NEW YORK, NY January 07, 2015 – Goldman Sachs Asset Management (“GSAM”) today announced that it has changed the name of the Goldman Sachs Municipal Income Fund to the Goldman Sachs Dynamic Municipal Income Fund (Class A shares: GSMIX; Class I: GSMTX). The name change reflects the Fund’s new positioning, which expands the duration range while allowing for greater flexibility across the entire credit quality spectrum.
“The Goldman Sachs Dynamic Municipal Income Fund is a core strategy in our municipal bond mutual fund product suite,” said Jim McNamara, Global Head of Third Party Distribution, GSAM. “This strategy is especially beneficial to investors in higher tax brackets, and seeks to offer a steady stream of attractive tax-exempt income and the potential for strong total returns.”
Previously benchmarked against the Barclays Municipal Bond Index, the Fund is now benchmarked against the Barclays Municipal Bond 1-10 Year Blend Index. This change enables the portfolio management team to take advantage of new flexibility within a 2 to 8 year duration bandwidth. Historically, over the last 10 years, the duration of the Barclays Municipal Bond 1-10 Year Blend Index has ranged from 4.02 to 4.62 years. This renewed Fund positioning also aims to offer tax-free returns relative to both municipal bonds and comparable-term taxable bonds across the entire yield and credit spectrum. The portfolio actively seeks opportunities across this wide credit range, with non-investment grade securities exposure up to a maximum of 30% of net assets.
“Against the backdrop of a changing market environment and increased interest rate volatility, investors may benefit from a flexible approach that seeks opportunities across the municipal bond market,” said Ben Barber, Managing Director, and Head of Municipal Asset Management at GSAM. “Our experienced team of investment professionals seeks to help investors better navigate this more challenging municipal market environment by actively managing interest rate volatility and credit exposures.” Barber co-manages the Fund with Scott Diamond, Managing Director and Head of Municipal Trading at GSAM.
Comprising 16 investment professionals, the GSAM Municipal Team oversees approximately $37 billion across Private Wealth Management separate accounts, three municipal bond mutual funds, as well as insurance and institutional accounts (as of September 30, 2014). The tenured team averages 13 years of experience and includes 7 research analysts devoted full time to municipal credit. The team is fluent across all sectors of the municipal market, experienced in both investment grade and high yield municipal analysis, and focuses on changes in the relationship of municipal bonds relative to taxable sectors. Other mutual fund offerings on the platform include a short duration strategy – Goldman Sachs Short Duration Tax-Free Fund, and a high yield offering – the Goldman Sachs High Yield Municipal Fund.
The Fund ticker symbols and investment minimums will remain the same. It will continue to be available in Class A and Class C shares with $1,000 minimum initial investments. Additionally, the Fund offers Institutional, and Class IR shares. The Fund has also delivered strong historical returns over 1, 3, 5, and 10 year time periods.
GSAM is the asset management arm of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), which oversees $1.15 trillion as of September 30, 2014.1 Goldman Sachs Asset Management has been providing discretionary investment advisory services since 1988 and has investment professionals in all major financial centers around the world. The company offers investment strategies across a broad range of asset classes to institutional and individual clients globally. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high-net-worth individuals.
