Launched on 03/15/2022, the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Low Vol Plus Equity ETF (GLOV) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market.

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.

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.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

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 $1.03 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. This particular fund 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 this ETF are 0.25%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.79%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Apple Inc (AAPL) accounts for about 3.34% of total assets, followed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT) and Nvidia Corp (NVDA).

The top 10 holdings account for about 15.36% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, GLOV has gained about 18.45%, and is up about 29.55% in the last one year (as of 10/16/2024). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $38.70 and $51.23.

GLOV has a beta of 0.76 and standard deviation of 13.12% for the trailing three-year period. With about 423 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 Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI) tracks MSCI All Country World Index and the Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT) tracks FTSE Global All Cap Index. IShares MSCI ACWI ETF has $19.36 billion in assets, Vanguard Total World Stock ETF has $40.86 billion. ACWI has an expense ratio of 0.32% and VT charges 0.07%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Developed World ETFs.

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

Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT): ETF Research Reports

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