Goldman To Compete On Price

Goldman Sachs has updated its filing for the line of ActiveBeta smart-beta ETFs it’s planning to launch with tickers and expense ratios. The investment management firm first filed for the index-based funds in December 2014.

The funds, their tickers and their expense ratios are as follows:

• Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Emerging Markets Equity ETF (GEM), 0.45 percent
• Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Europe Equity ETF (GSEU), 0.35 percent
• Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta International Equity ETF (GSIE), 0.35 percent
• Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta Japan Equity ETF (GSJY), 0.35 percent
• Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GSLC), 0.09 percent
• Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC), 0.25 percent

The large-cap U.S. fund carries the same price tag as the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY | A-99), which is significant because smart-beta funds are usually more expensive. Similarly, GEM’s price is set four basis points lower than that of the PowerShares FTSE RAFI Emerging Markets ETF (PXH | C-53) and GSSC charges more than the 20 basis points charged by the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM | A-90) but less than the 39 basis points charged by the PowerShares FTSE RAFI US 1500 Small-Mid ETF (PRFZ | A-83).

The filing also provided more insight into the methodology of the funds’ underlying indexes, which are designed to target the value, momentum, quality and low-volatility factors.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected].