Goldman Sachs announced on August 12 that it has agreed to acquire NEOS Investments for up to $2.25 billion in a cash-and-equity transaction, expanding its active exchange-traded fund platform and adding roughly $30 billion in assets across 19 options-based income ETFs.
NEOS, based in Westport, Connecticut, was launched in 2022 and has built a suite of systematic options strategies tied to the S&P 500, Nasdaq-100, high-yield bonds, and U.S. Treasury securities. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory clearances and customary closing conditions. After closing, NEOS co-founders Troy Cates and Garrett Paolella will join Goldman Sachs Asset Management as partners, while the broader NEOS investment, client service, and operating teams are expected to move to Goldman.
Once completed, the acquisition is projected to lift Goldman’s active ETF assets to about $80 billion and push the firm’s total ETF platform above $130 billion. The transaction follows Goldman’s previous purchase of Innovator Capital Management, another specialist in defined-outcome and buffer ETFs. Goldman’s asset and wealth management division generated $4.6 billion in second-quarter revenue, up 20% from the prior year, reflecting the bank’s push toward more recurring management fees.
Goldman noted that options-based income ETFs have grown to roughly $180 billion in assets, with annualized asset growth above 70% since 2021. The announcement also highlighted Goldman’s filing for a proposed Bitcoin Premium Income ETF, which would seek current income while maintaining indirect exposure to Bitcoin through U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products and selling call options against part of that exposure. While the acquisition could complement such crypto-linked product development, neither company has confirmed whether NEOS personnel will work on the proposed Bitcoin fund.
