Launched on June 28, 2017, the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by Goldman Sachs Funds. It has amassed assets over $925.29 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Small Cap Blend
Sitting at a market capitalization below $2 billion, small cap companies tend to be high-potential stocks compared to its large and mid cap counterparts, but come with higher risk.
Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.
Costs
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 counterparts, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.2%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.14%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector -- about 18.8% of the portfolio. Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Cmrc/cme Eminirus2k 3/2026 (RTYH6) accounts for about 1.22% of total assets, followed by Bloom Energy Corp (BE) and Ies Holdings Inc. (IESC).
The top 10 holdings account for about 4.64% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
GSSC seeks to match the performance of the Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity Index before fees and expenses. The Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity Index is designed to deliver exposure to equity securities of small capitalization U.S. issuers.
The ETF has gained about 6.5% so far this year and was up about 37.12% in the last one year (as of 04/15/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $57.75 and $81.24.
The ETF has a beta of 1.04 and standard deviation of 20.19% for the trailing three-year period. With about 1330 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, GSSC is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
The Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund ETF Shares (VB) and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) track a similar index. While Vanguard Small-Cap Index Fund ETF Shares has $75.21 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $98.47 billion. VB has an expense ratio of 0.03% and IJR charges 0.06%.
Bottom-Line
While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.
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 U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (GSSC): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).