Note 13.

Other Assets

Other assets are generally less liquid, non-financial assets. The table below presents other assets by type.


	As of
$ in millions		September 2016	December 2015
Property, leasehold improvements and equipment		$11,347	$ 9,956

Goodwill and identifiable intangible assets		4,104	4,148

Income tax-related assets		5,630	5,548

Equity-method investments		213	258

Miscellaneous receivables and other		3,924	5,308
Total		$25,218	$25,218

In the table above:

•

Equity-method investments exclude investments accounted for at fair value under the fair value option where the firm would otherwise apply the equity method of accounting of $7.78 billion and $6.59 billion as of September 2016 and December 2015, respectively, all of which are included in “Financial instruments owned, at fair value.” The firm has generally elected the fair value option for such investments acquired after the fair value option became available.

•

The decrease in Miscellaneous receivables and other from December 2015 to September 2016 reflects the sale of assets previously classified as held for sale related to certain of the firm’s consolidated investments. Miscellaneous receivables and other includes $654 million and $581 million of investments in qualified affordable housing projects as of September 2016 and December 2015, respectively.

Property, Leasehold Improvements and Equipment

Property, leasehold improvements and equipment in the table above is net of accumulated depreciation and amortization of $8.16 billion and $7.77 billion as of September 2016 and December 2015, respectively. Property, leasehold improvements and equipment included $6.04 billion and $5.93 billion as of September 2016 and December 2015, respectively, related to property, leasehold improvements and equipment that the firm uses in connection with its operations. The remainder is held by investment entities, including VIEs, consolidated by the firm. Substantially all property and equipment is depreciated on a straight-line basis over the useful life of the asset. Leasehold improvements are amortized on a straight-line basis over the useful life of the improvement or the term of the lease, whichever is shorter. Capitalized costs of software developed or obtained for internal use are amortized on a straight-line basis over three years.

Goodwill and Identifiable Intangible Assets

The tables below present the carrying values of goodwill and identifiable intangible assets.


	Goodwill as of
$ in millions		September 2016	December 2015
Investment Banking:
Financial Advisory		$ 98	$ 98

Underwriting		183	183

Institutional Client Services:
Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Client Execution		269	269

Equities Client Execution		2,403	2,402

Securities Services		105	105

Investing & Lending		2	2

Investment Management		609	598
Total		$3,669	$3,657

	Identifiable Intangible Assets as of
$ in millions		September 2016	December 2015
Institutional Client Services:
Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Client Execution		$ 70	$ 92

Equities Client Execution		149	193

Investing & Lending		92	75

Investment Management		124	131
Total		$ 435	$ 491

Goodwill. Goodwill is the cost of acquired companies in excess of the fair value of net assets, including identifiable intangible assets, at the acquisition date.

Goodwill is assessed for impairment annually in the fourth quarter or more frequently if events occur or circumstances change that indicate an impairment may exist. When assessing goodwill for impairment, first, qualitative factors are assessed to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount. If the results of the qualitative assessment are not conclusive, a quantitative goodwill test is performed. The quantitative goodwill test consists of two steps:

•

The first step compares the estimated fair value of each reporting unit with its estimated net book value (including goodwill and identifiable intangible assets). If the reporting unit’s estimated fair value exceeds its estimated net book value, goodwill is not impaired.

•

If the estimated fair value of a reporting unit is less than its estimated net book value, the second step of the goodwill test is performed to measure the amount of impairment, if any. An impairment is equal to the excess of the carrying amount of goodwill over its fair value.

Goodwill was tested for impairment, using a quantitative test, during the fourth quarter of 2015. The estimated fair value of each of the reporting units exceeded its respective net book value. Accordingly, goodwill was not impaired and step two of the quantitative goodwill test was not performed.

To estimate the fair value of each reporting unit, a relative value technique was used because the firm believes market participants would use this technique to value the firm’s reporting units. The relative value technique applies observable price-to-earnings multiples or price-to-book multiples and projected return on equity of comparable competitors to reporting units’ net earnings or net book value. The net book value of each reporting unit reflects an allocation of total shareholders’ equity and represents the estimated amount of total shareholders’ equity required to support the activities of the reporting unit under currently applicable regulatory capital requirements.

There were no events or changes in circumstances during the nine months ended September 2016 that would indicate that it was more likely than not that the fair value of each of the reporting units did not exceed its respective carrying amount as of September 2016.

Identifiable Intangible Assets. The table below presents the gross carrying amount, accumulated amortization and net carrying amount of identifiable intangible assets and their weighted average remaining useful lives.


	As of
$ in millions		September 2016		Weighted Average Remaining Useful Lives (years)	December 2015
Customer lists
Gross carrying amount		$ 1,065			$ 1,072

Accumulated amortization		(820	)		(777	)
Net carrying amount		245		5	295

Commodities-related
Gross carrying amount		184			185

Accumulated amortization		(119	)		(94	)
Net carrying amount		65		7	91

Other
Gross carrying amount		324			264

Accumulated amortization		(199	)		(159	)
Net carrying amount		125		5	105

Total
Gross carrying amount		1,573			1,521

Accumulated amortization		(1,138	)		(1,030	)
Net carrying amount		$ 435		5	$ 491

In the table above:

•

The net carrying amount of commodities-related intangibles primarily includes transportation rights.

•

The net carrying amount of other intangibles primarily includes intangible assets related to acquired leases.

Substantially all of the firm’s identifiable intangible assets are considered to have finite useful lives and are amortized over their estimated useful lives using the straight-line method or based on economic usage for certain customer lists and commodities-related intangibles.

The tables below present details about amortization of identifiable intangible assets.

Three Months

Ended September

Nine Months

Ended September

$ in millions

2016

2015

2016

2015

Amortization

$37

$28

$116

$98


$ in millions			As of September 2016
Estimated future amortization
Remainder of 2016			$ 35

2017			126

2018			107

2019			76

2020			25

2021			18

Impairments

The firm tests property, leasehold improvements and equipment, identifiable intangible assets and other assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances suggest that an asset’s or asset group’s carrying value may not be fully recoverable. To the extent the carrying value of an asset exceeds the projected undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use and eventual disposal of the asset or asset group, the firm determines the asset is impaired and records an impairment equal to the difference between the estimated fair value and the carrying value of the asset or asset group. In addition, the firm will recognize an impairment prior to the sale of an asset if the carrying value of the asset exceeds its estimated fair value.

During both the nine months ended September 2016 and 2015, impairments were not material to the firm’s results of operations or financial condition.