Goldman Sachs' (NYSE: GS) wealth management unit is certainly not among the largest. But it catered to a very well-heeled clientele, who may be growing restive in the wake of the SEC's (SEC news) charges against the bank. The idea that Goldman Sachs is conflicted in a lot of what its selling clients--whether unfounded or not--has proven to be quite powerful.

Reuters notes that "the episode has given wealthy clients pause and made some of the firm's roughly 350 U.S. advisers more open to considering a move." The firm is sensitive to the issues that its wealth managers are grappling with. CEO Executive Lloyd Blankfein (Lloyd Blankfein news) recently met private wealth clients in a rare conference call. He promised he would "analyze what we did and how we got ourselves into this place."

Competitors are no doubt using this to steal some market share. They're likely aiming to portray wealth management clients as mere lambs in the maw of a hard trading outfit that often needs to unload inventory at any cost. The goal is to sow doubts about whether they have client interest or bank interest foremost in their mind. Goldman's asset management division had $39 billion of first-quarter outflows as it grappled with a spate of money-losing funds.

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