Goldman already has relationships with outside investment managers where it sells its own mutual funds, structured notes and alternative investments. Loans would be an additional offering, people involved in the strategy said.

A Goldman spokesman declined to comment.

Hunt For Profits

Goldman reported a 6.4 percent annualized return-on-equity in the first quarter, the lowest level since the second quarter of 2012 when adjusting for one-time items. In its heyday, Goldman produced returns above 30 percent. The measurement is important, because it shows how well the bank uses shareholder capital to produce profits.

Goldman's return has slumped because businesses like trading are struggling to generate the type of earnings they once did. That's partly because of weak markets, but also because financial regulations introduced since the financial crisis limit the businesses banks can engage in, and require them to hold much more capital.

These new rules are pushing Goldman and its closest rival, Morgan Stanley to move further into traditional lending. It is still a relatively new concept for the two, which became bank holding companies at the height of the financial crisis in 2008, and have only focused on lending in recent years.

In addition to the third-party initiative, Goldman also wants to wants to do more "margin lending," which allows clients to borrow against a percentage of their assets, and do more lending abroad. Later this year, it plans to offer consumer loans online through a new effort led by former Discover Financial Services' executive Harit Talwar.

Goldman's moves mimic Morgan Stanley's in that both are trying to lend more, mostly through the wealth channel, and that many of the loans are backed by investment portfolios of stocks and bonds.

But their strategies differ in that Morgan Stanley is lending to its own clients, after having bought the Smith Barney brokerage business from Citigroup Inc years ago in a transformational deal. Goldman does not currently have ambitions to acquire any kind of large brokerage or depository bank, sources said, and hence it is pursuing loan growth through third-parties.

Goldman has already tripled loans to its own private wealth management and corporate clients over the last three years, according to regulatory filings. It had $45 billion in loans altogether at the end of 2015.