosed sum. Dwight, which is based in Vermont, specialises in so-called "stable value" money management, which aims to deliver safe and consistent returns to investors in a similar way to money market funds. As one of the most conservative savings plans available, "stable value" has proved a popular retirement choice for millions of baby boomers on the verge of retiring. The acquisition should help Goldman tap into the billions of dollars currently locked up in stable value funds. "Seventy-seven million baby boomers are going to be retiring, many are moving their assets into more conservative options," Bill McDermott, head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management's institutional defined contribution business, said in an interview. "We want to be a meaningful player in this part of the market," he added. Dwight has $42bn of assets under supervision, and is now on track to become part of GSAM in the second quarter of the year. Goldman is buying the firm from Old Mutual Asset Management, part of the London-based savings group, Old Mutual. Asset management has traditionally been a smaller portion of Goldman Sachs" total business, with market observers noting the bank's relatively small profile in the space. "Goldman has not historically been a very acquisitive firm," said an analyst who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press. But, he added, "It's hard to grow in asset management without doing acquisitions or having spectacular performance to increase assets organically." Like other big Wall Street banks, Goldman has been grappling with a difficult business environment and trading conditions. The New York-based bank last month revealed a series of dramatic cost cuts and a 58 per cent drop in fourth-quarter earnings, and has moved to decrease compensation for staff. Last week, it emerged that the bank's chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, would also take a cut to the stock portion of his 2011 bonus. Mr Blankfein received $7m worth of restricted stock for the year, a 44 per cent decrease from the $12.6m worth of shares awarded in 2010.