Goldman Sachs AM out of the running for £109bn Lloyds contract

JPMAM also out

Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) has dropped out of the auction for a £109bn Lloyds Banking Group contract, leaving BlackRock and Schroders in a final head-to-head battle to win one of Europe's largest investment mandates.

JPMAM, BlackRock and Schroders were selected to progress to the second round of bids in April while Goldman joined the auction in May. However, JPMAM failed to pass the latest round while Goldman was dropped from the race as Lloyds is wary about the UK launch of its retail bank, Marcus, according to the FT. A person close to the auction said the launch had raised competition concerns for Lloyds. Last month, Goldman began taking UK deposits for Marcus, in the latest development of its consumer banking business, making it a direct competitor for Lloyds. The Scottish Widows pension po...