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Is Goldman Sachs Equal Weight U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GSEW) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market, the Goldman Sachs Equal Weight U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GSEW - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 09/12/2017.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

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.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

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.

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 $540.53 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, GSEW seeks to match the performance of the Solactive US Large Cap Equal Weight Index.

The Solactive US Large Cap Equal Weight Index is an equal-weight version of the Solactive US Large Cap Index including equity securities of approximately 500 of the largest U.S. companies.

Cost & Other Expenses

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for GSEW are 0.09%, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.62%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 19.50% of the portfolio. Industrials and Financials round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Usd U.s. Dollar (USD - Free Report) accounts for about 0.48% of the fund's total assets, followed by Horizon Therapeutics Plc and Mongodb Inc (MDB - Free Report) .

GSEW's top 10 holdings account for about 2.54% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 7.23% so far this year and is down about -3.87% in the last one year (as of 02/20/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $53.20 and $68.78.

The fund has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 26.56% for the trailing three-year period. With about 493 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

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

IShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index. IShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $307.53 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $374.49 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.

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 - Large 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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