Goldman launches high-yield active ETFs in Europe

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Goldman Sachs Asset Management has added two high-yield bond strategies to its European line-up of active exchange traded funds, shortly after entering the region’s active ETF space.

The Ireland-domiciled Goldman Sachs USD High Yield Bond Active and Goldman Sachs Eur High Yield Bond Active Ucits ETFs have been listed in London and Frankfurt and will also be traded in Milan and Zurich.

The ETFs are designed to achieve a long-term return by investing in below-investment grade bonds, combining top-down asset allocation with bottom-up selection.

The launch of the two ETFs comes shortly after Goldman Sachs AM entered Europe’s active ETF market with the rollout of an active investment grade corporate bond ETF.

This article was previously published by Ignites Europe, a title owned by the FT Group.

Hilary Lopez, head of the European, Middle Eastern and African third-party wealth business at the company, said the new ETFs benefited “from the advantages offered by the ETF wrapper while leveraging Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s long history and deep expertise in actively managing fixed-income assets”.

The company manages 51 ETF strategies globally that had assets of over $38.7bn as of the end of 2024.

Ignites Europe reported last month that Goldman Sachs AM’s passive business had failed to gain sufficient scale in Europe since the company launched its first European ETF back in 2019.

The fund house had amassed $1.1bn in assets under management across its eight-strong product range.

Mara Dobrescu, fixed income ratings manager at Morningstar, told Ignites Europe: “It’s extremely difficult to compete on passive ETFs for firms if you’re not able to build critical scale. By comparison, the barriers to entry on active ETFs are somewhat lower.”

“Active ETFs combine the benefits of actively managed strategies with the transparency, flexibility and potential cost benefits of an ETF wrapper,” Goldman Sachs AM said.

“An active management approach can help investors capture market inefficiencies, navigate turbulence and mitigate company-specific risks through active credit selection.”

*Ignites Europe is a news service published by FT Specialist for professionals working in the asset management industry. Trials and subscriptions are available at igniteseurope.com.