NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. bank chiefs expressed more confidence in the economic outlook for 2024 after consumers and businesses showed surprising strength this year.
Here are quotes from the Goldman Sachs U.S. Financial Services Conference on Tuesday:
David Solomon, Goldman Sachs CEO:
“People continue to be cautious on the U.S. economy, but I think it’s very, very clear that the U.S. economy has been more resilient than we expected… As I look at 2024, I think the chance for a softer landing is much, much higher. I think you’ve still got to be cautious, there’s still uncertainty.”
Charlie Scharf, Wells Fargo CEO:
“The consumer is still very, very strong… as we sit here today, our base case would be something closer to a soft landing as opposed to something far more serious than that.”
Still, “we’re cautious and we’re careful” in the consumer business, monitoring borrowers closely and tightening credit across products.
Brian Moynihan, Bank of America CEO, on investment banking:
“We’ll be at about $1 billion in fees this quarter,” reflecting a low single-digit decline that “outperforms the industry.” The industrywide investment banking fee pool is expected to drop 10% to 15%, he said.
Brian Wenzel, chief financial officer at Synchrony Financial on consumer credit:
“As we think about the fourth quarter, delinquency rates will rise,” with losses peaking in the first half of the year.
(Reporting by Nupur Anand, Saeed Azhar, Tatiana Bautzer and Lananh Nguyen in New York, Editing by Franklin Paul)
