Goldman Sachs will buy exchange-traded fund issuer Innovator Capital Management for $2 billion in cash and equity, the bank announced Monday, bringing $28 billion of additional assets under Goldman’s supervision.
The deal significantly expands Goldman’s ETF offerings and future product roadmap, the Wall Street bank said, bringing assets across 159 defined outcome ETFs under the fold. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.
“Active ETFs are dynamic, transformative, and have been one of the fastest-growing segments in today’s public investment landscape,” CEO David Solomon said in a prepared statement. “Innovator’s reputation for innovation and leadership in defined outcome solutions complements our mission to enhance the client experience with sophisticated strategies that seek to deliver targeted, defined outcomes for investors.”
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, and the price paid depends on certain performance targets being hit, Goldman said.
Innovator pioneered defined outcome ETFs, which use options to provide a specific range of possible returns and losses over a set period, in August 2018, according to Investments & Wealth Institute. The investment vehicle has grown in popularity: By the end of that year, six defined outcome ETFs had $183 million in assets under management. By August 2023, the industry had swelled to 180 defined outcome ETFs with almost $27 billion in AUM, according to IWI.
According to Morningstar, defined outcome ETFs have had a 66% compound annual growth rate since 2020. In its acquisition announcement, Goldman called the vehicle “a key component of the rapidly growing active ETF market, driven by the objective to deliver innovative structured strategies” to investors.
Innovator CEO Bruce Bond, in the release, called the transaction “a pivotal milestone” for his firm and called Goldman “an ideal partner.”
Bond will stay on with Goldman Sachs Asset Management following the deal’s closing, as will co-founder and President John Southard, EVP and Chief Investment Officer Graham Day, and SVP and Head of Distribution Trevor Terrell. The firm’s 60-plus employees are expected to join Goldman’s Third-Party Wealth and ETF teams.
The deal positions Goldman Sachs Asset Management as a top-10 active ETF provider globally, according to data from Morningstar Direct. Goldman and Innovator together manage more than 215 ETF strategies globally, representing over $75 billion in total assets under supervision.
The deal is part of Goldman’s strategy to expand its leadership in innovative and growing investment categories, the bank said in its announcement, and it “strategically expands the firm’s more durable revenue.”
