Designed to provide broad exposure to the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity ETF category of the market, the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Low Vol Plus Equity ETF (GLOV) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 03/15/2022.

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.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: 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.

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

Managed by Goldman Sachs Funds, GLOV has amassed assets over $1.14 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity ETF. GLOV seeks to match the performance of the GOLDMAN SACHS ACTBT WORLD LW VL PL EQ ID before fees and expenses.

The Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Low Vol Plus Equity Index delivers exposure to large and mid-capitalization equity securities of developed market issuers, including the United States.

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.

Annual operating expenses for GLOV are 0.25%, which makes it one of the cheaper products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.67%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL) accounts for about 3.48% of the fund's total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 16.93% of GLOV's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, GLOV has added about 4.96%, and was up about 17.11% in the last one year (as of 02/24/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $44.75 and $52.36.

GLOV has a beta of 0.78 and standard deviation of 12.71% for the trailing three-year period. With about 461 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Low Vol Plus Equity ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity ETF segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Global 100 ETF (IOO) tracks S&P Global 100 Index and the iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI) tracks MSCI All Country World Index. IShares Global 100 ETF has $6.66 billion in assets, iShares MSCI ACWI ETF has $19.61 billion. IOO has an expense ratio of 0.40% and ACWI charges 0.32%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Global Large-Cap Blend Equity ETF.

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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Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Low Vol Plus Equity ETF (GLOV): ETF Research Reports

Apple Inc. (AAPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) : Free Stock Analysis Report

NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) : Free Stock Analysis Report

iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI): ETF Research Reports

iShares Global 100 ETF (IOO): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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