Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC) Be on Your Investing Radar?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Looking for broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/28/2017.

The fund is sponsored by Goldman Sachs Funds. It has amassed assets over $237.16 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Blend

With more potential comes more risk, and small cap companies, with market capitalization below $2 billion, epitomizes this way of thinking.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.20%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.04%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Usd U.s. Dollar (USD) accounts for about 3.80% of total assets, followed by Redfin Corp (RDFN) and Irhythm Technologies Inc (IRTC).

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.85% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

GSSC seeks to match the performance of the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity Index before fees and expenses. The Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity Index is designed to deliver exposure to equity securities of small capitalization U.S. issuers.

The ETF has added roughly 14.65% so far this year and it's up approximately 15.49% in the last one year (as of 12/17/2020). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $28.45 and $54.

The ETF has a beta of 0.99 and standard deviation of 26.94% for the trailing three-year period. With about 1475 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, GSSC is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF (IJR) and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF has $55.05 billion in assets, iShares Russell 2000 ETF has $55.14 billion. IJR has an expense ratio of 0.06% and IWM charges 0.19%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Published in