Goldman Sachs Deepens Active ETF Push With US$2.25B Neos Acquisition
Synopsis
The deal will give Goldman's asset management business access to Neos' US$30 billion ETF portfolio as investor demand grows for products offering income and downside protection.
Goldman Sachs has agreed to buy NEOS Investments, which manages ETFs using options to earn income while shorting the markets, in a deal worth up to US$2.25 billion, bringing its asset-management operations about US$30 billion in 19 ETFs, for a price to be determined in the first quarter of 2027.
The acquisition was announced on August 12 and is subject to customary approvals and other conditions.
NEOS was founded in 2022 and is focused on operating ETFs that employ options strategies to generate revenue while limiting downside risk. Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella, the firm’s other two co-founders, are expected to become partners at Goldman Sachs Asset Management upon the closing of the transaction.
Goldman Adds Another ETF Business
The deal follows Goldman Sachs’ purchase of US$2 billion purchase of Innovator Capital Management (ICM) earlier this year. Based on the June 30 figures, the NEOS business will account for around $80 billion of NEOS’s assets of active ETFs, and the combined value of all NEOS and Innovator ETFs will exceed $130 billion, the company added.
Goldman’s existing outcome-oriented, options-based ETFs provided investors with income before the NEOS deal, which generated US$40 billion in revenue on average for the company.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management would then have one of the top eight active ETF providers in the United States after the acquisition based on Morningstar data, which was also disclosed in the deal announcement.
US ETF Market Reaches US$15.70 Trillion
The acquisition comes on the heels of the U.S. ETF market’s record growth. According to the Investment Company Institute’s June 2026 data, cited in the statement, the overall value of U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds climbed to US$4.21 trillion, or 36.6%, to US$15.70 trillion as of the end of June.
Moreover, domestic equity ETFs saw the largest increase, with their collective assets jumping by US$2.68 trillion in the past year. Commodity ETFs ended June with US$311.80 billion, with US$2.55 trillion in bonds.
Goldman Sachs reported US$20.34 billion in second-quarter net revenue and US$6.63 billion in net income for the three months ended June 30. Of this, the Asset & Wealth Management division posted a profit of US$4.60 billion, compared to US$3.83 billion in the same period last year.
The Goldman Sachs deal with NEOS will take the form of a cash and stock exchange, with some of the proceeds to be paid in the form of performance and service-related considerations.
Source: Reuters
Pooja Malik is a business journalist with over six years of experience covering startups, entrepreneurship, and emerging trends. She has previously worked with leading media platforms such as YourStory Media and BW BusinessWorld, where she reported on business, policy, and market developments. Currently, she serves as Editor at The Inspirepreneur Magazine, where she writes and edits stories across business, lifestyle, and travel, with a focus on clarity, accuracy, and reader relevance.
