# How Goldman Sachs Group (GS) compares with the whole market and its popular alternatives

> Source: EasyCompare research, https://easycompare.io/research/gs
> Data as of October 20, 2026. Total returns include reinvested dividends. Past performance does not predict future results; nothing here is investment advice.

Built by QuantCommons' quantitative engine, this page is about relative opportunity, not data on GS alone. It places GS (The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.) against 20+ popular alternatives, its neighboring categories and the entire market of over 10,000 U.S.-listed stocks and ETFs, and surfaces what has done better on consistent outperformance, return for the risk taken, behavior in real market crashes and diversification. The result is a clearer view of where GS stands in the market, and of the alternatives worth a closer look.

Period covered: GS's full trading record, from May 1999 through September 2026. All returns include reinvested dividends. Data as of October 20, 2026.

## Key findings

- **Right now:** Over the past 3 months, GS fell 15.7% while the S&P 500 rose 3.9%. The slide is GS's own: it is 22.8% below its high, against 1.3% for the S&P 500.
- **Stock or market?:** The weakness is GS's own: it fell 15.7% over the past 3 months while the capital markets ETF IAI (iShares U.S. Broker-Dealers & Securities Exchanges ETF) fell 5.9%. The S&P 500 rose 3.9%. Its capital market peers did not move as one over the past 3 months: JPM (JPMorgan Chase & Co.) fell 0.6%, while EVR (Evercore) fell 24.2%.
- **Past 1 to 3 years:** GS finished ahead of the S&P 500 in both 2024 and 2025. GS lagged its capital market peers in 2023, then moved up the pack in 2025.
- **Long term:** GS turned $10,000 into $62,100 over the past decade, against $42,100 in the S&P 500. GS's 10-year return of 521% puts it ahead of 87% of the stocks worth at least $300 million with that much history. The S&P 500 returned 321%.
- **In a crash:** Across seven sell-offs, GS has typically fallen 1.6 times as far as the S&P 500. On the flip side, in the 2022 bear market, GS held up better than JPM (JPMorgan Chase & Co.), BAC and MS; only RJF (Raymond James Financial) and PJT fell less.
- **Diversification:** GS is more of the same, not a cushion: a correlation of 0.73 with the S&P 500 over 5 years and 0.76 with the total US market, more closely than 99% of stocks worth at least $300 million. When the S&P 500 had a down month, GS usually fell with it (18 of 22 months).
- **Better options**
  - **Popular alternatives:** VIRT (Virtu Financial) was ahead of GS in most short and long periods.
  - **Nearby categories and themes:** BNY (Bank of New York Mellon, banks) and CBOE (Cboe Global Markets, capital markets) earned more than GS with less volatility over the past 5 years. BNY returned 22.7% a year at 24.4% volatility, against 19.6% a year at 28.6%.
  - **Whole market:** Few investments have done better on both counts: only 41 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than GS with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT (Walmart), XOM (Exxonmobil) and ABBV (AbbVie).

## How much would $10,000 in GS have grown?

This chart tracks a hypothetical $10,000 investment in GS over the past 27 years, with dividends reinvested, alongside the same amount in the S&P 500, investments that ended ahead of GS over the same span and GS's popular alternatives, among those that traded for the entire period.

- $10,000 invested in GS at the end of September 1999 would have grown to $215,124 by September 2026, more than the $95,018 it would have become in SPY, an S&P 500 fund.
- Five of the eight other investments on the chart ended ahead of GS, and BAP finished highest, at $829,404.

## GS at a glance

This section summarizes the key facts about the stock, its returns over periods from one to ten years and the risk it has carried, with dividends reinvested throughout.

- GS is still 22.8% below its all-time high.
- GS's deepest decline since it began trading in 1999 was 78.8%, from October 2007 to November 2008. It took about eight years from the low to climb back to its old high.
- Over 26 full calendar years, GS's best was 2009, when it returned 103%, and its worst was 2008, when it lost 60.4%. It lost money in seven of those years.

- Type: Stock, Financials (Financial - Capital Markets)
- Trading since: May 4, 1999
- Market value: $258B
- Volatility (5 years): 28.6%; Sharpe ratio: 0.77
- Worst decline ever: −78.8%, from October 31, 2007 to November 20, 2008; back at its high by December 1, 2016

| Period | GS total return |
| --- | --- |
| 1 month | −7.8% |
| 3 months | −15.7% |
| 6 months | −5.2% |
| year to date | −1.8% |
| 1 year | +18.2% |
| 3 years | +215% |
| 5 years | +145% |
| 10 years | +521% |

## GS against the whole market

Where GS ranks among every stock and fund, and what across the market has done better.

### How does GS rank among all stocks?

This section ranks GS on return, volatility, risk-adjusted return and worst decline against every stock worth at least $300 million with enough history.

- On return for the risk taken (the Sharpe ratio), GS ranks in the top 11% of the 2,893 stocks worth at least $300 million.

| Measure | GS | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1-year return | +18.2% | 1,303 of 3,287 (top 40%) |
| 3-year return | +215% | 358 of 3,017 (top 12%) |
| 5-year return | +145% | 468 of 2,893 (top 17%) |
| 10-year return | +521% | 289 of 2,202 (top 14%) |
| Volatility, 5 years | 28.6% | 603 of 2,893 (top 21%) |
| Sharpe ratio, 5 years | 0.77 | 325 of 2,893 (top 12%) |
| Worst decline, past 10 years | −48.8% | 415 of 2,187 (top 19%) |

### What has beaten GS on both return and risk?

Each dot is an investment, placed by how much it earned a year over the past 5 years (higher is better) and how much its price swung, its volatility (further left is calmer).

- 29 stocks and 12 ETFs worth at least $500 million sit in the green region: each earned more than GS over the past 5 years with smaller price swings. That is 1% of the 3,633 screened. Few investments beat it on both counts.
- Among those with at least half GS's swings, CAH has the best return for its risk: 42.1% a year at 24.7% volatility, 14% less than GS's 28.6%, and a Sharpe ratio (return above cash per unit of volatility) of 1.55 against 0.77 for GS.
- None of GS's popular alternatives made it, but HSBC (banks) did: 33.1% a year at 25.9% volatility, 10% less than GS's 28.6%.

### Is there a better investment than GS?

The table below lists investments that beat GS over the past 5 years on at least one of these measures: a higher annual return with lower volatility, a higher annual return at similar volatility, a similar return with lower volatility, a higher Sharpe ratio with a smaller worst decline, a higher total return in most periods from 3 months to 10 years, or smaller losses in recent market crashes.

- Among GS's popular alternatives, VIRT was ahead of GS in most short and long periods.
- Looking beyond its popular alternatives, BNY (banks) and CBOE (capital markets) earned more than GS with less volatility over the past 5 years. BNY returned 22.7% a year at 24.4% volatility, against 19.6% a year at 28.6%.
- Few investments have done better on both counts: only 41 of the 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million earned more than GS with less volatility over the past 5 years, among them WMT, XOM and ABBV.

The 15 strongest of 41 investments that beat GS over the past 5 years, out of 3,633 stocks and funds worth at least $500 million.

| Investment | Group | Annual return (5 years) | Volatility | Sharpe | Worst decline (10 years) | 10Y return | Correlation with GS | Better on |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GS: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (this page) |  | +19.6% | 28.6% | 0.77 | −48.8% | +521% |  |  |
| [PGR](https://easycompare.io/research/pgr): The Progressive Corporation | Property & Casualty Insurance | +21.3% | 25.6% | 0.89 | −30.3% | +816% | 0.13 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [GWW](https://easycompare.io/research/gww): W.W. Grainger, Inc. | Industrial Distribution | +26.3% | 24.9% | 1.07 | −41.6% | +654% | 0.42 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [MCK](https://easycompare.io/research/mck): McKesson Corporation | Health Care Distribution | +38.7% | 25.0% | 1.44 | −38.1% | +586% | 0.14 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Higher return in most periods |
| [ABBV](https://easycompare.io/research/abbv): AbbVie Inc. | Pharmaceuticals | +26.1% | 23.4% | 1.11 | −45.1% | +603% | 0.10 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| [WMT](https://easycompare.io/research/wmt): Walmart Inc. | Discount Retail | +20.8% | 22.6% | 0.96 | −25.7% | +508% | 0.32 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline; Smaller losses in recent crashes |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | International Equity | +26.6% | 19.1% | 1.34 | −39.1% | +428% | 0.27 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [HLT](https://easycompare.io/research/hlt): Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. | Hotels & Resorts | +21.0% | 26.8% | 0.85 | −50.8% | +694% | 0.59 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| [PM](https://easycompare.io/research/pm): Philip Morris International Inc. | Tobacco | +21.0% | 23.4% | 0.94 | −42.9% | +242% | 0.36 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [GILD](https://easycompare.io/research/gild): Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Biotechnology | +22.8% | 24.9% | 0.95 | −30.5% | +200% | 0.25 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [COR](https://easycompare.io/research/cor): Cencora, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +24.2% | 22.8% | 1.07 | −32.4% | +406% | 0.32 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [BNY](https://easycompare.io/research/bny): Bank of New York Mellon Corp | Banks | +22.7% | 24.4% | 0.97 | −50.5% | +341% | 0.71 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher return in most periods |
| DTM: DT Midstream, Inc. | Oil & Gas Midstream | +24.5% | 25.2% | 1.00 | −23.6% | — | 0.54 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| [CAH](https://easycompare.io/research/cah): Cardinal Health, Inc. | Health Care Distribution | +42.1% | 24.7% | 1.55 | −46.1% | +349% | 0.24 | Higher return, lower volatility |
| CBOE: Cboe Global Markets, Inc. | Capital Markets | +21.5% | 25.1% | 0.91 | −43.2% | +463% | 0.21 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |
| FLTW: Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF | Technology | +21.8% | 24.3% | 0.94 | −38.0% | — | 0.44 | Higher return, lower volatility; Higher Sharpe, smaller worst decline |

## GS against its popular alternatives

The investments people most often weigh against GS, compared period by period and year by year.

### How do GS's risk and return compare with its alternatives?

This map plots each investment's annual return over the past 5 years against its volatility, the size of its typical price swings.

- None of the 21 popular alternatives earned more than GS over the past 5 years with smaller price swings, so every higher return on the map came with a bumpier ride.
- 14 of the 21 popular alternatives earned less than GS over the past 5 years while swinging more, the weaker corner of the map.
- Over the past 5 years, GS returned 19.6% a year, more than the S&P 500's 12.7%, with higher volatility (28.6% against 17.1%).

### Has GS consistently beaten its popular alternatives?

This section compares GS with the investments people most often weigh against it, checking each one over eight periods from one month to ten years.

- VIRT outperformed GS in every long-term period and in all but one short-term period, the most consistent record in the group.
- Only one of the 21 popular alternatives, VIRT, outperformed GS in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes.
- JPM earned more for the risk it took than GS (a higher Sharpe ratio) and fell less in its worst decline of the past 10 years.

| Investment | 1Y return | 3Y return | 5Y return | 10Y return | Periods ahead of GS | Verdict | Sharpe |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GS: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (this page) | +18.2% | +215% | +145% | +521% |  |  | 0.77 |
| VIRT: Virtu Financial, Inc. | +76.5% | +243% | +158% | +545% | 5/5 short-term, 3/3 long-term | all-weather | 0.73 |
| [JPM](https://easycompare.io/research/jpm): JPMorgan Chase & Co. | +13.0% | +150% | +122% | +537% | 4/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.78 |
| OPY: Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. | +50.8% | +201% | +121% | +743% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.64 |
| [MS](https://easycompare.io/research/ms): Morgan Stanley | +13.9% | +170% | +110% | +627% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.66 |
| [C](https://easycompare.io/research/c): Citigroup Inc. | +26.0% | +238% | +102% | +234% | 3/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.63 |
| HLI: Houlihan Lokey, Inc. | −31.2% | +35.0% | +37.8% | +549% | 2/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.37 |
| [KKR](https://easycompare.io/research/kkr): KKR & Co. Inc. | −25.2% | +65.7% | +31.8% | +653% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.34 |
| [BX](https://easycompare.io/research/bx): Blackstone Inc. | −28.4% | +28.6% | +2.1% | +628% | 1/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.21 |
| PIPR: Piper Sandler Companies | −20.5% | +103% | +88.4% | +762% | 0/5 short-term, 1/3 long-term |  | 0.54 |
| [CME](https://easycompare.io/research/cme): CME Group Inc. | +14.6% | +57.7% | +70.1% | +319% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.62 |
| [BLK](https://easycompare.io/research/blk): BlackRock, Inc. | −0.6% | +96.3% | +41.1% | +313% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.39 |
| [ICE](https://easycompare.io/research/ice): Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. | +3.5% | +52.4% | +30.0% | +240% | 4/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.35 |
| RJF: Raymond James Financial, Inc. | −4.5% | +69.5% | +64.2% | +358% | 3/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.50 |
| JEF: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. | −14.2% | +51.7% | +30.3% | +249% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.33 |
| LAZ: Lazard Inc | −23.6% | +47.7% | −9.7% | +73.5% | 2/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.14 |
| EVR: Evercore Inc. | −20.6% | +102% | +68.8% | +499% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.47 |
| SF: Stifel Financial Corp | −9.0% | +86.5% | +49.5% | +374% | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.41 |
| PWP: Perella Weinberg Partners | −33.5% | +40.2% | +1.7% | — | 1/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.23 |
| PJT: PJT Partners Inc. | −22.5% | +88.7% | +62.6% | +477% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.47 |
| MC: Moelis & Company | −18.4% | +49.4% | −2.3% | +343% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.17 |
| [BAC](https://easycompare.io/research/bac): Bank of America Corporation | −0.6% | +107% | +21.6% | +282% | 0/5 short-term, 0/3 long-term |  | 0.28 |

### How did GS do year by year?

This table shows each investment's total return in every full calendar year since 2000, along with where GS ranked among its popular alternatives each year.

- Ranked against its popular alternatives each year, GS finished in the top quarter in six of 26 years and in the bottom quarter in three. In 2025, it ranked 2 of 22.
- GS finished ahead of the S&P 500 in 14 of its 26 full calendar years, and ahead of it in each of the last two.
- Among its popular alternatives, BX came out ahead of GS most often, in 12 of the 18 years both traded.

| Year | GS | SPY |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2025 | +56.6% | +17.7% |
| 2024 | +52.0% | +24.9% |
| 2023 | +15.9% | +26.2% |
| 2022 | −7.9% | −18.2% |
| 2021 | +47.6% | +28.7% |
| 2020 | +17.4% | +18.3% |
| 2019 | +40.5% | +31.2% |
| 2018 | −33.5% | −4.6% |
| 2017 | +7.4% | +21.7% |
| 2016 | +34.9% | +12.0% |

## Risk and diversification

How GS has fallen, how it held up in crashes beside the S&P 500 and its popular alternatives, and what moves independently of it.

### What were GS's worst declines?

A drawdown is the decline from a peak to the lowest point before a new high.

- In all five of GS's worst declines, the S&P 500 held up better over the same dates.
- The slowest recovery came after GS fell 78.8% from October 2007 to November 2008; it did not regain that peak until December 2016, eight years later.

| Decline | Peak | Low | Back at the high | SPY over the same dates | Market event |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| −78.8% | October 31, 2007 | November 20, 2008 | December 1, 2016 | −50.2% | 2008 financial crisis |
| −54.7% | September 11, 2000 | October 9, 2002 | November 2, 2005 | −46.2% | dot-com bust |
| −48.8% | March 12, 2018 | March 23, 2020 | December 28, 2020 | −16.4% | late-2018 sell-off |
| −42.4% | March 24, 2000 | May 26, 2000 | August 28, 2000 | −10.1% | dot-com bust |
| −32.8% | November 2, 2021 | June 17, 2022 | March 20, 2024 | −19.9% | 2022 bear market |

### How did GS do in stock market crashes?

This section measures how far GS, the S&P 500 and each alternative fell from peak to trough during every major market crash since 2000.

- GS fell further than the S&P 500 in eight of the ten crashes it has traded through. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when GS fell 78.8% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.
- Among its popular alternatives, VIRT held up best, falling less than GS in five of the six crashes they both traded through.

| Crash | Dates | GS fall | SPY fall |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Dot-com bust | March 10, 2000 to October 9, 2002 | −54.7% | −47.5% |
| Global financial crisis | October 9, 2007 to March 9, 2009 | −78.8% | −55.2% |
| Flash crash | May 6, 2010 to May 7, 2010 | 0.0% | −1.5% |
| Euro debt crisis | July 22, 2011 to October 3, 2011 | −34.3% | −17.9% |
| China devaluation & oil rout | August 10, 2015 to February 11, 2016 | −31.2% | −12.8% |
| Volmageddon | February 2, 2018 to February 9, 2018 | −5.3% | −6.5% |
| Q4 2018 selloff | September 21, 2018 to December 24, 2018 | −33.3% | −19.3% |
| COVID crash | February 19, 2020 to March 23, 2020 | −42.8% | −33.7% |
| 2022 bear market | January 4, 2022 to October 12, 2022 | −30.5% | −24.5% |
| SVB / regional bank stress | March 8, 2023 to March 13, 2023 | −9.7% | −3.4% |

### How closely does GS move with the S&P 500?

Upside capture measures how much of the S&P 500's gains an investment kept in the months the market rose, and downside capture how much of its losses it took in the months the market fell.

- OPY took just 74% of the S&P 500's losses, against 133% for GS, while still keeping 119% of its gains.
- Over the past 10 years, GS captured 136% of the S&P 500's gains in rising months and 133% of its losses in falling months, with a beta of 1.39. It amplified the market's moves in both directions.
- Eight of the 19 popular alternatives had a higher capture ratio (upside capture divided by downside capture) than GS's 1.02, led by CME, OPY and HLI.

Measured over the past 10 years of monthly returns against SPY.

| Investment | Upside capture | Downside capture | Beta |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| GS: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (this page) | 136% | 133% | 1.39 |
| VIRT: Virtu Financial, Inc. | 45.0% | −28.0% | 0.20 |
| [JPM](https://easycompare.io/research/jpm): JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 117% | 103% | 1.09 |
| OPY: Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. | 119% | 74.0% | 1.12 |
| [MS](https://easycompare.io/research/ms): Morgan Stanley | 142% | 137% | 1.39 |
| [C](https://easycompare.io/research/c): Citigroup Inc. | 131% | 165% | 1.49 |
| HLI: Houlihan Lokey, Inc. | 101% | 74.0% | 0.84 |
| [KKR](https://easycompare.io/research/kkr): KKR & Co. Inc. | 171% | 191% | 1.62 |
| [BX](https://easycompare.io/research/bx): Blackstone Inc. | 156% | 170% | 1.48 |
| PIPR: Piper Sandler Companies | 152% | 142% | 1.39 |
| [CME](https://easycompare.io/research/cme): CME Group Inc. | 50.0% | 11.0% | 0.33 |
| [BLK](https://easycompare.io/research/blk): BlackRock, Inc. | 127% | 157% | 1.30 |
| [ICE](https://easycompare.io/research/ice): Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. | 88.0% | 94.0% | 0.84 |
| RJF: Raymond James Financial, Inc. | 103% | 97.0% | 1.07 |
| JEF: Jefferies Financial Group Inc. | 147% | 197% | 1.52 |
| LAZ: Lazard Inc | 128% | 209% | 1.50 |
| EVR: Evercore Inc. | 147% | 162% | 1.58 |
| SF: Stifel Financial Corp | 120% | 125% | 1.25 |
| PJT: PJT Partners Inc. | 111% | 97.0% | 0.91 |
| MC: Moelis & Company | 154% | 196% | 1.58 |
| [BAC](https://easycompare.io/research/bac): Bank of America Corporation | 127% | 146% | 1.36 |

### What diversifies GS?

Correlation measures how closely two investments move together, on a scale from 1 (in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to -1 (in opposite directions).

- Moving a fifth of the money in GS into GLD would have cut the portfolio's volatility by 18% over the past 5 years and raised its annual return (+21.9% for GS alone, +22.0% for the mix).
- Among large ETFs, DXJ, GCOW and SMH have moved largely independently of GS over the past 5 years, with correlations of 0.49 or lower, and each still earned a positive 5-year return.
- FIX made money in four of the seven calendar years in which GS lost money.

| Investment | Correlation with GS | 5Y return | Volatility | Sharpe | Rose in GS's 7 down years |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DXJ: WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund | 0.27 | +225% | 19.1% | 1.34 | 2 of 7 |
| GCOW: Pacer Global Cash Cows Dividend ETF | 0.49 | +93.4% | 13.6% | 1.04 | 1 of 7 |
| [SMH](https://easycompare.io/research/smh): VanEck Semiconductor ETF | 0.49 | +323% | 36.9% | 0.97 | 1 of 7 |
| [GLD](https://easycompare.io/research/gld): SPDR Gold Shares | 0.10 | +126% | 18.9% | 0.96 | 2 of 7 |
| [XLE](https://easycompare.io/research/xle): State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF | 0.37 | +177% | 25.5% | 0.93 | 2 of 7 |
| EWT: iShares MSCI Taiwan ETF | 0.45 | +153% | 24.2% | 0.89 | 1 of 7 |
| AMLP: Alerian MLP ETF | 0.48 | +111% | 18.9% | 0.89 | 2 of 7 |
| EDIV: State Street SPDR S&P Emerging Markets Dividend ETF | 0.40 | +69.9% | 13.8% | 0.84 | 0 of 7 |

## Common questions

### What was GS's worst drawdown?

GS's deepest decline since it began trading in 1999 was 78.8%, from October 2007 to November 2008. It took about eight years from the low to climb back to its old high.

### What were GS's best and worst years?

Over 26 full calendar years, GS's best year was 2009, when it returned 103%. Its worst was 2008, with a return of -60.4%.

### Is there a better investment than GS?

Among GS's popular alternatives, VIRT was ahead of GS in most short and long periods. Looking beyond its popular alternatives, BNY (banks) and CBOE (capital markets) earned more than GS with less volatility over the past 5 years. BNY returned 22.7% a year at 24.4% volatility, against 19.6% a year at 28.6%.

### Is GS more volatile than the S&P 500?

Yes. GS's volatility over the past 5 years was 28.6%, 1.7 times the S&P 500's 17.1%. Volatility measures how widely returns swing around their average: in roughly two years out of three, GS's return lands within 28.6% of its average, either way. The higher it is, the rougher the ride and the harder it is to hold through a slump.

### What is GS's Sharpe ratio?

GS's Sharpe ratio over the past 5 years was 0.77, against 0.79 for the S&P 500, so GS earned less for each unit of risk than an index fund did. The Sharpe ratio is the return earned above cash for each unit of volatility: two investments with the same return are not equal if one got there with far bigger swings.

### How correlated is GS with the S&P 500?

Over the past 5 years, GS's monthly returns had a correlation of 0.73 with the S&P 500. Correlation runs from 1 (moving in lockstep) through 0 (unrelated) to −1 (moving in opposite directions). They often move together: some diversification next to an index fund, but not a cushion. In the table, the correlation column measures each option against GS instead: the lower it is, the more that option would diversify a GS holding.

### What are the best alternatives to GS?

Of the 21 popular alternatives we compared, one outperformed GS in at least 3 of 5 short-term and 2 of 3 long-term timeframes, with dividends reinvested: VIRT.

### Did GS outperform the S&P 500?

GS finished ahead of the S&P 500 (SPY) in 14 of 26 full calendar years. In 2025, it returned +56.6%, against +17.7% for the index.

### How did GS do in stock market crashes?

GS fell less than the S&P 500 (SPY) in two of the ten major crashes it has traded through, and further in eight. The clearest case was the 2008 financial crisis, when GS fell 78.8% and the S&P 500 fell 55.2%.

### What diversifies GS?

These had a low correlation with GS over the past 5 years and still earned a positive 5-year return: among large ETFs, DXJ (correlation 0.27), GCOW (correlation 0.49) and SMH (correlation 0.49); among large stocks, CAH (correlation 0.24), CLS (correlation 0.45) and FIX (correlation 0.42). A correlation near zero means the two have moved largely independently.

## More research

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- [Blackstone (BX) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/bx)
- [CME Group (CME) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/cme)
- [BlackRock (BLK) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/blk)
- [Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/ice)
- [Bank of America (BAC) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/bac)
- [Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/schd)
- [NVIDIA (NVDA) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/nvda)
- [Apple (AAPL) Performance, Alternatives and Market Rank](https://easycompare.io/research/aapl)

## Explore further

- Full page with charts: https://easycompare.io/research/gs
- All research pages: https://easycompare.io/llms.txt
- Compare the entire market against GS live: https://betterthanspy.com/?b=GS&utm_source=easycompare&utm_medium=research