Goldman Sachs Files Plans For 6 Bond ETFs

Goldman Sachs Assets Management (GSAM), the exchange traded funds arm of Goldman Sachs GS, is looking to boost its profile in the fast-growing fixed income ETF space.

What Happened

With bond ETFs having hit $1 trillion in combined assets under management for the first time just a couple of months ago and with the asset class poised to double in size in five years, GSAM is looking to grab a bigger slice of that pie.

In a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, GSAM outlined plans for the Goldman Sachs Access U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF, which would likely be a competitor to the iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF AGG and the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF BND. Assuming that Goldman ETF comes to market, it will track an offshoot of the e FTSE US Broad Investment-Grade (USBIG®) Bond Index.

Why It's Important

The filing also highlighted plans for the Goldman Sachs Access China Bonds ETF, which looks like it will be comprised primarily of Chinese sovereign debt and bonds issued by policy banks. That ETF will hold yuan-denominated debt and also track a FTSE index.

GSAM's SEC filing also features plans for two corporate bond ETFs: one with that caps maturities at five years and another that only holds bonds with maturities of more than 10 years. Those proposed funds are the Goldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate 1-5 Year Bond ETF and the Goldman Sachs Access Investment Grade Corporate 10+ Year Bond ETF. GSAM already offers two corporate bond ETFs, one of which is an investment-grade product.

The issuers also filed plans for the Goldman Sachs Access Total Bond Market ETF, a broad-based fund that would feature exposure to U.S. government debt, domestic investment-grade corporates, junk bonds and emerging markets sovereign and corporate bonds.

The Goldman Sachs Access U.S. Treasury Total Market Bond ETF is the other ETF GSAM revealed in the filing.

What's Next

The filing did not include tickers or expense ratios for any of the funds, indicating launches aren't imminent. Goldman currently offers five bond ETFs, the largest of which is the $3.07 billion Goldman Sachs Treasury Access 0-1 Year ETF GBIL. GBIL is Goldman's second-largest ETF overall.

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