Goldman Sachs Access Emerging Markets USD Bond ETF

Goldman Sachs Access Emerging Markets USD Bond ETF (GEMD) is an index fund. It holds US-dollar bonds issued by emerging-market governments and government-linked entities, tracking the FTSE Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets USD Bond Index. Its index halves the weight of the countries that rank worst on governance trends and caps any one country at 5%. It costs 0.30% a year, more than EMHC (0.23%) or VWOB (0.15%), and it is much smaller than both.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, GEMD returned -0.8%, 7th of 8 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2024 (+3.4%); its best was 2025 (+13.7%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 24.4% (Feb 18, 2022 to Oct 20, 2022), recovered by Jun 24, 2025.

As of Aug 31, 2026, the fund held 204 securities; the ten largest made up 10.3% of assets.

The bonds mature in 11.2 years on average (weighted by size), with an average coupon of 5.58%.

• Over the three months to Aug 31, 2026, investors added a net $2.1M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +0.95%, -1.80%, +0.73%.

GEMD tracks a custom, rules-based index. FTSE owns and calculates it, using ideas developed with Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The starting point is the government-related part of the FTSE Emerging Markets Broad Bond Index: bonds issued by governments, guaranteed by governments or issued by government-sponsored entities, all in US dollars. To qualify, a bond needs at least $500 million outstanding, and its issuer needs at least two eligible bonds. Both investment-grade and high-yield ("junk," meaning rated below BBB-) bonds are included.

Next, countries are ranked by how much their governance has improved or worsened, based on the Worldwide Governance Indicators. The bottom 10% of countries have their weight cut in half. No country can exceed 5% of the index, and maturities are bucketed so that the index's interest-rate sensitivity stays close to the broader reference index. The index rebalances monthly and updates its governance rankings quarterly. As of November 30, 2025, it held 795 bonds from 56 countries, with a weighted average maturity of 11.19 years.

The fund uses "representative sampling." Instead of buying every bond, it holds a smaller set chosen to behave like the index: 204 bonds as of August 31, 2026. Because the bonds pay in dollars, holders take no direct currency risk. With maturities averaging about 11 years, though, prices react noticeably to changes in interest rates.

• GEMD charges 0.3% a year, versus an average of 0.27% for the similar funds below (4th of 8, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $31 in the first year and $381 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It pays steady monthly income, but junk-rated government debt and long maturities have produced drawdowns closer to stocks than to high-quality bonds.

GEMD could add income and exposure to a different set of borrowers than US Treasuries or corporate bonds. Its trailing 12-month yield was 6.04% as of October 27, 2026, and it pays monthly. It launched in February 2022, so it has no record from 2008 or 2020. Soon after launch, it fell 24.4% between February 18 and October 20, 2022. It took about 32 months, until June 24, 2025, to recover. Someone forced to sell shares during that stretch would have locked in real losses. Its weakest full calendar year so far, 2024, was still a 3.4% gain. Costs are moderate: about $381 over 10 years on $10,000 under the SEC's standard example. Past results don't predict future ones, and a retirement plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by bond funds with the closest average maturity and issuer mix (N-PORT).