Goldman Sachs to Pay $2 Billion for ETF Issuer Innovator Capital

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will pay $2 billion to buy Innovator Capital Management, a deal that combines the bank with an issuer of a relatively new type of exchange-traded fund that has caught the attention and ire of some on Wall Street.

Wheaton, Illinois-based Innovator — which has over $28 billion of assets under supervision across more than 150 ETFs — specializes in defined-outcome ETFs, which seek to limit investors’ downside risk in exchange for capping upside potential, and have been popular among financial advisers looking to protect client portfolios.

“You get the existing platform and the track record,” ...