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Is Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Making its debut on 06/28/2017, smart beta exchange traded fund Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend category of the market.
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.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.
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 $544.23 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
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.20%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.44%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
GSSC's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 21.5% of the portfolio. Its Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Jun 25 Cme Eminirus2k (RTYM25) accounts for about 1.2% of total assets, followed by Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (SFM) and Corcept Therapeutics Inc (CORT).
GSSC's top 10 holdings account for about 5.56% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -3.67% and was up about 7.77% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 06/23/2025), respectively. GSSC has traded between $55.86 and $76.22 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 21.35% for the trailing three-year period. With about 1276 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 $62.54 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $76.94 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR changes 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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Is Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 06/28/2017, smart beta exchange traded fund Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend category of the market.
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.
Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.
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 $544.23 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
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.20%.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.44%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
GSSC's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 21.5% of the portfolio. Its Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Jun 25 Cme Eminirus2k (RTYM25) accounts for about 1.2% of total assets, followed by Sprouts Farmers Market Inc (SFM) and Corcept Therapeutics Inc (CORT).
GSSC's top 10 holdings account for about 5.56% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has lost about -3.67% and was up about 7.77% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 06/23/2025), respectively. GSSC has traded between $55.86 and $76.22 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 21.35% for the trailing three-year period. With about 1276 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 $62.54 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $76.94 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR changes 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.