AAEQ vs GSUS

AAEQBAlpha Architect US Equity 2 ETF

GSUSAGoldman Sachs MarketBeta U.S. Equity ETF

In short

AAEQ Plain US beta with a size floor: market-cap-weighted exposure to American stocks worth at least $1 billion, for 0.09% a year. It launched in December 2025, so the strategy is old-fashioned but the fund itself is brand new.

GSUS Goldman's no-frills core: one index covering the largest 85% of the US market by free float, about 400 large and mid caps, at 0.07% net of a waiver through December 29, 2026.

Stated mandate

AAEQ The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation through broadly diversified exposure to the U.S. stock market, using market-cap-weighted exposure to U.S. stocks with market capitalization of at least $1 billion.

GSUS The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of its underlying U.S. large- and mid-cap equity index.

Why people hold it

• AAEQ 0.09% a year, under half what the typical fund in its peer group charges.
• Boring by design: market-cap weighting, no stock picking, and a $1 billion size floor that screens out the market's smallest names.alphaarchitect.com
• The stated mandate is broad diversification across the US market, not a concentrated wager on a handful of names or one sector.alphaarchitect.com

• GSUS Costs 0.07% net of a waiver through December 29, 2026 (0.09% gross), undercutting Goldman's own GUSA at 0.10% and the Alpha Architect pair, AAEQ and AAUA, at 0.09% each.gs.com
• Nothing clever under the hood: it holds the index's stocks at free-float market-cap weights, and it has tracked that index very closely, among the tightest in its peer group.sec.gov
• A billion-dollar-plus fund that trades in reasonable volume, with a quarterly distribution schedule.

Worth knowing

• AAEQ Trading is thin, so spreads can run wider than at the category's household names. How you place the order matters more here.
• It opened in December 2025, so there is little live history on how closely it tracks or how it handles a real drawdown.
• Cheap, but not the cheapest shelf in the aisle: ILCB covers broad US equity at 0.03%.

• GSUS The index stops at roughly the largest 85% of US free float, so small caps sit outside it. Not a total-market holding.sec.gov
• The 0.07% sits near the category's typical fee, not at the floor: ILCB charges 0.03% with no waiver attached. And GSUS reverts to 0.09% if its waiver lapses on December 29, 2026.
• Free-float weighting means the biggest US companies dominate the top of the portfolio, by design.sec.gov

Full AAEQ profile⁠

Full GSUS profile⁠