Goldman Sachs has a nose for sniffing out lucrative investment opportunities but its latest 'find,' the much-heralded exchange-traded fund, has already attracted a crowd. On Christmas Eve, the New York-based bank filed with the SEC to establish the Goldman Sachs ETF Trust in preparation for launching its first funds. The filing exclusively mentions index-based ETFs rather than actively managed ones.

The 40-APP filing requests broad relief from the SEC to allow Goldman to launch various kinds of ETFs, including equity, fixed-income, and blended portfolios. According to an article in American Banking News, the company's inaugural ETF will have an emerging markets focus, tracking the top 85 percent of companies as measured by market value in India, Korea, Brazil, and China. Goldman Sachs Asset Management will be the advisor to the ETF Trust.

While Goldman has yet to launch any ETFs independently, the company's first foray into the ETF realm came with its involvement in Source ETFs, a joint venture with Morgan Stanley that offers a suite of ETFs in Europe. 

Edited by: Patricia Kelly


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