Mallika Mitra

Thu, Jun 26, 2025, 3:30 PM2 min read

Goldman Sachs Asset Management launched two new active bond exchange-traded funds on Thursday as more investors look for active management in the convenient ETF wrapper.

The Goldman Sachs Core Bond ETF (GBND) aims to provide both capital appreciation and income by investing primarily across U.S. investment-grade fixed-income securities, including government bonds, securitized assets and corporate bonds. It’s designed to serve as a foundational, diversified fixed-income solution and will be managed by the firm’s multi-sector fixed-income team, according to a press release. The $20 million fund has a management fee of 0.25%.

The Goldman Sachs Corporate Bond ETF (GIGL) also aims to offer investors both capital appreciation and income, but it focuses on investment-grade corporate bonds: At least 80% of assets are typically invested in corporate bonds, though it can also invest elsewhere, including in U.S. government fixed-income securities and high-yield non-investment-grade securities. The $11.3 million fund, which is managed by Goldman Sachs’s global corporate credit team and seeks to track the performance of the Bloomberg U.S. Credit Index, has a 0.29% management fee.

GBND and GIGL came about as a result of investor demand for active strategies in fixed income, Brendan McCarthy, global head of ETF distribution at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told etf.com.

“Specifically, we hear acknowledgement that an active style provides the manager greater opportunity to deliver performance through security selection, sector rotation and a proactive macro approach,” McCarthy said.

Clients are also looking for solutions that take advantage of active management but come with the benefits and transparency of the ETF wrapper, Alyson Shupe, head of global product strategy at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, said in a statement included in the press release.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management manages 61 ETF strategies around the world, representing more than $40 billion in total assets as of the end of April, the firm said. The new fund debuts come amid investors' heightened appetite for actively managed ETFs: Active ETFs recently eclipsed their passive counterparts in the $11 trillion ETF market, according to data from Bloomberg Intelligence

“We are committed to delivering the strengths of our investment platform to clients via the ETF wrapper,” McCarthy said. “GBND and GIGL are supported by the resources, experience and discipline of a broader fixed income and liquidity solutions business which oversees over $1.75 trillion in assets.”