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MARKETS LIVE BLOG:

STOCKS SLIP WITH MIDEAST TENSIONS, EARNINGS IN PLAY

Oil pares losses as traders anticipate Israel's response to Iranian attack

Is Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Zacks Equity Research
·4 min read

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend category of the market, the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 06/28/2017.

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.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

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However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by Goldman Sachs Funds. It has amassed assets over $422.56 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity Index.

The Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity Index is designed to deliver exposure to equity securities of small capitalization U.S. issuers.

Cost & Other Expenses

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

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.20% for GSSC, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.45%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector - about 19.30% of the portfolio. Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Usd U.s. Dollar (USD) accounts for about 0.37% of the fund's total assets, followed by Synaptics Inc (SYNA) and Lattice Semiconductor Corp (LSCC).

The top 10 holdings account for about 2.96% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -20.94% so far this year and is down about -16.40% in the last one year (as of 07/07/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $51.07 and $70.38.

GSSC has a beta of 0.94 and standard deviation of 29.37% for the trailing three-year period. With about 1323 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) tracks Russell 2000 Index and the iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF (IJR) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. IShares Russell 2000 ETF has $51.73 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF has $60.69 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR charges 0.06%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Small Cap Blend.

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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Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC): ETF Research Reports
 
Lattice Semiconductor Corporation (LSCC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Synaptics Incorporated (SYNA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM): ETF Research Reports
 
iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF (IJR): ETF Research Reports
 
ProShares Ultra Semiconductors (USD): ETF Research Reports
 
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