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Is Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Low Vol Plus Equity ETF (GLOV) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Making its debut on 03/15/2022, smart beta exchange traded fund Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Low Vol Plus Equity ETF (GLOV - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by Goldman Sachs Funds, and has been able to amass over $1.07 billion, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the GOLDMAN SACHS ACTBT WORLD LW VL PL EQ ID.

The Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Low Vol Plus Equity Index delivers exposure to large and mid-capitalization equity securities of developed market issuers, including the United States.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.25% for GLOV, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.79%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) accounts for about 3.34% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 15.76% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, GLOV has added roughly 18.48%, and was up about 19.42% in the last one year (as of 12/16/2024). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $43.05 and $52.12.

The ETF has a beta of 0.77 and standard deviation of 12.92% for the trailing three-year period. With about 422 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Low Vol Plus Equity ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI - Free Report) tracks MSCI All Country World Index and the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT - Free Report) tracks FTSE Global All Cap Index. IShares MSCI ACWI ETF has $19.80 billion in assets, Vanguard Total World Stock ETF has $42.53 billion. ACWI has an expense ratio of 0.32% and VT charges 0.07%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Developed World ETFs.

Bottom Line

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.

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