Yahoo Finance Is Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Launched on 06/28/2017, the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by Goldman Sachs Funds. GSSC has been able to amass assets over $442.31 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. This particular fund 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.
Cost & Other Expenses
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.20%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.32%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.
GSSC's heaviest allocation is in the Industrials sector, which is about 18.50% of the portfolio. Its Financials and Information Technology round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Usd U.s. Dollar accounts for about 0.74% of the fund's total assets, followed by Emcor Group Inc (EME) and Atkore Inc (ATKR).
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -1.23% and is down about -8.82% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 03/16/2023), respectively. GSSC has traded between $50.18 and $63.78 during this last 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.99 and standard deviation of 28.89% for the trailing three-year period. With about 1261 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 Small-Cap ETF (IJR) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. IShares Russell 2000 ETF has $49.23 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $65.79 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.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC): ETF Research Reports
EMCOR Group, Inc. (EME) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM): ETF Research Reports
iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR): ETF Research Reports
Atkore Inc. (ATKR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
