Goldman explores attainable sale of ETF consumer platform, sources say

By Suzanne McGee, Saeed Azhar and Manya Saini

(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs is exploring choices, together with a possible sale, of its ETF Accelerator platform which helps the financial institution’s institutional purchasers launch their very own exchange-traded funds, two sources aware of the matter advised Reuters on Friday.

The platform is separate from the ETF enterprise of Goldman Sachs’ asset administration arm, the supply stated, who didn’t wish to be recognized as a result of the plans aren’t public. A second supply advised Reuters that he had seen an inner e mail confirming particulars of the attainable sale.

The memo did not present a cause for the attainable sale. If Goldman sells or shutters the ETF accelerator, it could not have an effect on the agency’s personal ETF merchandise, that are a part of Goldman Sachs Asset Administration.

“We’re assessing what the very best long-term possibility is for the ETF Accelerator platform for Goldman Sachs and our purchasers,” stated Nick Carcaterra, a spokesperson for the financial institution, in an emailed assertion. 

“No determination has been made and there are not any imminent plans for a change. If we now have an replace to share, we’ll accomplish that,” he added.  

The information was first reported by Bloomberg Information. 

Goldman launched the ETF Accelerator in 2023 and oversaw the rollout of the primary ETFs for consumer Brandes Funding Companions in October. Up to now, it has dealt with the launch of 10 ETFs for 4 purchasers, together with the debut of the primary ETF issued by GMO, the funding agency based by Jeremy Grantham.

That compares to the document 600 ETFs the trade rolled out in 2024 as of late November, in keeping with State Avenue (NYSE:STT) World Advisors. Roughly a dozen merchandise had been launched this week alone, in keeping with a Reuters tally.

“Possibly they miscalculated the place the demand for his or her providers would possibly come from,” stated Bryan Armour, ETF analyst at Morningstar, noting that different corporations offering comparable options, like Tidal Monetary Group and Alpha Architect, have been “very profitable.”

Talking to Reuters on the time of the GMO ETF launch, Lisa Mantil, international head of the ETF Accelerator, stated that whereas regulatory modifications had made it simpler for managers to launch ETFs, corporations might nonetheless profit from Goldman’s “expertise and experience.” (This story has been refiled to alter the phrase ‘memo’ to ‘e mail’ in paragraph 2)