Analyst Report

The Goldman Sachs Access Inflation Protected USD Bond ETF (GTIP) tracks an index of treasury inflation-protected securities, or TIPS: bonds that feature a principal that adjusts based on certain measures of inflation. Goldman’s particular twist is that it invests in “off-the-run” securities. The most-traded TIPS tend to be the newest issues, or “on-the-run” securities. Other rules-based TIPS strategies buy only on-the-run TIPS, which may increase demand and drive up the price. Goldman helped develop an index designed to avoid any potential feeding frenzy by buying the less popular off-the-run TIPS. The fund invests in a broad mix of fixed-rate, U.S. dollar-denominated sovereign bonds that have a minimum issue size of $5 billion and at least one year to maturity.

GTIP can be useful as a tool for investors who are particularly concerned about inflationary pressures. It's important to note that TIPS are not perfect hedges against inflation; there are some potential drawbacks to using products such as GTIP to hedge against a climb in CPI. But for those looking to use inflation-protected bonds in that capacity, GTIP offers broad TIPS exposure at a reasonable price.

GTIP is a relative latecomer to a well-covered segment of the market, and it has yet to gather the assets of some of its seasoned rivals, like the iShares TIPS Bond ETF (TIP). There’s plenty of other rivals to compare it to, including the Schwab U.S. TIPS ETF (SCHP), PIMCO Broad U.S. TIPS Index ETF (TIPZ) or the SPDR Portfolio TIPS ETF (SPIP). It’s also worth noting that broad exposure to longer-dated TIPS may expose investors to longer duration, a measure of bonds’ sensitivity to interest-rate moves. Investors who want to hedge against inflation and changing interest rates might consider short-term TIPS ETFs such as the iShares 0-5 Year TIPS Bond ETF (STIP) or the PIMCO 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index ETF (STPZ).