Goldman Sachs has reined in risk-taking due to market volatility triggered by Donald Trump’s trade war and fears that rising US debt will erode investor appetite for dollar-denominated assets, a senior bank executive has said.
John Waldron, president and chief operating officer of the bank, told a Goldman podcast released on Thursday that the investment bank had “moderated our risk positioning” since the US president announced an across-the-board tariff increase on its trading partners on April 2, adding, “that’s a sensible thing for us to do”.
The reduction in risk-taking by one of the world’s most influential financial institutions underlines how Wall Street traders have been unnerved by the shockwaves that ripped through markets after Trump unleashed his trade war. Volatility has since subsided and most of the rises have been paused but could soon be reinstated.