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) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 09/12/2017.
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 work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
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.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Because the fund has amassed over $1.38 billion, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. GSEW is managed by Goldman Sachs Funds. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund 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
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.09% for this ETF, which makes it one of the least expensive products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.53%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For GSEW, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 17.2% of the portfolio --while Financials and Industrials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Ptc Inc (PTC) accounts for about 0.24% of total assets, followed by Summit Therapeutics Inc (SMMT) and Venture Global Inc (VG).
GSEW's top 10 holdings account for about 2.15% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the Goldman Sachs Equal Weight U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF has added about 12.29% so far, and is up roughly 13.02% over the last 12 months (as of 10/09/2025). GSEW has traded between $67.22 $85.79 in this past 52-week period.
GSEW has a beta of 1.02 and standard deviation of 15.51% for the trailing three-year period. With about 501 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
Goldman Sachs Equal Weight U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) tracks S&P 500 Index and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) tracks S&P 500 Index. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $704.84 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $769.64 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VOO changes 0.03%.
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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Goldman Sachs Equal Weight U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GSEW): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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