Wells Fargo & Co at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : So thank you very, very much for being with us. So maybe we can just start off with a broad discussion around the economic outlook in 2025. I appreciate there's a lot of moving pieces here, but maybe you can talk about what you're seeing across your platforms in terms of spending trends heading into the year-end across both consumers and corporates and how you're thinking broadly about the economic outlook for 2025.

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : So you mentioned the election, that was, obviously, just over a month ago. Does that have any bearing on how you're keen about the economic trajectory over the next couple of years?

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. So let's segue and talk about the strategic priorities. I know they haven't changed a lot over the years.

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Since you've been coming here. But can you just remind us of what you're most focused on ? And maybe talk a little bit about whether they've evolved over the course of the year.

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. So we're going to get into, I think, a few of those. But let's start with risks and controls. And I think you said several times, including today, that you made significant progress. So maybe you can expand on how you're assessing that? And then as an add-on, maybe you can talk a little bit about the operating benefits you started to see as you've strengthened the control side of the firm?

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. Great. So I know you're going to give a more comprehensive outlook on NII in January, so maybe we can just talk about some of the different moving pieces. So let's start with deposits. We've had a few rate cuts, but you get another one in December. What have you seen in terms of deposit behaviour around those rate cuts? And how is repricing of deposits relative to your expectations coming into this rate cutting side?

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : And then on the loan side of the equation, what are you seeing there?

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. So let's talk about some of the growth initiatives, and I think you touched on some of these in terms of strategic priorities. But let's talk specifically about the Capital Markets business that has performed very well over the last few years. Can you talk a little bit about the opportunity set from here where you think you can get to from either a market share or size perspective? And has the outlook for that business changed heading into next year after the election? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 11, 2024 / 1:40PM, WFC.N - Wells Fargo & Co at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Just as a follow-on on the Capital Markets business, in a world where you're not bound by the asset cap, that does free up a lot of leverage-based capital. Does -- would that change the growth trajectory of that business in a meaningful way?

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : So let's talk about the credit card growth initiative because that's obviously also worked very well. I think you said you added 2 million clients in the business over the last -- so far this year. So maybe you can talk about the growth profile of that business from here? But I'd also be interested in hearing how the credit and return profile of that business is shaking up relative to the expectations that you had when you started building out that business three years ago.

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : So on the Consumer Bank, maybe you can talk about the opportunity you see from both an expansion and an efficiency standpoint from here. But this was obviously an important year for you and the OCC did lift the sales practice consent order. Has that had much of an impact on the consumer business? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 11, 2024 / 1:40PM, WFC.N - Wells Fargo & Co at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. So from an expense standpoint, you've done a very good job keeping the cap on expense growth despite the inflationary environment and the investments that you've made in the business. So can you talk about your ability to continue to self-fund investments from here? And where do you see the greatest efficiency improvements across the firm today? And I think within the answer, if you can just talk a little bit about AI and automation and whether that's accelerated over the last few years or where we are in that process, that would be helpful, too.

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : So let's talk a bit about credit. I know you said the credit picture is pretty strong. But are there any lending categories that you're focusing on more closely? Other areas that you're tightening underwriting standards because you think the market is mispricing the risk? And then outside of credit, what's top of mind for you from a risk perspective?

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Outside of credit, what risk?

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. So let's shift to the regulatory and the capital side. So what are your thoughts on what happens to the Basel III endgame proposal? Do you think it will be finalized? Do you think it's something that should be finalized to remove the uncertainty? And then in the interim, maybe you can talk a little bit about how you're going to manage the capital base of the firm, just given that uncertainty.

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. So I think we've got a couple of minutes left. So maybe we can just talk about ROTCE and trajectory of ROTCE. I think when you took over as CEO back in 2019, the return on tangible common equity was about 8%. It's now, I think, closer to 13%. Is 15% still the right ROTCE target? And which business lines do you think have got the greatest potential to drive higher returns from here? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 11, 2024 / 1:40PM, WFC.N - Wells Fargo & Co at Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference

Question: Richard Ramsden Richard - The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. - Analyst : Okay. I think with that, we're out of time. So Charlie, thank you for joining us.