Goldman Sachs Merges 5 Thematic ETFs

Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA, said the new GSAM ETF represents a "good strategy as it provides diversification rather than making investors try to pick which thematic ETF will perform the best" when "thematic ETFs can be volatile in the short run."

The Goldman Sachs Innovate Equity ETF tracks the Solactive Innovative Global Equity Index. Goldman's previous five thematic ETFs were based on indexes from Motif Capital Management,  but that firm shut down in May, ending its relationship with Goldman Sachs. It sold its client accounts to Folio and its technology to Schwab.

(Related: Investing Platform Motif to Shut Down)

The new Goldman thematic ETF is expected to appeal to investors who were previously invested in one or more of the five previous thematic ETFs, attracting more assets than each of the five did in the past. Its total assets were approximately $307.7 million based on a NAV per-share price of $50.03, according to a GSAM press release issued Friday.

Investor shares in any of the five previous ETFs were converted into shares of the newly issued GINN ETF as a tax-free event, for federal income tax purposes, based on their NAV per share. The most expensive of the five ETF, the Goldman Sachs New Age Consumer ETF, for example, whose NAV per share was $91.22, had a conversion ratio of roughly 1.8231 ($91.22 divided by $50.03) as of Nov. 6.