Goldman Sachs

The Merchant Banking Division (MBD) is the investing and lending division of Goldman Sachs, and is one of the largest asset managers in the world. The capital of MBD is a mixture of Goldman's balance sheet plus external capital it has raised through a series of funds. MBD invests globally across almost all asset classes, including senior debt, mezzanine debt, late stage venture capital and growth equity, control private equity, infrastructure and real estate. Note that in certain markets, including in Australia and China, the Merchant Banking Division is known as the Principal Investment Area (PIA). Prior to August 2019, when all of the investing divisions of Goldman Sachs merged, Goldman Sachs had a separate investing and lending division known as the Special Situations Group (SSG). SSG focused on investing the firm's balance sheet in a wide variety of asset classes. It had no external capital. SSG was formed during the Asian Financial Crisis, and originally specialised in distressed lending and acquisition of distressed assets. However, SSG quickly expanded into a broader special situations investor, focusing on areas where other forms of capital were not flowing efficiently, or where returns are out sized versus in-house perceptions of risk.