Goldman Sachs Launches its First European Active ETFs

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which manages $36.3 billion in 44 US ETFs, has launched its first actively managed exchange-traded fund in Europe with two investment-grade corporate bond products.

The firm's Goldman Sachs Asset Management (GSAM) unit issued the funds that carry total expense ratios (TERs) of 0.25% and are listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and Deutsche Börse.

The Goldman Sachs USD Investment Grade Corporate Bond Active UCITS ETF (GIGU) and Goldman Sachs EUR Investment Grade Corporate Bond Active UCITS ETF (GIGE) will be managed by GSAM’s fixed income and liquidity team which oversees more than $1.75 trillion in assets.

Hilary Lopez, GSAM’s head of the EMEA third-party wealth business, said that Goldman believed that the active ETF market was poised for continued growth, particularly in fixed income.

Demand for Active ETF Strategies

“Recent trends demonstrate strong demand for active strategies, with active fixed income ETFs seeing remarkable inflows globally," she said. 

“However, varying issuer and sector fundamentals present opportunities for active management. These strategies will leverage our existing credit investment capabilities to allow investors to capitalize on these opportunities while navigating risks,” he added.

The two launches have broadened GSAM’s worldwide range of ETFs to 49, representing assets of around $38.7 billion at the end of last year.

Active ETFs listed in Europe gathered net inflows of €19.1 billion last year, up by 185% on the €6.7 billion inflows registered over the whole of 2023, according to the data provider Morningstar.

The acceleration in new business pushed assets in the European active ETF sector up to €54.4 billion at the end of December with actively managed fixed-income ETFs accounting for about a fifth of the total.

This article originally appeared on etf.com's sister publication ETF Stream, which covers Europe's ETF industry.