Private equity is a longtime white whale for many investors and advisors. With its ability to invest long term in some major names without scrutiny, the category remains a huge driver of portfolio growth. Asset managers have long looked to get investors more options to access that space. A recent webcast hosted by VettaFi, “Expanding Access: Unlocking Select Drivers of Private Equity Returns with Public Securities” explored the topic.
Key Takeaways:
- Private equities have long beguiled investors, but new advancements may expand access.
- A recent VettaFi webcast invited Goldman Sachs Asset Management leaders to discuss their approach.
- The fund GTPE, which launched recently, looks to offer private equities type premia in a liquid wrapper.
The webcast, hosted by VettaFi Head of Research Todd Rosenbluth and staff writer Ben Hernandez, invited private equity experts from Goldman Sachs to discuss getting investors exposure to private equity’s strengths. Some 47% of respondents to the webcast viewer survey shared that they do not currently have private equity exposure, while just under a quarter shared that already had private equity replication ETF exposure.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management Lead Portfolio Manager for Americas Third Party Wealth, Sarah Rich, kicked off Goldman’s side of the webcast with an exploration of both investor interest in privates and the challenges of getting that exposure. Rich cited private equity’s annualized 450 basis point (bps) outperformance compared to public equities as its key appeal.
“We see that interest in the asset class has been strong among financial advisors, but this question of access has really more frequently been that hurdle that we see preventing greater adoption within portfolios,” she said.
Traditionally, she said, investors have relied on closed end funds to get exposure to private. Those funds tend to have longer lockups, reduced transparency, and less predictable capital calls.
“What we find is that many wealth and retirement clients are seeking liquidity, tax efficiency, and clarity around what they own and when capital is deployed,” she said, drawing a contrast.
Private Equity and the ETF Wrapper
As a solution, Rich said, their approach involves offering access to “a portion of that return premium that this asset class offers.” Where historically that performance was opaque, she believes that their efforts have captured some of the key data and strategies private equity uses to produce those results.
“Most previous attempts to understand PE return drivers have relied on either public proxies, self-reported data, or otherwise small samples,” Rich said.
“So with much better visibility into private company fundamentals, it's now possible to break returns down more precisely and distinguish what can be replicated in public markets…We believe that our world private equity return tracker strategy represents basically the closest thing you can get to private equity in a fully liquid form,” she added, explaining that their efforts have been able to “capture just over half of the return premium of private equity in a systematic manner.”
The firm’s Goldman Sachs MSCI World Private Equity Return Tracker ETF (GTPE) aims to provide just such a strategy in the ETF wrapper. The fund charges a 50 bps fee for its approach. According to Goldman Sachs Asset Management Head of ETF Investment Strategy Marissa Ansell, who was also on the call, the fund can play a role as part of a liquid alternatives allocation.
“GTPE can provide alternative sources of return from traditional asset classes, same as or similar to direct private equity, but it can also offer lower fees, better liquidity terms than accessing private equity directly,” Ansell said. “It can help investors achieve their target asset allocations for private equity while they're waiting for their capital to be called. And so it helps you achieve a similar return profile with similar drivers.”
See more: Goldman Sachs’ 2025 Retirement Investing Report: 3 Takeaways
GTPE launched in fall 2025. The fund has returned 12.6% YTD, and could be one to watch in the months ahead. For those looking for more of the conversation, check out the webcast here.
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