Summary Prospectus
December 29, 2024
Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta®
Emerging Markets Equity ETF
Ticker: GEM Stock Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc.
Before you invest, you may want to review the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta® Emerging Markets Equity ETF (the “Fund”) Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus, reports to shareholders and other information about the Fund online at dfinview.com/GoldmanSachs. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-621-2550 or by sending an e-mail request to gs-funds-document-requests@gs.com. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), both dated December 29, 2024, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
| Investment Objective |
The Goldman Sachs
ActiveBeta® Emerging Markets Equity ETF (the “Fund”) seeks to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses,
to the performance of the Goldman Sachs
ActiveBeta® Emerging Markets Equity Index (the “Index”).
| Fees and Expenses of the Fund |
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy,
hold and sell Shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which
are not reflected in the table and Example below.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your
investment)
| Management Fee |
0.40% |
| Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fee |
0.00% |
| Other Expenses |
0.14% |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses |
0.54% |
| Expense Limitation1
|
(0.09)% |
| Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Limitation |
0.45% |
1
The Investment Adviser has agreed to reduce or limit “Other Expenses” (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, expenses of shareholder meetings, litigation and indemnification, and extraordinary expenses) to 0.05% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. This arrangement will remain in effect permanently. The Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Board of Trustees.
| Expense Example |
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of owning Shares
of the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes
that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| 1 Year |
3 Years |
5 Years |
10 Years |
| $46 |
$164 |
$293 |
$668 |
| Portfolio Turnover |
The Fund may pay transaction costs when it buys and sells securities or
instruments (i.e., “turns over” its portfolio). A high rate of portfolio turnover may result in increased
transaction costs, including brokerage commissions, which must be borne by the Fund and its shareholders, and is also likely to result in higher short-term capital gains for taxable shareholders. These costs are
not reflected in total annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example above, but are reflected in the Fund’s performance. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate for the fiscal year ended August 31,
2024 was 28% of the average value of its portfolio.
| Principal Investment Strategies |
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least
80% of its assets (exclusive of collateral held from securities lending) in securities
included in its underlying index, in depositary receipts representing securities included in its underlying index and in underlying stocks in respect of depositary receipts included in its underlying index.
The Index is designed to deliver exposure to equity securities of emerging market issuers. The Index is constructed using the patented ActiveBeta® Portfolio Construction Methodology, which was developed to provide exposure to the “factors” (or characteristics) that are commonly tied to a
stock’s outperformance relative to market returns. These factors include value (i.e., how attractively a stock is priced relative to its “fundamentals,” such as book value and free cash flow), momentum (i.e.,
whether a company’s share price is trending up or
2 Summary Prospectus — Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta®
Emerging Markets Equity ETF
down), quality (i.e., profitability) and low volatility (i.e., a relatively low degree of fluctuation in a
company’s share price over time). Given the
Fund’s investment objective of attempting to track its Index, the Fund does not follow traditional methods of active investment
management, which may involve buying and selling securities based upon analysis of economic and market factors.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (the “Index Provider”) constructs the Index in accordance with a rules-based methodology that involves two steps.
Step 1
In the first step, individual factor subindexes for value, momentum, quality and low volatility (the
“ActiveBeta® Factor Subindexes”) are created from the constituents of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (the
“Reference Index”), a market capitalization-weighted index. To construct each
ActiveBeta® Factor Subindex, all constituents in the Reference Index are assigned a “factor score” based
on certain specified measurements (for example, in the case of the value factor, the factor
score is based on a composite of book value-to-price, sales-to-price and free cash
flow-to-price). Securities with a factor score that is above a fixed “Cut-off
Score” receive an overweight in the applicable
ActiveBeta® Factor Subindex relative to the Reference Index and securities with a factor score that is below the
Cut-off Score receive an underweight in the
ActiveBeta® Factor Subindex relative to the Reference Index. Accordingly, the magnitude of overweight or underweight that a
security receives in constructing the applicable
ActiveBeta® Factor Subindex is determined by its attractiveness when evaluated based on the relevant factor. The Index only
includes long positions (i.e., short positions are impermissible), so the smallest weight for
any given security is zero.
Step 2
The ActiveBeta® Factor Subindexes are combined in equal weights to form the Index.
The Index is normally rebalanced on a quarterly basis in accordance with the published rebalancing schedule of the Reference Index.
As of December 1, 2024, the Index consisted of 786 securities with a market capitalization range of
between approximately $1.6 billion and $1.8 trillion in the following emerging market countries: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia,
Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The components of the Index may change over time. The percentage of the portfolio
exposed to any asset class, country or geographic region will vary from time to time as the weightings of the securities within the Index change, and the Fund may not be invested in each asset class, country or
geographic region at all times. The Index Provider determines whether an issuer is located in an emerging market country by reference to the Reference Index methodology. MSCI Inc., which constructs the
Reference Index, will generally deem an issuer to be located in an emerging market country if
it is organized under the laws of the emerging market country and it is primarily listed in
the emerging market country; in the event that these factors point to more than one country, the Reference Index methodology provides for consideration of certain additional factors.
The Index is comprised of equity securities, including American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”). The Fund
seeks to invest in the Index components in
approximately the same weighting that such components have within the Index at the applicable time. The
Fund may purchase a sample of securities in its Index. There may also be instances in which the
Investment Adviser may choose to underweight or overweight a security in the Fund’s
Index, purchase securities not in the Fund’s Index that the Investment Adviser believes are appropriate to substitute for certain securities in such Index or utilize various combinations of other available investment techniques.
The Fund may concentrate its investments (i.e., hold more than 25% of its total assets) in a particular
industry or group of industries to the extent that its Index is concentrated. The degree to
which components of the Index represent certain sectors or industries may change over
time.
| Principal Risks of the Fund |
Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any government agency. The Fund should not be relied upon as a complete investment program.
There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Investments in the Fund involve substantial risks which prospective investors should consider
carefully before investing. The Fund's principal risks are presented below in alphabetical order, and not in the order of importance or
potential exposure.
Calculation Methodology Risk. The Index relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the
Index (or the Reference Index), including fundamental information that may be based
on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund, the Index Provider, Solactive AG (the
“Calculation Agent”) nor the Investment Adviser can offer assurances that the Index’s calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or a correct valuation of
securities, nor can they guarantee the availability or timeliness of the production of the
Index.
Cash Transactions
Risk. Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund expects to effect its redemptions partially for cash, rather than primarily for in-kind securities. As such,
investments in Shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in a conventional ETF which generally are able to make in-kind redemptions and avoid realizing gains in connection with transactions designed to raise cash to
meet redemption requests.
Depositary Receipts Risk. Foreign securities may trade in the form of depositary receipts, which include ADRs and GDRs
(collectively “Depositary Receipts”). To the extent the Fund acquires Depositary
Receipts through banks which do not have a contractual relationship with the foreign issuer
of the security underlying the Depositary Receipts to issue and service such unsponsored Depositary Receipts, there may be an increased possibility that the Fund would not become aware of and be able to respond to
corporate actions such as stock splits or rights offerings involving the foreign issuer in a timely manner. In addition, the lack of information may result in inefficiencies in the valuation of such instruments.
Investment in Depositary Receipts does not eliminate all the risks inherent in investing in securities of non-U.S. issuers. The market value of Depositary Receipts is dependent upon the market value of the underlying
securities and fluctuations in the relative value of the currencies in which the Depositary Receipts and the underlying securities are quoted. The issuers of Depositary Receipts may discontinue issuing new
Depositary Receipts and withdraw existing Depositary Receipts at any time, which may result in costs and delays in the distribution of the underlying assets to the Fund and may negatively impact the Fund’s performance.
3 Summary Prospectus — Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta®
Emerging Markets Equity ETF
Expenses Risk. By investing in pooled investment vehicles (including ETFs) indirectly through the Fund, the investor will
incur not only a proportionate share of the expenses of the other pooled investment vehicles
held by the Fund (including operating costs and investment management fees), but also the expenses of the Fund.
Foreign and Emerging Countries Risk. Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation; less public information; less stringent investor protections; less stringent accounting,
corporate governance, financial reporting and disclosure standards; and less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Fund invests. The imposition of sanctions, exchange controls (including
repatriation restrictions), confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other government restrictions by the United States and other governments, or from problems in share registration, settlement or custody,
may also result in losses. The type and severity of sanctions and other similar measures, including counter sanctions and other retaliatory actions, that may be imposed could vary broadly in scope, and their impact
is impossible to predict. For example, the imposition of sanctions and other similar measures could, among other things, cause a decline in the value and/or liquidity of securities issued by the sanctioned country
or companies located in or economically tied to the sanctioned country and increase market
volatility and disruption in the sanctioned country and throughout the world. Sanctions and
other similar measures could limit or prevent the Fund from buying and selling securities (in the sanctioned country and other markets), significantly delay or prevent the settlement of securities transactions, and
significantly impact the Fund’s liquidity and performance. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign
currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. These risks are
more pronounced in connection with the Fund’s investments in securities of issuers located in, or otherwise economically tied to, emerging countries. The securities markets of most emerging countries are less
liquid, developed and efficient, are subject to greater price volatility, have smaller market capitalizations, have more or less government regulation and may not be subject to as extensive and frequent accounting,
financial and other reporting requirements as the securities markets of more developed countries. Further, investment in securities of issuers located in certain emerging countries involves the risk of
loss resulting from problems in share registration, settlement or custody, substantial economic, political and social disruptions and the imposition of exchange controls (including repatriation restrictions). These
risks are not normally associated with investments in more developed countries.
Geographic Risk. If the Fund focuses its investments in issuers located in a particular country or geographic region, it
will subject the Fund to a greater extent than if investments were less focused, to the risks of volatile economic cycles and/or conditions and developments that may be particular to that country or
region, such as: adverse securities markets; adverse exchange rates; adverse social, political, regulatory, economic, business, environmental or other developments; or natural disasters.
Index Risk. The Fund will be negatively affected by general declines in the securities and asset classes represented in the Index. In addition, because the Fund is not
“actively” managed, unless a specific security is removed from the Index, the Fund generally would not sell a security because the security’s issuer was in financial trouble, and the Fund does not take defensive
positions in declining markets. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the
Index. The Index Provider relies on third party data it believes to be reliable in constructing the Index, but it does not guarantee the accuracy or availability of any
such third party data, and there is also no guarantee with respect to the accuracy, availability or timeliness of the production of the Index.
Industry Concentration Risk. In following its methodology, the Index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in
securities of issuers located in a single industry or group of industries. To the extent that
the Index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or group of industries, the Fund also may concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent. By concentrating its investments in an industry or group
of industries, the Fund may face more risks than if it were diversified broadly over numerous industries or groups of industries. If the Index is not concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries,
the Fund will not concentrate in a particular industry or group of industries.
Investment Style Risk. The Index is intended to provide exposure to certain emerging equity markets, and as a result the Index may be more volatile than a more broadly
based conventional index. The Fund may outperform or underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes but employ different investment styles.
Large Shareholder Risk. Certain shareholders, including other funds advised by the Investment Adviser, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s
Shares. In addition, a third party investor, the Investment Adviser or an affiliate of the Investment Adviser, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity (i.e., a seed investor) may invest in the Fund and hold its investment solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a
specified size or scale. Any such investment may be held for a limited period of time. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be
maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund, including on the
Fund’s liquidity. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”) and may, therefore, have a material upward
or downward effect on the market price of the Shares.
Market Risk. The value of the securities in which the Fund invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors or governments
and/or general economic conditions throughout the world due to increasingly interconnected global economies and financial markets. Events such as war, military conflict, acts of terrorism, social unrest,
natural disasters, recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate changes, supply chain disruptions, sanctions, the spread of infectious illness or other public health threats could also significantly impact the Fund and
its investments.
Market Trading Risk. The net asset value (“NAV”) of the
Fund and the value of your investment may fluctuate. Market prices of Shares may fluctuate,
in some cases significantly, in response to the Fund’s NAV, the intraday value of the Fund’s holdings and supply and demand for Shares. The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including disruptions to creations and redemptions,
the existence of extreme market volatility or potential lack of an active trading market for Shares. Any of these factors, among others, may result in Shares trading at a significant premium or discount to
NAV, which will be reflected in the intraday bid/ask spreads and/or the closing price of Shares as compared to NAV. In addition, because liquidity in certain underlying securities may fluctuate, Shares may
trade at a larger premium or discount to NAV than shares of other kinds of ETFs. If a shareholder purchases Shares at
4 Summary Prospectus — Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta®
Emerging Markets Equity ETF
a time when the market price is at a premium to the NAV or sells Shares at a time when the market price is
at a discount to the NAV, the shareholder may pay more for, or receive less than, the underlying value of the Shares, respectively. Additionally, in stressed market conditions, the market for Shares may
become less liquid in response to deteriorating liquidity in the markets for the Fund’s underlying portfolio holdings.
The securities held by the Fund may be traded in markets that close at a different time than the stock
exchange on which the Fund’s Shares are listed. Liquidity in those securities may be reduced after the applicable closing times. Accordingly, during the time when the Fund’s listing exchange is open but after the
applicable market closing, fixing or settlement times, bid-ask spreads and the resulting premium or discount to the Shares’ NAV may widen.
Mid-Cap and Small-Cap Risk. Investments in mid-capitalization and small-capitalization companies involve greater risks than those associated with larger, more established
companies. These securities may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements and may lack sufficient market liquidity, and these issuers often face greater business risks.
Stock Risk. Stock prices have historically risen and fallen in periodic cycles. U.S. and foreign stock markets have experienced periods of substantial price volatility in
the past and may do so again in the future.
Tracking Error Risk. Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the Index. The performance
of the Fund may diverge from that of the Index for a number of reasons. Tracking error may
occur because of transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in accrual of dividends, changes to the Index or the need to meet new or existing regulatory requirements. Unlike the Fund, the returns of the Index are not
reduced by investment and other operating expenses, including the trading costs associated with
implementing changes to its portfolio of investments. Tracking error risk may be heightened
during times of market volatility or other
unusual market conditions. The Fund may be required to deviate its investments from the securities and
relative weightings of the Index to comply with the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), to meet the issuer diversification requirements of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies, or as a result of market restrictions or other legal reasons, including regulatory limits or other restrictions on
securities that may be purchased by the Investment Adviser and its
affiliates.
Valuation Risk. The sale price the Fund could receive for a security may differ from the Fund’s valuation of the
security and may differ from the value used by the Index, particularly for securities that trade in low volume or volatile markets or that are valued using a fair value methodology. Because non-U.S.
exchanges may be open on days when the Fund does not price its Shares, the value of the securities or assets in the Fund’s portfolio may change on days when investors will not be able to purchase or sell the
Fund’s Shares. The Fund relies on various sources to calculate its NAV. The information may be provided by third parties that are believed to be reliable, but the information may not be accurate due to errors by such pricing
sources, technological issues or otherwise.
| Performance |
The bar chart and table below provide an indication of the risks of
investing in the Fund by showing: (a) changes in the performance of the Fund’s Shares
from year to year; and (b) how the average annual total returns of the Fund’s Shares compare to those of the Fund's Index and a broad-based securities market index. The Fund’s past performance, before and after taxes, is not necessarily an indication of how the
Fund will perform in the future. Updated performance information is available at no cost at am.gs.com or by calling the appropriate phone number on the back cover of the Prospectus.
Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown.
CALENDAR YEAR
| |
Returns |
Quarter ended |
| Year-to-Date Return |
14.87% |
September 30, 2024 |
| During the periods shown in the chart above:
|
Returns |
Quarter ended |
| Best Quarter Return |
17.62% |
December 31, 2020 |
| Worst Quarter Return |
-23.54% |
March 31, 2020 |
5 Summary Prospectus — Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta®
Emerging Markets Equity ETF
| AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN For the period ended
December 31, 2023 |
|
|
|
|
| 1 Year |
5 Years |
Since
Inception |
Inception
Date | |
| ActiveBeta®
Emerging Markets Equity ETF |
|
|
|
9/25/2015 |
| Returns Before Taxes |
11.26% |
3.24% |
5.09% |
|
| Returns After Taxes on Distributions |
10.66% |
2.71% |
4.57% |
|
| Returns After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares |
7.40% |
2.64% |
4.09% |
|
| Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta® Emerging Markets Equity Index |
11.96% |
3.58% |
5.42% |
|
| MSCI Emerging Markets Index (Net, USD, Unhedged) |
9.83% |
3.68% |
5.68% |
|
Benchmark returns do not reflect any deductions for fees or expenses.
After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal
marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual
after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. In addition, the after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who
hold Fund Shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.
| Portfolio Management |
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. is the investment adviser for the
Fund (the “Investment Adviser” or “GSAM”).
Portfolio Managers: Raj Garigipati, Managing Director, has managed the Fund since September 2015; and Gauri Sekaria, Vice
President, has managed the Fund since April 2024.
| Buying and Selling Fund Shares |
Individual Shares of the Fund may only be purchased and sold in
secondary market transactions through a broker or dealer at market price. Because Shares
trade at market prices, rather than NAV, Shares of the Fund may trade at a price greater than NAV (i.e., a premium) or less than NAV (i.e., a discount).
You may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest
price a buyer is willing to pay for Shares (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to
accept for Shares (ask) (the “bid-ask spread”) when buying or selling Shares in the
secondary market.
Recent information, including information about the Fund’s NAV, market price, premiums and
discounts, and bid-ask spreads, is included on the Fund’s website at am.gs.com.
| Tax Information |
The Fund’s distributions are taxable, and will be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k)
plan or an individual retirement account. Investments made through tax-deferred arrangements may become taxable upon withdrawal from such arrangements.
| Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries |
If you purchase Shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other
financial intermediary (such as a bank), GSAM or other related companies may pay the
intermediary for the sale of Fund Shares or related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over
another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
6 Summary Prospectus — Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta®
Emerging Markets Equity ETF
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