GSWO vs PIEL

GSWOAGoldman Sachs ActiveBeta World Equity ETF

PIELFPacer International Export Leaders ETF

In short

GSWO Four factor tilts (value, momentum, quality, low volatility) on developed markets outside the US, for 15 basis points. Goldman's ActiveBeta rules at a price closer to an index fund than an active one.

PIEL Most international funds hand you companies that mostly sell at home. PIEL screens developed markets outside the US for the opposite: large and mid caps with heavy foreign sales and high free cash flow margins, then keeps the top 100.

Stated mandate

GSWO The fund is an ActiveBeta World Equity ETF designed to track an ActiveBeta Index and provide exposure to value, momentum, quality, and low-volatility characteristics.

PIEL The fund seeks global market growth by screening the FTSE Developed ex US Index for the top 100 large- and mid-capitalization companies with high foreign sales and high free-cash-flow margins.

Why people hold it

• GSWO 0.15% a year against a 0.69% median for its global active-equity peers, and cheaper than fellow top-graded names DFAW (0.24%) and AVGE (0.25%).
• Value, momentum, quality and low volatility come from one published ActiveBeta index methodology, not a manager's discretionary call.gsam.com
• Stands among the strongest implementations in its global equity peer group: a multi-billion-dollar fund in the standard 1940 Act ETF wrapper that pays quarterly.

• PIEL Two-step screen with a clear logic: filter the FTSE Developed ex US Index for high foreign sales, then keep the 100 highest free cash flow margins, weighted by market cap with a 5% cap per name.sec.govpaceretfs.com
• Not a lab experiment. It is the overseas build of the export-leaders template Pacer has run on US stocks since 2018, pointed at non-US exporters instead.paceretfs.comstockanalysis.com
• The cash-flow step does real work: ranking on free cash flow margin tilts the basket toward companies converting sales into cash, which the broad developed ex-US index does not screen for.paceretfs.com
• Rules-based and transparent: roughly 100 stocks, a published index, and a 5% cap that stops one giant exporter from running the portfolio.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• GSWO Despite the "World" name, the reference index is MSCI World ex USA, so US stocks sit outside the mandate.
• Launched in 2022, so the live record is short, and factor blends can trail plain cap-weighted benchmarks for long stretches.
• Four factors in one basket can pull against each other; the net tilt is milder than a single-factor fund.

• PIEL The screen costs you: 0.49% sits above the typical international multifactor fund, and well above plain factor peers like GSWO (0.15%) and INTF (0.16%).
• It listed in December 2025 and is still a small fund, so trading is thinner than at the category's heavyweights and bid-ask spreads can run wider.
• Short history means there is no record yet of how an exporter-and-cash-flow screen behaves through a full cycle in currencies, trade policy, or a global slowdown.

Full GSWO profile⁠

Full PIEL profile⁠