The latest Market Talks covering Financial Services. Exclusively on Dow Jones Newswires at 4:20 ET, 12:20 ET and 16:50 ET.
1632 ET - Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says risk management is all the more crucial in a period of market volatility, geopolitical uncertainty, and heightened capital investment. Despite an overall optimistic outlook, he calls out private credit as an area of pronounced risk. "Concerns about private credit, including underwriting quality or exposure to software companies that may be adversely affected by AI, are a reminder that the credit cycle has not been repealed," Solomon writes in a letter to shareholders. "We view our ability to manage the risks we assume on behalf of our clients as our core responsibility." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1622 ET - Ahead of a potential meeting between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Goldman Sachs CEO says there's a need for a better working relationship between the two economic powerhouses. "We believe there is a roadmap for more meaningful dialogue," David Solomon writes in a letter to shareholders. "Given how entwined they are, it is important that the US and China reach a new modus vivendi, not just for the next 12 months, but rather for the next 10 to 20 years." Solomon also calls for better economic collaboration between European countries following a European Union proposal to create a united market for financial services. "Until Europe's 27 countries begin to act as an economic union, their geopolitical leverage will be limited, and the world will be worse off for it," he writes. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1613 ET - Despite uncertainty around the economic impacts of the war in Iran, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says the bank still sees "the potential for a more constructive operating environment" in 2026. He highlights monetary easing, fiscal stimulus in developed economies, increased capital investment for artificial-intelligence, and a balanced regulatory regime in the U.S. "Put together, these are very powerful catalysts for people who own, transact, and invest in risk assets," Solomon writes in a letter to shareholders. He adds that Goldman expects strategic transactions to accelerate in 2026, although a drawn-out war could jeopardize sentiments around M&A. (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1551 ET - Goldman Sachs has identified six workstreams CEO David Solomon says are "ripe for disruption" via artificial intelligence: client onboarding and know-your-customer processes, vendor management, regulatory reporting, lending, enterprise risk management, and sales enablement. "It has become increasingly clear that our operating processes need to reflect the gains that will come from these transformational technologies," Solomon writes in a letter to shareholders. "This doesn't just mean retooling our platforms. It means taking a front-to-back view of how we organize our people, make decisions, and think about productivity, efficiency, and resilience." (elias.schisgall@wsj.com)
1450 ET - Canada mustn't lag the U.S. in dropping mandatory quarterly earnings reporting, the CEO of stock exchange operator TMX Group says. Canadian securities regulators are launching a pilot program that would allow certain smaller venture-listed companies to move to twice-year reporting, a shift TMX's John McKenzie wants to see extended to all listed companies in the country. President Trump has pushed for an end to the regulatory burden of quarterly reporting, and McKenzie in an interview says Canada could make the move even faster. Canada at least must change at the same time as the U.S. does, he says. More than 200 Canadian companies, including many of the countries biggest, are duel listed in Canada and the U.S., McKenzie notes. (robb.stewart@wsj.com)
1312 ET - Roughly three in five U.S. residents believe advances in artificial intelligence will eliminate jobs and make it harder for people to afford homes, Redfin says. About 30% believe the opposite, that advances in AI will help boost the U.S. economy and help more people afford homes. Some estimates suggest up to 30% of U.S. jobs could be displaced by AI, with 80% of workers anticipated to be affected in some way. Uncertainty around the future of the labor market could also contribute to volatile mortgage rates, adding another hurdle for prospective homebuyers. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. residents believe tariffs will cause inflation and keep interest rates high. Three in 10 say tariffs will help boost the U.S. economy, helping more people afford to buy homes. (chris.wack@wsj.com)
1119 ET - Michelle Bowman, the Fed's vice chair for supervision, said her proposed modernization of bank regulation aims to push activity back into banks. After the Dodd-Frank law, she says "we've seen a lot of business that's traditional banking activity exit into the non bank space, and this is one way for us to recalibrate that," on Fox Business. America's biggest banks would be allowed to hold billions of dollars less in capital on their books under proposals unveiled Thursday, easing rules put in place after the 2008 financial crisis that were meant to help shield against meltdowns. (jessica.coacci@wsj.com; @jessica_coacci)
0923 ET - European stocks are showing remarkable resilience to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, even as markets look to price extended disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, Goldman Sachs analysts write. Equities will not enter a sustained market downturn as earnings and company balance sheets remain strong, the analysts say. "Geopolitical shocks have historically reversed quickly," they write. However, investors should increase their exposure to defensive stocks that are less vulnerable to a downturn in economic conditions, the analysts say. They cite names including semiconductor company ASML, telecommunications group Elisa and software company Experian as stocks with more than 20% upside potential. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0703 ET - U.K. banks are underperforming so far in 2026 as investors balk at higher valuations and macroeconomic concerns weigh on the sector, AJ Bell's Russ Mould writes. After a five-year bull run, some U.K. banks are down steeply so far this year. Though inflation spurred by conflict in the Middle East could support banks' income, "any economic slowdown due to higher energy prices could lead to an increase in loan losses that offsets the extra interest income," Mould writes. Investment banks' troubles are compounded by private credit concerns, with Barclays and Standard Chartered 18% and 15% lower for the year, respectively. NatWest is down 18% for the year, though HSBC--which has significant operations in Asia--is flat. (josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com)
0346 ET - KKR isn't immune to the headwinds facing the private-credit market, writes Morningstar's Greggory Warren in a note. Issues around liquidity in private-credit funds are likely to hit fundraising efforts and lead to increased redemption requests in the medium term, he says. While the alternative asset manager's exposure to private credit is far less than that of its peers Blue Owl and Ares, the company has enough private-credit exposure to weigh on it for the next several years, he adds. Morningstar cuts its fair-value estimate on KKR to $115 from $140, citing likely lower fundraising and higher redemptions for KKR's credit and liquid strategies segment. However, its shares are still moderately undervalued even with the fair-value estimate change, the analyst adds. Shares last closed flat at $90.60.(megan.cheah@wsj.com)
0227 ET - AIA Group's proposition for affluent customers is likely to set it apart from peers amid China's migration of wealth to long-term investment alternatives from property, says Morningstar's Iris Tan in a report. The Hong Kong-based insurer is tiering up from mass-affluent to high-net-worth clientele through its products and selective bank partnerships, she notes. She reckons the high-net-worth segment faces less competition from any digital disruptions to insurance. The segment also has greater resilience amid rate and currency volatility, as clients prioritize wealth preservation and risk diversification over guaranteed yields, compared with commoditized mass-market offerings, she says. Morningstar retains its HK$104 fair-value estimate, noting that the stock looks undervalued. Shares rise 3.5% to HK$85.70. (megan.cheah@wsj.com)
1717 ET - A public venture fund, whose top holdings include Anthropic, Databricks and OpenAI, saw shares surge on its first day of trading. Fundrise Innovation Fund listed its shares under the ticker VCX on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. The company's shares opened at $31.25, reached an intraday high of $128, and closed at $76.16 a share. The trading price compares to a Net Asset Value of the fund of $18.97 per share. "It seems the market was excited about VCX and our mission to democratize access to the best private tech companies," said Benjamin Miller, chief executive of Fundrise. (yuliya.chernova@wsj.com; @ychernova)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2026 16:50 ET (20:50 GMT)
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