Goldman Sachs to Pay $2B for ETF Issuer Innovator Capital

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(Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will pay $2 billion to buy Innovator Capital Management, a deal that combines the bank with an issuer of a relatively new type of exchange-traded fund that has caught the attention and ire of some on Wall Street.

Wheaton, Illinois-based Innovator — which has over $28 billion of assets under supervision across more than 150 ETFs — specializes in defined-outcome ETFs, which seek to limit investors’ downside risk in exchange for capping upside potential, and have been popular among financial advisers looking to protect client portfolios.

“You get the existing platform and the track record,” said Marc Nachmann, Goldman’s global head of asset and wealth management, in an interview. “They already have $28 billion and have a broad following around the adviser community. That head start does matter.”

Led by Bruce Bond since he co-founded the firm with John Southard in 2017, Innovator launched the first defined-outcome ETFs, sometimes called “buffer funds,” in 2018. It is currently the second-largest provider of buffers behind asset manager First Trust, which is also based in Wheaton.

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Buffers have grown in popularity over the last several years as investors seek safety from market volatility and look for income-generating alternatives to bonds. Investors have plowed roughly $11.4 billion into structured outcome products this year — a category that includes buffers — with about $4.1 billion going to Innovator’s offerings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg Intelligence.

Since their inception, the products have been touted by industry heavyweights like BlackRock and also have drawn staunch criticism from hedge funds including AQR, who say buffer funds and other options-based products deliver lower returns with more risk than simpler alternatives.

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Goldman Sachs Asset Management’s own foray into the buffer ETF space has met a lukewarm market reception to date, something that the Innovator acquisition could help address. The firm debuted a trio of US large-cap buffer ETFs in January and March of this year, which have amassed a combined $36 million in assets. The structured outcome ETF category has grown from under $60 billion at the end of 2024 to roughly $76 billion currently, Bloomberg Intelligence data show. 

The acquisition will also instantly vault GSAM’s assets under management from $51 billion in ETFs, per Bloomberg Intelligence data, to $79 billion, putting the firm among the 10 largest active issuers. 

Goldman has made a series of deals in the past three months on its own balance sheet, including the acquisition of venture-capital investor Industry Ventures and a $1 billion investment in T. Rowe Price Group Inc. Top executives have said Goldman is open to further acquisitions, particularly to complement its push into private markets in the battle against larger players like Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. 

Innovator’s team of over 60 employees are expected to join Goldman’s third-party wealth and ETF teams, according to a company statement. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals.

Goldman’s asset and wealth management unit had about $3.5 trillion under supervision at the end of September, according to its statement.

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