Do-It-All Era Ending as G.E. Returns to Core

nytimes.com - General Electric’s announcement on Friday that it will sell off most of GE Capital, its once-sprawling finance unit, is both another nail in the coffin of the American conglomerate and a stark recognition that it has become harder for financial services businesses to make big profits in the postfinancial crisis environment of tighter regulation and lower risk.

“It’s the end of an era,” said Bruce Greenwald, a professor of finance and asset management at Columbia Business School. Since the financial crisis destabilized G.E., its chief executive, Jeffrey R.