Goldman Sachs launches its first actively managed ETF

Goldman Sachs launches its first actively managed ETF

Goldman Sachs has launched its first actively managed exchange traded fund, which will target climate-friendly companies as part of a push by the Wall Street bank to strengthen its presence in the rapidly expanding $9tn ETF industry.

Goldman plans to invest some of its own capital in the ETF to help attract new investment into disruptive technologies, which can play a role in the battle against the threat of environmentally catastrophic climate change.

"Rapid change is disrupting the status quo across industries and around the world. We are on the cusp of a sustainability revolution that could have the scale of the industrial revolution and the speed of the digital revolution," said Katie Koch, co-head of fundamental equity at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. 

Goldman already manages $19bn in thematic equity strategies and intends to roll out more of these vehicles as transparent actively managed ETFs that will disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

The first of the new range, the Goldman Sachs Future Planet Equity ETF, started trading in New York on Thursday. It will invest in companies that address environmental issues such as clean energy, resource efficiency, water sustainability and the circular economy.

The ETF, which has the ticker GSFP, will carry an