Is Goldman Sachs Equal Weight U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GSEW) a Strong ETF Right Now?
A smart beta exchange traded fund, the Goldman Sachs Equal Weight U.S. Large Cap Equity ETF (GSEW) debuted on 09/12/2017, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend 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.
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.
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.
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This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
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 $1.21 billion, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. GSEW is managed by Goldman Sachs Funds. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, 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
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
With one of the least expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.09%.
GSEW's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.50%.
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.
For GSEW, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 17.40% of the portfolio --while Industrials and Financials round out the top three.