Verizon, Lockheed outsource $70Bn in pensions to Goldman

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES — Goldman Sachs asset management has secured a $70 billion outsourced CIO mandate from Verizon Communications and Lockheed Martin, taking over management of both companies’ defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans.

According to a report from the Chief Investment Officer, the dual mandate takes Goldman’s institutional OCIO portfolio to $480 billion. Verizon‘s CIO Laurence Fulton announced his retirement in connection with the transition.

Both companies had previously executed pension risk transfers to insurance carriers before centralizing ongoing investment management under Goldman.

Goldman consolidates Verizon and Lockheed pension management

Goldman was selected through separate review processes to manage both companies’ full retirement plan portfolios across public and private markets.

Lockheed Martin made the transition ‘following a rigorous competition and review process’ to consolidate pension oversight with a single external manager. The mandates reflect a broader shift: large corporates consolidating pension governance with a single specialist external manager rather than maintaining in-house investment offices.

“Large plan sponsors are consolidating responsibilities with one partner with the investment expertise and depth of platform to manage their bespoke needs,” said Marc Nachmann, Goldman Sachs’ global head of asset and wealth management.

$70 billion mandate extends Goldman’s OCIO market dominance

Goldman Sachs Asset Management now oversees $480 billion in OCIO assets — a scale enabling access to private markets, infrastructure, and bespoke strategies unavailable to independently managed plans.

Both Verizon and Lockheed previously transferred pension risk to insurers before centralizing ongoing investment management. Goldman’s scale positions the firm as the dominant external manager for large U.S. corporates offloading in-house pension investment operations.

“Lockheed Martin has decided to transition the investment management of its pension plans to Goldman Sachs, following a rigorous competition and review process. This change does not alter any plan designs or plan benefits,” said a Lockheed Martin spokesperson.

The dual mandate signals acceleration in corporate OCIO adoption as boards seek to reduce governance burden and access institutional-quality investment management without in-house operations.

For the outsourcing industry, OCIO represents the most capital-intensive form of institutional services outsourcing — moving fiduciary responsibility, investment selection, and execution to a third party. As U.S. corporate pension complexity grows, the OCIO model is expected to drive further consolidation among the country’s largest retirement asset pools.