UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM N-CSR
CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED
MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES
Investment Company Act file number 811-08361
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)
71 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606-6303
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)
Caroline Kraus
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
200 West Street
New York, NY 10282
Copies to:
Geoffrey R.T. Kenyon, Esq.
Dechert LLP
One International Place, 40th Floor
100 Oliver Street
Boston, MA 02110-2605
(Name and address of agents for service)
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (312) 655-4400
Date of fiscal year end: December 31
Date of reporting period: December 31, 2015
ITEM 1. | REPORTS TO STOCKHOLDERS. |
The Annual Reports to Shareholders are filed herewith. |
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
Global Trends
Allocation Fund*
* | Effective April 29, 2015, the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator Fund was renamed the Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund. |
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of the risks that may affect the Fund. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Fund, please see the Fund’s Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
The Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund (formerly, Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator Fund) seeks total return while seeking to provide volatility management. Derivative instruments (including swaps) may involve a high degree of financial risk. These risks include the risk that a small movement in the price of the underlying security or benchmark may result in a disproportionately large movement, unfavorable or favorable, in the price of the derivative instrument; risk of default by a counterparty; and liquidity risk. The Fund’s use of derivatives may result in leverage, which can make the Fund more volatile. Over-the-counter transactions are subject to less government regulation and supervision. The Fund’s equity investments are subject to market risk, which means that the value of its investments may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors and/or general economic conditions. The Fund’s fixed income investments are subject to the risks associated with debt securities generally, including credit, liquidity and interest rate risk. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the issuers of sovereign debt or the government authorities that control the payment of debt may be unable or unwilling to repay principal or interest when due. High yield, lower rated investments involve greater price volatility and present greater risks than higher rated fixed income securities. Any guarantee on U.S. government securities applies only to the underlying securities of the Fund if held to maturity and not to the value of the Fund’s shares. Foreign and emerging markets investments may be more volatile and less liquid than investments in U.S. securities and are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and adverse economic or political developments. At times, the Fund may be unable to sell certain of its portfolio securities without a substantial drop in price, if at all. The Fund’s investments in other investment companies (including ETFs) subject it to additional expenses. The Fund is “non-diversified” and may invest more of its assets in fewer issuers than “diversified” funds. Accordingly, the Fund may be more susceptible to adverse developments affecting any single issuer held in its portfolio and to greater losses resulting from these developments.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks total return while seeking to provide volatility management.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Effective on April 29, 2015, the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator Fund was renamed and repositioned as the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund (the “Fund”). At the same time, the Fund’s performance benchmark was changed from the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator IndexTM to the Global Trends Allocation Composite Index, which is composed of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) World Index (60%) and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (40%). The performance information reported below is the combined performance of the Fund, reflecting current and prior investment objectives, strategies and policies.
Below, the Goldman Sachs Quantitative Investment Strategies Team discusses the Fund’s performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of -5.52% and -5.82%, respectively. These returns compare to the 0.26% average annual total return of the Fund’s new benchmark, the Global Trends Allocation Composite Index (the “Index”), during the same time period. The components of the Fund’s benchmark, the MSCI World Index and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, generated average annual total returns of -0.32% and 0.55%, respectively, during the same time period.
Importantly, during the Reporting Period, the Fund’s overall annualized volatility (which is measured versus the S&P 500® Index) was 7.75%, less than the S&P 500® Index’s annualized volatility of 15.15% during the same time period.
How did the Fund’s investment strategy change as a result of its renaming and repositioning on April 29, 2015?
On April 29, 2015, the Fund’s investment objective changed from seeking “to achieve investment results that approximate the performance of the GS Global Markets Navigator IndexTM” to seeking “total return while seeking to provide volatility management.” The Fund continues to have exposure to a broad spectrum of asset classes and geographic regions by investing in equity and fixed income securities of U.S. and non-U.S. issuers, pooled investment vehicles and certain types of derivatives. However, rather than passively investing in such instruments to seek to track an index, the Fund employs, as of April 29, 2015, active investment management techniques, which may involve buying and selling securities and other instruments potentially based upon analysis of economic and market factors. In addition, the Fund now seeks to manage volatility and losses by allocating its assets away from risky investments in distressed market environments.
Under normal market conditions, the Fund expects to invest at least 40% of its assets in equity investments and at least 20% of its assets in fixed income investments. The Investment Adviser makes investment decisions based upon its analysis of market factors around the world and may allocate more of the Fund’s assets to investments with strong recent performance and allocate assets away from investments with poor recent performance. The percentage of the Fund’s portfolio exposed to any asset class or geographic region will vary from time to time as the weightings of the Fund change, and the Fund may not be invested in each asset class at all times.
What economic and market factors most influenced the Fund during the Reporting Period?
Central bank policy, geopolitical tensions, concerns about Chinese and global economic growth and a selloff in commodity prices were the key themes affecting the financial markets during the Reporting Period.
As evidence of a U.S. economic and labor market recovery mounted, market expectations of a Federal Reserve (“Fed”) interest rate hike increased. Meanwhile, other global central banks, including the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, eased monetary policy during the Reporting Period. The monetary policy divergence resulted in relative U.S. dollar strength, which benefited equity markets in several major developed market regions outside the U.S. but detracted from their returns in U.S. dollar terms. In December 2015, the Fed voted unanimously for a 25 basis point hike. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.)
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Geopolitical tensions intensified during the summer of 2015, as negotiations between Greece and its creditors unraveled, and the probability of a Greek exit, popularly known in the media as “Grexit,” from the euro increased. “Grexit” risk subsequently declined with an agreement in July 2015. However, concerns then escalated around China’s economic weakness, exacerbated by a surprise devaluation of its renminbi in August 2015, which further shook market confidence.
Oil and commodity prices were “lower for longer” in 2015, as the supply glut took longer than expected to correct and demand concerns arose. Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude oil prices began 2015 at $57 and $53 per barrel, respectively, already well below 2014 highs of more than $100 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI crude oil prices ended 2015 still lower at approximately $37 per barrel.
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance between January 1, 2015 and April 28, 2015 (“the initial part of the Reporting Period”)?
During the initial part of the Reporting Period, the Fund sought to achieve its former investment objective by investing in financial instruments that provide exposure to the various underlying global equity and fixed income indices that composed the GS Global Markets Navigator IndexTM. By dynamically allocating across global asset classes, using a momentum-based methodology, the Fund sought to manage risk and enhance long-term returns in changing market environments. Momentum investing seeks growth of capital by gaining exposure to asset classes that have exhibited trends in price performance over selected time periods. In managing the Fund, we used a methodology that evaluated historical returns, volatilities and correlations across a range of nine global asset classes. Represented by indices, these asset classes included, within the equities category, U.S. large-cap, U.S. small-cap, Europe, Japan, emerging markets and U.K. stocks. Within the fixed income category, the Fund might allocate assets to U.S., European and Japanese fixed income securities. The analysis of these asset classes drove the aggregate allocations of the Fund over time. We believe market price momentum — either positive or negative — has significant predictive power.
During the initial part of the Reporting Period, the Fund benefited from its allocation to Japanese equities, which performed well on improving economic data. Japan came out of recession, with 0.6% growth in its fourth quarter 2014 Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”). The Fund’s allocation to European equities also helped performance, as Europe’s stock markets advanced.
Conversely, the Fund’s allocation to U.S. equities detracted from returns, as slower than expected U.S. economic growth muted U.S. stock market performance.
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance between April 29, 2015 and December 31, 2015 (“the latter part of the Reporting Period”)?
During the latter part of the Reporting Period, the Fund continued dynamically allocating across global asset classes, using a momentum-based methodology, as it sought total return while also seeking to provide volatility management. In addition, as we sought to achieve the Fund’s new investment objective, we employed active investment management techniques to buy and sell based upon analysis of economic and market conditions. We sought to manage volatility and losses by allocating the assets away from risky investments in distressed market environments.
During the latter part of the Reporting Period, the Fund’s allocations to U.S. and European stocks broadly detracted from performance, as U.S. and European equity markets retreated due to international concerns, including the potential exit of Greece from the euro and Chinese economic weakness. Allocations to Japanese stocks, emerging markets equities, U.K. stocks and U.S. small-cap equities also hurt Fund returns, though to a lesser extent. Allocations to German government bonds detracted from results as the perceived riskiness of Eurozone fixed income increased amid the resurgent Greek debt crisis, causing German government yields to broadly increase. Exposure to U.S. Treasury securities added slightly to performance during the latter part of the Reporting Period in spite of the Fed raising the benchmark federal funds rate by 0.25% in December 2015, the first rate hike since 2006.
What was the Fund’s volatility during the Reporting Period?
As part of our investment approach, we seek to mitigate the Fund’s volatility. As mentioned earlier, for the Reporting Period overall, the Fund’s actual volatility (annualized, using daily returns) was 7.75% versus the S&P 500® Index’s annualized volatility of 15.15%. In the latter half of the year, as a result of heightened volatility across global equity markets and the Fund’s volatility management strategy, the Fund allocated a significant portion of assets to cash beginning in September and throughout the remainder of the year. This cash allocation helped to reduce the Fund’s exposure to down-trending global equities, as well as dampen the overall volatility of the Fund.
3
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
How was the Fund positioned during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we tactically managed the Fund’s allocations across equity and fixed income markets based on the momentum and volatility of these asset classes. At the beginning of the Reporting Period, the Fund’s total assets were allocated 73% to equities, 27% to fixed income and 0% to cash. The Fund had no exposure to Japanese government bonds or to U.K., European and emerging market equities. It had significant weights in U.S. large-cap and small-cap stocks, Japanese equities, U.S. Treasury securities and German government bonds. Near the middle of the Reporting Period, we added a modest allocation to European and U.K. equities and a small allocation to emerging markets equities, while trimming the Fund’s allocations to Japanese stocks, U.S. Treasury securities and German government bonds. At the same time, we also added a modest allocation to Japanese government bonds. In September 2015, we increased the Fund’s allocation to cash as a means of volatility control after a sharp selloff in Chinese equities in August 2015 rattled global stock markets. The selloff had been triggered by weakening Chinese economic data and a devaluation of the renminbi. Toward the end of the Reporting Period, as the global equity market environment improved slightly, we pared back the Fund’s allocation to cash.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund used exchange-traded index futures contracts to gain exposure to U.S. small-cap equities and non-U.S. developed market equities, including those in Europe, Japan and the U.K., as well as to gain exposure to Japanese government bonds. The use of exchange-traded index futures had a positive impact on the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period.
What is the Fund’s tactical asset allocation view and strategy for the months ahead?
At the end of the Reporting Period, the Fund had a moderate allocation to cash. Within equities, we slightly trimmed the Fund’s allocation to U.S. large-cap stocks and European equities. We maintained the Fund’s small allocations to Japanese and U.K. stocks. In addition, at the end of the Reporting Period, the Fund was neutral relative to the Index in U.S. small-cap equities and emerging markets stocks. Within fixed income, we slightly reduced the Fund’s allocations to Japanese government bonds, U.S. Treasury securities and German government bonds. Overall, at the end of the Reporting Period, the Fund’s total assets were allocated 46% to equities, 27% to fixed income and 26% to cash.
Going forward, we intend to position the Fund to provide exposure to price momentum from among nine underlying asset classes, while seeking to manage the volatility, or risk, of the overall portfolio. In general, the Fund seeks to maintain a strategic allocation of 60% of its assets in equity investments and 40% of its assets in fixed income investments. The Fund may deviate from these strategic allocations in order to allocate a greater percentage to asset classes with strong momentum and to reduce its allocation to assets with weak momentum. When volatility increases, our goal is to preserve capital by proportionally increasing the Fund’s cash exposure and reducing its exposure to riskier asset classes. There is no guarantee the Fund’s dynamic management strategy will cause it to achieve its investment objective.
4
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Index Definitions
Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator IndexTM is composed of, and allocates exposure to, a set of underlying indices representing various global asset classes including, but not limited to, global equity, fixed income and commodity assets. It is constructed using a proprietary methodology developed by the index provider and is rebalanced at least monthly.
Global Trends Allocation Composite Index is composed 60% of MSCI World Index and 40% of Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. It is a composite representation prepared by the Investment Adviser of the performance of the Fund’s asset classes, weighted according to their respective weightings in the Fund’s target range.
MSCI World Index (Net, USD, unhedged) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index that is designed to measure the equity market performance of 23 developed markets.
Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index represents an unmanaged diversified portfolio of fixed income securities, including U.S. Treasuries, investment grade corporate bonds, and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities.
5
FUND BASICS
Global Trends Allocation Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the year ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Three Year | Since Inception | Inception Date | ||||||||||
Institutional | -5.52 | % | 3.82 | % | 0.72 | % | 10/16/13 | |||||||
Service | -5.82 | 3.60 | 3.92 | 4/16/12 |
1 | Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional Shares and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.88 | % | 1.12 | % | ||||
Service | 1.14 | 1.35 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectus for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
6
FUND BASICS
FUND COMPOSITION3
3 | The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets (excluding investments in the securities lending reinvestment vehicle, if any). Figures in the graph may not sum to 100% due to the exclusion of other assets and liabilities. Underlying sector allocations of exchange traded funds held by the Fund are not reflected in the graph above. Consequently, the Fund’s overall sector allocations may differ from the percentages contained in the graph above. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
4 | “Agency Debentures” include agency securities offered by companies such as Federal Home Loan Bank and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, which operate under a government charter. While they are required to report to a government regulator, their assets are not explicitly guaranteed by the government and they otherwise operate like any other publicly traded company. |
7
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on April 16, 2012 (commencement of the Fund’s operations) in Service Shares at NAV. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s current benchmark (effective April 30, 2015), the Global Trends Allocation Composite Index, (comprised of the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) World Index (60%) and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (40%)) and the Fund’s former benchmark, the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator Index, is shown. The Investment Adviser believes that the Global Trends Allocation Composite Index is a more appropriate index against which to measure performance. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Institutional Shares will vary from Service Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Global Trends Allocation Fund’s Lifetime Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from April 16, 2012 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Since Inception | ||
Institutional (Commenced October 16, 2013) | -5.52% | 0.72% | ||
Service (Commenced April 16, 2012) | -5.82% | 3.92% |
* | Index was discontinued effective April 30, 2015. |
8
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Agency Debentures(a) – 12.6% | ||||||||||||||
| FHLMC Discount Notes |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 29,958,000 | 0.000 | % | 01/22/16 | $ | 29,955,753 | ||||||||
| FNMA Discount Notes |
| ||||||||||||
14,950,000 | 0.000 | 01/14/16 | 14,949,372 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL AGENCY DEBENTURES | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $44,903,323) | $ | 44,905,125 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligation – 14.0% | ||||||||||||||
| United States Treasury Note |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 47,566,000 | 2.750 | % | 11/15/23 | $ | 49,648,439 | ||||||||
(Cost $49,968,538) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Exchange Traded Funds – 22.7% | ||||||||
252,909 | iShares Core S&P 500 ETF | $ | 51,813,467 | |||||
153,562 | Vanguard S&P 500 ETF | 28,705,344 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS | ||||||||
(Cost $80,701,539) | $ | 80,518,811 | ||||||
|
|
Shares | Distribution Rate | Value | ||||||
Investment Company(b)(c) – 45.0% | ||||||||
Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund — |
| |||||||
160,199,048 | 0.185 | % | $ | 160,199,048 | ||||
(Cost $160,199,048) | ||||||||
| ||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 94.3% | ||||||||
(Cost $335,772,448) | $ | 335,271,423 | ||||||
| ||||||||
OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF LIABILITIES – 5.7% | 20,442,770 | |||||||
| ||||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 355,714,193 | ||||||
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
(a) | Issued with a zero coupon. Income is recognized through the accretion of discount. | |
(b) | Represents an affiliated issuer. | |
(c) | Variable rate security. Interest rate or distribution rate disclosed is that which is in effect on December 31, 2015. |
Investment Abbreviations: | ||
FHLMC | —Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. | |
FNMA | —Federal National Mortgage Association |
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION
FUTURES CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following futures contracts:
Type | Number of Contracts Long (Short) | Expiration Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||||||
EURO STOXX 50 Index | 263 | March 2016 | $ | 9,380,456 | $ | 183,348 | ||||||
Euro-Bund | 171 | March 2016 | 29,346,944 | (463,070 | ) | |||||||
FTSE 100 Index | 141 | March 2016 | 12,883,299 | 571,816 | ||||||||
TSE TOPIX Index | 130 | March 2016 | 16,737,385 | (221,001 | ) | |||||||
10 Year Japanese Government Bonds | 48 | March 2016 | 59,519,281 | 181,244 | ||||||||
TOTAL | $ | 252,337 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 9 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (cost $175,573,400) | $ | 175,072,375 | ||
Investments in affiliated Underlying Funds, at value (cost $160,199,048) | 160,199,048 | |||
Cash | 16,869,351 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Collateral on certain derivative contracts | 2,884,275 | |||
Fund shares sold | 917,897 | |||
Dividends and interest | 231,185 | |||
Reimbursement from investment adviser | 46,295 | |||
Total assets | 356,220,426 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | 56,668 | |||
Payables: | ||||
Management fees | 217,221 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 80,673 | |||
Fund shares redeemed | 62,496 | |||
Accrued expenses | 89,175 | |||
Total liabilities | 506,233 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 372,194,137 | |||
Undistributed net investment income | — | |||
Accumulated net realized loss | (16,246,866 | ) | ||
Net unrealized loss | (233,078 | ) | ||
NET ASSETS | $ | 355,714,193 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional | $ | 1,007,763 | ||
Service | 354,706,430 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 355,714,193 | ||
Shares of beneficial interest outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional | 92,556 | |||
Service | 32,588,556 | |||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||
Institutional | $10.89 | |||
Service | 10.88 |
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Statement of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Investment income: | ||||
Dividends — unaffiliated issuers | $ | 1,435,209 | ||
Interest | 1,168,072 | |||
Dividends — affiliated issuers | 29,785 | |||
Securities lending income — affiliated issuer | 29,254 | |||
Total investment income | 2,662,320 | |||
Expenses: | ||||
Management fees | 2,490,068 | |||
Distribution and Service fees — Service Class | 785,916 | |||
Professional fees | 157,675 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 70,769 | |||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 63,035 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 57,817 | |||
Trustee fees | 24,761 | |||
Other | 30,301 | |||
Total expenses | 3,680,342 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (531,185 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 3,149,157 | |||
NET INVESTMENT LOSS | (486,837 | ) | ||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||
Net realized gain (loss) from: | ||||
Investments | (14,302,475 | ) | ||
Futures contracts | 114,312 | |||
Foreign currency transactions | (199,939 | ) | ||
Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on: | ||||
Investments | (6,777,901 | ) | ||
Futures contracts | 1,630,330 | |||
Foreign currency translation | (39,665 | ) | ||
Net realized and unrealized loss | (19,575,338 | ) | ||
NET DECREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | (20,062,175 | ) |
(a) Institutional and Service Shares incurred Transfer Agency fees of $167 and $62,868, respectively.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income (loss) | $ | (486,837 | ) | $ | 68,289 | |||
Net realized gain (loss) | (14,388,102 | ) | 8,685,740 | |||||
Net change in unrealized loss | (5,187,236 | ) | (1,129,700 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations | (20,062,175 | ) | 7,624,329 | |||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (3,063 | ) | (1,539 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (309,376 | ) | (95,487 | ) | ||||
From net realized gains | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (21,380 | ) | (5,716 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (7,668,103 | ) | (2,127,353 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (8,001,922 | ) | (2,230,095 | ) | ||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 141,160,161 | 143,896,829 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 8,001,922 | 2,230,095 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (33,842,796 | ) | (19,203,651 | ) | ||||
Net increase in net assets resulting from share transactions | 115,319,287 | 126,923,273 | ||||||
TOTAL INCREASE | 87,255,190 | 132,317,507 | ||||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 268,459,003 | 136,141,496 | ||||||
End of year | $ | 355,714,193 | $ | 268,459,003 | ||||
Undistributed net investment income | $ | — | $ | 311,386 |
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period
Income (loss) from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of period | Net investment income (loss)(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | From net investment income | From net realized gains | Total distributions | Net asset value, end of period | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of period (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 11.82 | $ | 0.01 | $ | (0.67 | ) | $ | (0.66 | ) | $ | (0.03 | ) | $ | (0.24 | ) | $ | (0.27 | ) | $ | 10.89 | (5.52 | )% | $ | 1,008 | 0.75 | % | 0.92 | % | 0.12 | % | 504 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 11.82 | (0.02 | ) | (0.67 | ) | (0.69 | ) | (0.01 | ) | (0.24 | ) | (0.25 | ) | 10.88 | (5.82 | ) | 354,706 | 1.00 | 1.17 | (0.16 | ) | 504 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 11.46 | 0.08 | 0.41 | 0.49 | (0.03 | ) | (0.10 | ) | (0.13 | ) | 11.82 | 4.23 | 739 | 0.77 | 1.01 | 0.68 | 304 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 11.47 | — | (d) | 0.45 | 0.45 | — | (d) | (0.10 | ) | (0.10 | ) | 11.82 | 3.95 | 267,720 | 1.03 | 1.24 | 0.04 | 304 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional (Commenced October 16, 2013) | 11.41 | 0.01 | 0.34 | 0.35 | (0.02 | ) | (0.28 | ) | (0.30 | ) | 11.46 | 3.17 | 26 | 0.81 | (e) | 1.09 | (e) | 0.33 | (e) | 195 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 10.36 | (0.02 | ) | 1.42 | 1.40 | (0.01 | ) | (0.28 | ) | (0.29 | ) | 11.47 | 13.57 | 136,116 | 1.04 | 1.51 | (0.21 | ) | 195 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 (Commenced April 16, 2012) | 10.00 | 0.02 | 0.35 | 0.37 | — | (0.01 | ) | (0.01 | ) | 10.36 | 3.74 | 25,990 | 1.04 | (e) | 4.21 | (e) | 0.27 | (e) | 300 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the period. |
(c) | The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments and certain derivatives. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Amount is less than $0.005 per share. |
(e) | Annualized. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund (the “Fund”) (Formerly the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator Fund). The Fund is a non-diversified portfolio under the Act offering two classes of shares — Institutional and Service Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Fund’s valuation policy is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments.
For derivative contracts, realized gains and losses are recorded upon settlement of the contract.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Fund are charged to that Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
D. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Fund’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
E. Foreign Currency Translation — The accounting records and reporting currency of the Fund are maintained in United States (“U.S.”) dollars. Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars using the current exchange rates at the close of each business day. The effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on investments is included within
14
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments. Changes in the value of other assets and liabilities as a result of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates are included in the Statement of Operations within net change in unrealized gain (loss) on foreign currency translations. Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars on the date the transaction occurred, the effects of which are included within net realized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions.
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Funds’ policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Fund, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Fund’s portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Equity Securities — Equity securities traded on a U.S. securities exchange or the NASDAQ system, or those located on certain foreign exchanges, including but not limited to the Americas, are valued daily at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded. If there is no sale or official closing price or such price is believed by GSAM to not represent fair value, equity securities are valued at the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2.
Unlisted equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last sale price on the valuation date, or if no sale occurs, at the last bid price. Securities traded on certain foreign securities exchanges are valued daily at fair value determined by an independent fair value service (if available) under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees and consistent with applicable regulatory guidance. The independent fair value service takes into account multiple factors including, but not limited to, movements in the securities markets, certain depositary receipts, futures contracts and foreign currency exchange rates
15
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
that have occurred subsequent to the close of the foreign securities exchange. These investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
Underlying Funds (including Money Market Funds) — Underlying Funds (“Underlying Funds”) include other investment companies and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). Investments in the Underlying Funds (except ETFs) are valued at the NAV per share of the Institutional Share class (the FST class for Money Market Funds) on the day of valuation. ETFs are valued daily at the last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which the investment is traded. Because the Fund invests in Underlying Funds that fluctuate in value, the Fund’s shares will correspondingly fluctuate in value. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2. For information regarding an Underlying Fund’s accounting policies and investment holdings, please see the Underlying Fund’s shareholder report.
Debt Securities — Debt securities for which market quotations are readily available are valued daily on the basis of quotations supplied by dealers or an independent pricing service approved by the Trustees. The pricing services may use valuation models or matrix pricing, which consider: (i) yield or price with respect to bonds that are considered comparable in characteristics such as rating, interest rate and maturity date or (ii) quotations from securities dealers to determine current value. Short-term debt obligations that mature in sixty days or less and that do not exhibit signs of credit deterioration are valued at amortized cost, which approximates fair value. With the exception of treasury securities of G8 countries (not held in money market funds), which are generally classified as Level 1, these investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
Derivative Contracts — A derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from underlying assets, indices, reference rates or a combination of these factors. The Fund enters into derivative transactions to hedge against changes in interest rates, securities prices, and/or currency exchange rates, to increase total return, or to gain access to certain markets or attain exposure to other underliers.
Exchange-traded derivatives, including futures and options contracts, are valued at the last sale or settlement price and typically fall within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Over-the-counter (“OTC”) and centrally cleared derivatives are valued using market transactions and other market evidence, including market-based inputs to models, calibration to market-clearing transactions, broker or dealer quotations, or other alternative pricing sources. Where models are used, the selection of a particular model to value OTC and centrally cleared derivatives depends upon the contractual terms of, and specific risks inherent in, the instrument, as well as the availability of pricing information in the market. Valuation models require a variety of inputs, including contractual terms, market prices, yield curves, credit curves, measures of volatility, voluntary and involuntary prepayment rates, loss severity rates and correlations of such inputs. For OTC and centrally cleared derivatives that trade in liquid markets, model inputs can generally be verified and model selection does not involve significant management judgment. OTC and centrally cleared derivatives are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy when significant inputs are corroborated by market evidence.
i. Futures Contracts — Futures contracts are contracts to buy or sell a standardized quantity of a specified commodity or security and are valued based on exchanged settlement prices or independent market quotes. Futures contracts are valued at the last settlement price, or in the absence of a sale, the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions, at the end of each day on the board of trade or exchange upon which they are traded. Upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund deposits cash or securities in an account on behalf of the broker in an amount sufficient to meet the initial margin requirement. Subsequent payments are made or received by a Fund equal to the daily change in the contract value and are recorded as variation margin receivable or payable with a corresponding offset to unrealized gains or losses.
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAM believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Fund’s investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAM, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of
16
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Fund’s investments and derivatives classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Fixed Income | ||||||||||||
Agency Debentures | $ | — | $ | 44,905,125 | $ | — | ||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations and/or Other U.S. Government Agencies | 49,648,439 | — | — | |||||||||
Exchange Traded Funds | 80,518,811 | — | — | |||||||||
Investment Company | 160,199,048 | — | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 290,366,298 | $ | 44,905,125 | $ | — | ||||||
Derivative Type | ||||||||||||
Assets(a) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | 936,408 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Liabilities(a) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | (684,071 | ) | $ | — | $ | — |
(a) | Amount shown represents unrealized gain (loss) at fiscal year end. |
For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Schedule of Investments.
4. INVESTMENTS IN DERIVATIVES
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the gross value of derivative contracts as of December 31, 2015. These instruments were used as part of the Fund’s investment strategies and to obtain and/or manage exposure related to the risks below. The values in the table below exclude the effects of cash collateral received or posted pursuant to these derivative contracts, and therefore are not representative of the Fund’s net exposure.
Risk | Statement of Assets and Liabilities | Assets(a) | Statement of Assets and Liabilities | Liabilities(a) | ||||||||||
Equity | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | $ | 755,164 | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | $ | (221,001 | ) | |||||||
Interest Rate | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | 181,244 | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | (463,070 | ) | |||||||||
Total | $ | 936,408 | $ | (684,071 | ) |
(a) | Includes unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts described in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. Only current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. |
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the Fund’s gains (losses) related to these derivatives and their indicative volumes for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. These gains (losses) should be considered in the context that these derivative contracts may have been executed to create investment opportunities and/or economically hedge certain investments, and
17
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
4. INVESTMENTS IN DERIVATIVES (continued)
accordingly, certain gains (losses) on such derivative contracts may offset certain (losses) gains attributable to investments. These gains (losses) are included in “Net realized gain (loss)” or “Net change in unrealized gain (loss)” on the Statement of Operations:
Risk | Statement of Operations | Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Net Change in Unrealized Gain (Loss) | Average Number of Contracts(a) | ||||||||||||
Equity | Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts | $ | (1,601,064 | ) | $ | 2,952,806 | 1,065 | |||||||||
Interest Rate | Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts | 1,715,376 | (1,322,476 | ) | 177 | |||||||||||
Total | $ | 114,312 | $ | 1,630,330 | 1,242 |
(a) | Average number of contracts is based on the average of month end balances for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. |
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Fund, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Fund’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, contractual and effective net management fees with GSAM were at the following rates:
Contractual Management Rate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First $1 billion | Next $1 billion | Next $3 billion | Next $3 billion | Over $8 billion | Effective Rate | Effective Net Management Rate^ | ||||||||||||||||||||
0.79% | 0.71 | % | 0.68 | % | 0.66 | % | 0.65 | % | 0.79 | % | 0.73 | % |
^ | Effective Net Management Rate includes the impact of management fee waivers of affiliated underlying funds, if any. |
The Fund invests in FST Shares of the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund, which is an affiliated Underlying Fund. GSAM has agreed to waive a portion of its management fee payable by the Fund in an amount equal to the management fee it earns as an investment adviser to any of the affiliated Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM waived $184,455 of the Fund’s management fee.
B. Distribution and Service Plan — The Trust, on behalf of the Service Shares of the Fund, has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”). Under the Plans, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (the “Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service Shares.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Fund for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets of Institutional and Service Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a
18
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
percentage rate of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Fund is not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitation as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for the Fund is 0.004%. The Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM reimbursed $328,717 to the Fund. In addition, the Fund has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Fund’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, custody fee credits were $18,013.
E. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Fund participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Fund and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Fund based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Fund did not have any borrowings under the facility.
F. Other Transactions with Affiliates — For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs earned $55 in brokerage commissions from portfolio transactions, including futures transactions executed with Goldman Sachs as the Futures Commission Merchant, on behalf of the Fund.
The following table provides information about the Fund’s investment in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund as of and for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015:
Market Value 12/31/2014 | Purchases at Cost | Proceeds from Sales | Market Value 12/31/2015 | Dividend Income | ||||||||||||||
$ | 121,367,084 | $ | 402,093,126 | $ | (363,261,162 | ) | $ | 160,199,048 | $ | 29,785 |
6. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were as follows:
Purchases of U.S. Government and Agency Obligations | Purchases (Excluding U.S. Government and Agency Obligations) | Sales and Maturities of U.S. Government and Agency Obligations | Sales and Maturities (Excluding U.S. Government and Agency Obligations) | |||||||||||
$ | 349,570,497 | $ | 352,261,535 | $ | 299,541,902 | $ | 364,454,773 |
19
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
7. SECURITIES LENDING
Pursuant to exemptive relief granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the terms and conditions contained therein, the Fund may lend its securities through a securities lending agent, Goldman Sachs Agency Lending (“GSAL”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, to certain qualified borrowers including Goldman Sachs and affiliates. In accordance with the Fund’s securities lending procedures, the Fund receives cash collateral at least equal to the market value of the securities on loan. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of business of the Fund, at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, and any additional required collateral is delivered to the Fund on the next business day. As with other extensions of credit, the Fund may experience delay in the recovery of its securities or incur a loss should the borrower of the securities breach its agreement with the Fund or become insolvent at a time when the collateral is insufficient to cover the cost of repurchasing securities on loan. Dividend income received from securities on loan may not be subject to withholding taxes and therefore withholding taxes paid may differ from the amounts listed in the Statement of Operations. Loans of securities are terminable at any time and as such 1) the remaining contractual maturities of the outstanding securities lending transactions are considered to be overnight and continuous and 2) the borrower, after notice, is required to return borrowed securities within the standard time period for settlement of securities transactions.
The Fund invests the cash collateral received in connection with securities lending transactions in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Money Market Fund (“Money Market Fund”), an affiliated series of the Trust. The Money Market Fund is registered under the Act as an open end investment company, is subject to Rule 2a-7 under the Act, and is managed by GSAM, for which GSAM may receive an investment advisory fee of up to 0.205% on an annualized basis of the average daily net assets of the Money Market Fund.
In the event of a default by a borrower with respect to any loan, GSAL will exercise any and all remedies provided under the applicable borrower agreement to make the Fund whole. These remedies include purchasing replacement securities by applying the collateral held from the defaulting broker against the purchase cost of the replacement securities. If, despite such efforts by GSAL to exercise these remedies, the Fund sustains losses as a result of a borrower’s default, GSAL indemnifies the Fund by purchasing replacement securities at GSAL’s expense, or paying the Fund an amount equal to the market value of the replacement securities, subject to an exclusion for any shortfalls resulting from a loss of value in the cash collateral pool due to reinvestment risk and a requirement that the Fund agrees to assign rights to the collateral to GSAL for purpose of using the collateral to cover purchase of replacement securities as more fully described in the Securities Lending Agency Agreement. The Fund’s loaned securities were all subject to enforceable Securities Lending Agreements and the value of the collateral is at least equal to the value of the cash received. The value of loaned securities and cash collateral at period end are disclosed in the Fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
Both the Fund and GSAL received compensation relating to the lending of the Fund’s securities. The amount earned by the Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, is reported under Investment Income on the Statement of Operations. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAL earned $3,238 in fees as securities lending agent.
The following table provides information about the Fund’s investment in the Money Market Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015:
Market Value 12/31/14 | Purchases at Cost | Proceeds from Sales | Market Value 12/31/15 | |||||||||||
$11,955,850 | $ | 228,850,350 | $ | (240,806,200 | ) | $ | — |
20
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
8. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, was as follows:
2014 | 2015 | |||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 1,035,132 | $ | 6,728,201 | ||||
Net long-term capital gains | 1,194,963 | 1,273,993 | ||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 2,230,095 | $ | 8,002,194 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Capital loss carryforwards: | $ | (13,375,529 | ) | |
Timing differences (Qualified Late Year Loss Deferral/Post October Loss Deferral) | (218,043 | ) | ||
Unrealized losses — net | (2,886,372 | ) | ||
Total accumulated losses — net | $ | (16,479,944 | ) |
As of December 31, 2015, the Funds’ aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
Tax cost | $ | 338,133,648 | ||
Gross unrealized gain | 452,314 | |||
Gross unrealized loss | (3,314,539 | ) | ||
Net unrealized security loss | $ | (2,862,225 | ) | |
Net unrealized security gain (loss) in other investments | (24,147 | ) | ||
Net unrealized loss | $ | (2,886,372 | ) |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales and net mark to market gains (losses) on regulated futures contracts.
In order to present certain components of the Fund’s capital accounts on a tax-basis, the Fund has reclassified $100,095 of paid-in capital and $387,795 of accumulated net realized gain to undistributed net investment income. These reclassifications have no impact on the NAV of the Fund and result primarily from dividend redesignations and differences in the tax treatment of foreign currency transactions.
GSAM has reviewed the Fund’s tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
9. OTHER RISKS
The Fund’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Foreign Custody Risk — A Fund that invests in foreign securities may hold such securities and cash with foreign banks, agents, and securities depositories appointed by the Fund’s custodian (each a “Foreign Custodian”). Some foreign custodians may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business. In some countries, Foreign Custodians may be subject to little or no regulatory oversight over, or independent evaluation of, their operations. Further, the laws of certain countries may place limitations on a Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a Foreign Custodian enters bankruptcy. Investments in emerging markets may be subject to greater custody risks than investments in more developed markets. Custody services in emerging market countries are
21
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
9. OTHER RISKS (continued)
very often undeveloped and may be considerably less well regulated than in more developed countries, and thus may not afford the same level of investor protection as would apply in developed countries.
Industry Concentration Risk — The Fund will not invest more than 25% of the value of its total assets in the securities of one or more issuers conducting their principal business activities in the same industry, except that, to the extent that an industry represents 20% or more of the Fund’s index at the time of investment, the Fund may invest up to 35% of its assets in that industry. Concentrating Fund investments in issuers conducting business in the same industry will subject the Fund to a greater risk of loss as a result of adverse economic, business or other developments affecting that industry than if its investments were not so concentrated.
Interest Rate Risk — When interest rates increase, fixed income securities or instruments held by the Fund will generally decline in value. Long-term fixed income securities or instruments will normally have more price volatility because of this risk than short-term fixed income securities or instruments.
Investments in Other Investment Companies — As a shareholder of another investment company, including an ETF, a Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any net management fees and other expenses paid by such other investment companies, in addition to the fees and expenses regularly borne by the Fund. ETFs are subject to risks that do not apply to conventional mutual funds, including but not limited to the following: (i) the market price of the ETF’s shares may trade at a premium or a discount to their NAV; and (ii) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained.
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that the Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions. Liquidity risk may be the result of, among other things, the reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed income securities or the lack of an active market. The potential for liquidity risk may be magnified by a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where investor redemptions from fixed income mutual funds may be higher than normal, potentially causing increased supply in the market due to selling activity.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Fund may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Fund has unsettled or open transactions defaults.
Investing in foreign markets may involve special risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation, less public information and less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Fund invests. Loss may also result from the imposition of exchange controls, confiscations and other government restrictions by the U.S. or other governments, or from problems in registration, settlement or custody. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to
22
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
9. OTHER RISKS (continued)
foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. To the extent that the Fund also invests in securities of issuers located in emerging markets, these risks may be more pronounced.
Non-Diversification Risk — The Fund is non-diversified, meaning that it is permitted to invest a larger percentage of its assets in fewer issuers than diversified mutual funds. Thus, the Fund may be more susceptible to adverse developments affecting any single issuer held in its portfolio, and may be more susceptible to greater losses because of these developments.
10. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Fund. Additionally, in the course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
11. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
12. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 65,120 | $ | 767,595 | 60,147 | $ | 707,704 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 2,244 | 24,443 | 629 | 7,255 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (37,336 | ) | (453,426 | ) | (499 | ) | (5,908 | ) | ||||||||
30,028 | 338,612 | 60,277 | 709,051 | |||||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 12,070,417 | 140,392,566 | 12,257,059 | 143,189,125 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 732,551 | 7,977,479 | 192,620 | 2,222,840 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (2,872,736 | ) | (33,389,370 | ) | (1,657,505 | ) | (19,197,743 | ) | ||||||||
9,930,232 | 114,980,675 | 10,792,174 | 126,214,222 | |||||||||||||
NET INCREASE | 9,960,260 | $ | 115,319,287 | 10,852,451 | $ | 126,923,273 |
23
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund (the “Fund”), a fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015, the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian, brokers, and transfer agent, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
24
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Fund Expenses — Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional or Service Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service Shares) and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional Shares and Service Shares of the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund's actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund's actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Fund, you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 946.40 | $ | 3.68 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,021.42 | + | 3.82 | ||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 944.20 | 4.90 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,020.16 | + | 5.09 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.75% and 1.00% for Institutional and Service Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Fund's actual annualized net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
25
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
26
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
28
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GLOBAL TRENDS ALLOCATION FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31, 2015, 17.75% of the dividends paid from net investment company taxable income by the Global Trends Allocation Fund qualify for the dividends received deduction available to corporations.
Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Global Trends Allocation Fund designates $1,273,993, or, if different, the maximum amount allowable, as capital gain dividends paid during the year ended December 31, 2015.
29
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President, and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York
New York 10282
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Fund included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Fund in the future. These statements are based on Fund management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Fund, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Fund. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities for the 12-month period ended December 31 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Forms N-Q are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Fund’s first and third fiscal quarters. The Fund’s Forms N-Q may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Forms N-Q may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Fund holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Fund holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust: Goldman Sachs Global Trends Allocation Fund.
© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITNAVAR-16/30039-TEMPL-02/2016
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
Large Cap Value Fund
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of risks that may affect the Fund. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Fund, please see the Fund’s Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Large Cap Value Fund are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
The Goldman Sachs Large Cap Value Fund invests primarily in large-capitalization U.S. equity investments. The Fund’s equity investments are subject to market risk, which means that the value of the securities in which it invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors and/or general economic conditions. Different investment styles (e.g., “value”) tend to shift in and out of favor, and at times the Fund may underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes.
1
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Value Portfolio Management Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Large Cap Value Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of -4.41% and -4.58%, respectively. These returns compare to the -3.83% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell 1000® Value Index (with dividends reinvested) (the “Russell Index”) during the same time period.
What economic and market factors most influenced the equity markets as a whole during the Reporting Period?
Representing the U.S. equity market, the S&P 500® Index gained 1.38% during the Reporting Period. Central bank policy, a commodity price sell-off, geopolitical tensions, and China and global economic growth concerns were the key themes impacting U.S. equities throughout 2015.
As evidence of a U.S. economic and labor market recovery mounted, market expectations of a Federal Reserve (“Fed”) interest rate hike increased. The monetary policy divergence with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, which each eased policy during the calendar year, resulted in relative U.S. dollar strength. This paradoxically hurt U.S. equity performance despite improving domestic economic fundamentals. Also, geopolitical tensions intensified in the summer of 2015, as negotiations between Greece and its creditors unraveled, and the probability of a Greek exit, popularly known in the media as “Grexit,” from the euro increased. “Grexit” risk subsequently declined with an agreement in July 2015. However, concerns then escalated around China’s economic weakness, exacerbated by a surprise devaluation of its renminbi in August 2015, which further shook market confidence. U.S. equities sold off in the ensuing sharp global equity correction.
After holding the targeted federal funds rate steady in September and October 2015 in light of these external macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, the Fed voted unanimously for a 25 basis point hike in December 2015, a move largely expected by markets. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.) The fairly dovish language in the Fed’s announcement, which emphasized “gradual” adjustments to policy going forward, helped to somewhat assuage the markets.
Oil and commodity prices were “lower for longer” in 2015, as the supply glut took longer than expected to correct and demand concerns arose. Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude oil prices began 2015 at $57 and $53 per barrel, respectively, already well below 2014 highs of more than $100 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI crude oil prices ended 2015 still lower at approximately $37 per barrel. The U.S. consumer benefited from savings at the gas pump and consumer spending rose, particularly in areas typically associated with lower gas prices, such as autos and restaurants. However, this did not fully offset the negative impact on the U.S. energy industry and industrials companies. As a result, energy was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 Index by a wide margin during the Reporting Period, followed by materials, utilities and industrials. Conversely, more consumer-oriented sectors, including consumer discretionary, health care, information technology and consumer staples were the best performing sectors in the S&P 500 Index during the Reporting Period.
Within the U.S. equity market, there was significant disparity in performance not only among sectors but also among the various capitalization and style segments. Large-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell 1000® Index, posted modestly positive returns, while mid-cap stocks and small-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell Midcap® Index and Russell 2000® Index, respectively, generated negative returns. Large-cap stocks were most successful relative to small-cap stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. From a style perspective, growth-oriented stocks significantly outpaced value-oriented stocks across the capitalization spectrum. Growth outperformed relative to value during the Reporting Period primarily due to stronger performance of the growth-oriented information technology sector. (All as measured by the Russell Investments indices.)
2
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
The Fund underperformed the Russell Index on a relative basis. Stock selection had the greatest effect on the Fund’s performance relative to the Russell Index during the Reporting Period.
Which equity market sectors most significantly affected Fund performance?
Stock selection in the consumer discretionary, energy and financials sectors detracted most from the Fund’s relative results. Only partially offsetting these detractors was stock selection in the information technology, consumer staples and industrials sectors, which contributed positively. Having an underweighted allocation to energy, which was the weakest sector in the Russell Index during the Reporting Period, also helped, but not enough to counter the negative impact of stock selection in the sector.
Which stocks detracted significantly from the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
Detracting most from the Fund’s results relative to its benchmark index were positions in oil and natural gas exploration and production companies Southwestern Energy and Devon Energy and entertainment content company Viacom.
During the Reporting Period, Southwestern Energy’s underperformance was driven primarily by weaker natural gas prices. Also, during the fourth quarter of 2015, the exceptionally warm weather was a major headwind driving the stock’s poor performance, as natural gas prices fell by nearly 10%. Still, in October 2015, the company reported third calendar quarter earnings ahead of consensus expectations, driven by higher than expected production metrics coupled with lower operating costs. However, challenging natural gas liquid and natural gas pricing caused shares to underperform following the earnings release. Additionally, broad-based declines in global commodities weakened investor appetite for stocks with direct commodity exposure. All that said, at the end of the Reporting Period, we continued to believe that the company’s management had executed well on its strategy and that the company was attractively valued relative to peers. Further, we continued to believe that Southwestern Energy has an underappreciated resource base, specifically in the Marcellus and Fayetteville Shales, and that its recently acquired assets from Chesapeake Energy further strengthen the company’s position and growth opportunities. Additionally, we remained positive on the company’s operational leverage to higher natural gas prices and were encouraged by its management team’s commitment to disciplined growth, cost reductions and shareholder returns.
Similarly, Devon Energy’s shares were weighed upon by lower oil prices, which overshadowed the company’s strong results. Despite its underperformance during the Reporting Period, we continued to believe at the end of 2015 that the value of the company’s large North American asset base was not fully recognized at its then-current market price. We also remained positive on a number of actions the company has taken to unlock shareholder value. Finally, we believed that Devon Energy maintained a strong balance sheet, which could help expedite the development of its oil properties going forward.
Shares of Viacom came under pressure throughout the Reporting Period as a result of lower ratings and viewership for traditional television, combined with concerns regarding a shift in advertising dollars from television to digital. In addition, a pending high-profile contract negotiation with a cable provider created a level of uncertainty with respect to Viacom’s distribution business. Despite the weakness, at the end of the Reporting Period, we believed the company was set to benefit from a long-awaited move toward a new advertising ratings model that captures the currently unmeasured and fast-growing over-the-top content consumption trends. (In broadcasting, over-the-top (“OTT”) content refers to delivery of audio, video and other media over the Internet without the involvement of a multiple system operator in the control or distribution of the content.) Additionally, we were encouraged by what we considered to be the company’s attractive valuation and its new cost-restructuring program, which we believe could support stable profitability through the company’s transition.
What were some of the Fund’s best-performing individual stocks?
Relative to the Russell Index, the Fund benefited most from positions in Alphabet, General Electric and Boeing.
Alphabet, which is a U.S.-based technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products formerly known as Google until October 2015, was the top contributor to the Fund’s relative performance during the Reporting Period. Google’s strong performance was driven by better than expected earnings results in the second and third calendar quarters, led by strong revenue growth in its core search business, accelerating contribution from newer businesses and better cost discipline. Additionally, investors responded positively to the company’s announcement of the creation of Alphabet, its new holding company, and a new operating structure to increase management scale and focus on its consolidated business. At the end of the Reporting Period, we maintained our conviction in the stock, as, in our view, Alphabet’s core of Google remains healthy, with owned search growing and YouTube gaining share of the video advertising market. We believe the margin pressure and excess spending issues that have challenged the former Google during the past few years will continue to subside. Furthermore, we have been pleased by the
3
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
performance of the company’s new Chief Financial Officer, Ruth Porat, who has emphasized a focus on cost controls, increased transparency and maximization of shareholder value.
General Electric, a global infrastructure and financial services company, performed well, as investors appear to have viewed the company’s progress favorably in terms of divesting financial services assets and re-focusing on high value industrial businesses. Strong earnings results have helped along the way, with the help of improving operating margins. This has allowed General Electric to navigate the complexities of the global economic growth slowdown seen in the second half of the Reporting Period. Finally, in December 2015, General Electric held its 2016 outlook meeting, which included a projection of high single-digit earnings growth through 2018, achieved through above-average organic revenue growth, share repurchases, divestitures and synergies from the company’s acquisition of Alstom Energy. At the end of the Reporting Period, we remained optimistic on the company’s growth prospects, as a strong backlog of orders and accretive synergies from recent transactions could be supportive to earnings in a potentially slower economic growth environment. Additionally, we believe the company’s margin outlook was positive, and we see the potential for General Electric to exceed its restructuring savings goal.
Boeing performed well on better than expected earnings in three consecutive quarters, with robust top-line growth and operating margins. Strong order growth has added to Boeing’s backlog, which provides earnings visibility and the means for ongoing shareholder distributions. At the end of the Reporting Period, we believed Boeing was on track to increase free cash flow in 2016 with improvement in the company’s 787 program and higher commercial aircraft delivery rates.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we did not use derivatives as part of an active management strategy.
Did the Fund make any significant purchases or sales during the Reporting Period?
We sold the Fund’s position in Verizon Communications and initiated a Fund position in AT&T based predominantly on valuation. We thought AT&T was relatively more attractive, and the yield spread between the two companies had widened by more than historical norms. We also think AT&T can benefit from a cash flow perspective, as capital expenditure reductions flow through. Furthermore, we were encouraged by AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV and the larger than expected synergies seen. At the time of purchase, we did not think the market was accounting for enough synergies, as concerns of whether or not AT&T could cover its dividend overshadowed the benefits of the deal.
During the Reporting Period, we established a Fund position in Citigroup, a globally diversified financial services holding company. The company announced the results of its Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (“CCAR”) with the Fed. We view the results positively and believe the company now has the ability to return capital to its shareholders. In addition, we view favorably its management team’s focus on improving returns on equity through efficient resource allocation around markets, products and clients.
In addition to those sales already mentioned, we sold the Fund’s position in supplemental insurance company AFLAC during the Reporting Period. While we believe the company is a high quality franchise with the potential to benefit from increased capital deployment and improvement in sales, it is not as levered to a rise in interest rates as other names in the industry. With a rise in interest rates still on the horizon at the time, we decided to sell out of the position and reallocate the capital to names that we believe have higher upside potential.
Were there any notable changes in the Fund’s weightings during the Reporting Period?
In constructing the Fund’s portfolio, we focus on picking stocks rather than on making industry or sector bets. We seek to outpace the benchmark index by overweighting stocks that we expect to outperform and underweighting those that we think may lag. Consequently, changes in its sector weights are generally the direct result of individual stock selection or of stock appreciation or depreciation. That said, during the Reporting Period, the Fund’s exposure to health care, materials, financials and utilities increased compared to the Russell Index. The Fund’s allocations compared to the benchmark index in consumer discretionary, industrials and energy decreased.
How was the Fund positioned relative to its benchmark index at the end of the Reporting Period?
At the end of December 2015, the Fund had overweighted positions relative to the Russell Index in the consumer discretionary, information technology and health care sectors. On the same date, the Fund had underweighted positions compared to the Russell Index in industrials, energy and utilities and was rather neutrally weighted to the Russell Index in consumer staples, telecommunication services, materials and financials.
4
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Were there any changes to the Fund’s portfolio management team during the Reporting Period?
Effective February 18, 2015, Andrew Braun no longer serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer of the U.S. Value Equity Team or as a lead portfolio manager of the Mid Cap Value strategy. Andrew will, however, retain his sector coverage responsibilities for the Large and Mid Cap Value strategies.
Sean Gallagher, Managing Director and Head of the U.S. Value Equity Team, will continue in his role as Chief Investment Officer of the U.S. Value Equity Team. Sean has 22 years of investing experience and has been the head of the U.S. Value Equity Team and Co-Chief Investment Officer since 2009. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2000, was named managing director in 2005 and partner in 2008. As he has in the past, Sean will continue to work closely with his team, including 15 portfolio managers and more than 10 research analysts, to ensure the seamless management of our shareholders’ portfolios.
What is the Fund’s tactical view and strategy for the months ahead?
At the end of the Reporting Period, we believe positive, but below average, returns for global equities in 2016 in light of modest economic growth forecasts and rising valuations in some areas of the market. However, in our view, equities still looked more attractive than other asset classes in a persistently low-return environment.
After dipping in 2015, we believe global economic growth to increase modestly in 2016, which we think will be enough to sustain corporate profitability and allow stock prices to move higher. In our view, central banks are likely to remain accommodative given still-fragile global economic growth, which we also see as helpful for equity markets. Even in the U.S., where Fed policy has moved toward normalization, we do not expect to see much negative impact from what are likely to be gradual interest rate increases given continued strength in the housing and labor markets. However, the strong U.S. dollar may well remain a headwind for U.S. multi-nationals.
While the macro outlook remains benign, U.S. credit and equities reflect some typical late-cycle signs, such as more shareholder-friendly actions, an increase in merger and acquisition activity and a pick-up in leverage, all of which tend to coincide with an environment lacking top-line growth. Higher equity valuations are also consistent with late-cycle indicators. In part due to years of ultra-low interest rates, U.S. equity market valuations have risen toward fair value, in our opinion, with some areas looking particularly vulnerable if companies cannot deliver growth.
One common theme across the developed markets is that we believe domestically-focused companies in the major regions could benefit from increasing domestic consumption while being more insulated from currency volatility. In the U.S., we expect that the strong dollar could continue to be a headwind for many globally-exposed companies but believe the consumer remains healthy.
We also believe that some extraordinary dynamics in the U.S. equity market in 2015 have set up investment opportunities for 2016. The extremely narrow trading breadth of the market hit a 30-year low. For example, just ten stocks accounted for approximately 40% of the total positive contribution to the S&P 500 Index return. Also, as mentioned earlier, value stocks notably underperformed growth stocks. We expect some broadening of the market and reversal of these trends in 2016, as investors focus on the risk of high-priced stocks as well as on the relative attractiveness of the hundreds of stocks trading below the market multiple.
Regardless of market direction, our fundamental, bottom-up stock selection continues to drive our process, rather than headlines or sentiment. We maintain high conviction in the companies the Fund owns and believe they have the potential to outperform relative to the broader market regardless of economic growth conditions. We continue to focus on undervalued companies that we believe have comparatively greater control of their own destiny, such as innovators with differentiated products, companies with low cost structures or companies that have been investing in their own businesses and may be poised to gain market share. We maintain our discipline in identifying companies with what we believe to be strong or improving balance sheets, led by quality management teams and trading at discounted valuations. We remain focused on the long-term performance of the Fund.
5
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Index Definitions
The Russell 1000® Value Index (with dividends reinvested) is an unmanaged market capitalization weighted index of the 1000 largest U.S. companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell 2000® Index (with dividends reinvested) is an unmanaged index of common stock prices that measures the performance of the 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000® Index. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The S&P 500® Index (with dividends reinvested) is the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index of 500 stocks, an unmanaged index of common stock prices. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of the 800 smallest companies in the Russell 1000® Index, which represent approximately 25% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 1000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the 1,000 largest companies in the Russell 3000® Index, which represents approximately 92% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
6
FUND BASICS
Large Cap Value Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | |||||||||||||
Institutional | -4.41 | % | 9.75 | % | 5.49 | % | 4.57 | % | 1/12/98 | |||||||||
Service | -4.58 | 9.49 | N/A | 3.11 | 7/24/07 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional Shares and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.75 | % | 0.80 | % | ||||
Service | 1.00 | 1.05 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectuses for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
TOP TEN HOLDINGS AS OF 12/31/153
Holding | % of Net Assets | Line of Business | ||||
Bank of America Corp. | 3.9% | Banks | ||||
Exxon Mobile Corp. | 3.9 | Energy | ||||
General Electric Co. | 3.8 | Capital Goods | ||||
JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 3.7 | Banks | ||||
Pfizer, Inc. | 3.4 | Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences | ||||
AT&T, Inc. | 3.4 | Telecommunication Services | ||||
Prudential Financial, Inc. | 3.3 | Insurance | ||||
EMC Corp. | 2.9 | Technology Hardware & Equipment | ||||
Citigroup, Inc. | 2.7 | Banks | ||||
Wells Fargo & Co. | 2.6 | Banks |
3 | The top 10 holdings may not be representative of the Fund’s future investments. |
7
FUND BASICS
FUND vs. BENCHMARK SECTOR ALLOCATIONS4
As of December 31, 2015
4 | The Fund is actively managed and, as such, its composition may differ over time. Consequently, the Fund’s overall sector allocations may differ from percentages contained in the graph above. The graph categorizes investments using Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”), however, the sector classifications used by the portfolio management team may differ from GICS. The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of market value. Underlying sector allocations of Exchange Traded Funds and Investment Companies held by the Fund are not reflected in the graph above. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
8
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on January 1, 2006 in the Institutional Shares at NAV. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell Index (with distributions reinvested), is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Service Shares will vary from Institutional Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Large Cap Value Fund’s 10 Year Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | ||||
Institutional (Commenced January 12, 1998) | -4.41% | 9.75% | 5.49% | 4.57% | ||||
Service (Commenced July 24, 2007) | -4.58% | 9.49% | N/A | 3.11% |
9
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – 99.8% | ||||||||
| Banks – 15.7% |
| ||||||
2,085,532 | Bank of America Corp. | $ | 35,099,504 | |||||
460,174 | Citigroup, Inc. | 23,814,005 | ||||||
603,101 | Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 15,795,215 | ||||||
475,419 | Fifth Third Bancorp | 9,555,922 | ||||||
500,902 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 33,074,559 | ||||||
421,598 | Wells Fargo & Co. | 22,918,067 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
140,257,272 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Capital Goods – 4.8% |
| ||||||
1,072,192 | General Electric Co. | 33,398,781 | ||||||
61,928 | The Boeing Co. | 8,954,169 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
42,352,950 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Commercial & Professional Services – 0.8% |
| ||||||
207,707 | The ADT Corp. | 6,850,177 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Durables & Apparel – 1.9% |
| ||||||
151,358 | Ralph Lauren Corp. | 16,873,390 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Services – 0.8% |
| ||||||
315,792 | MGM Resorts International* | 7,174,794 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Diversified Financials – 4.8% |
| ||||||
102,919 | Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.* | 16,442,339 | ||||||
64,661 | Ameriprise Financial, Inc. | 6,881,224 | ||||||
28,560 | BlackRock, Inc. | 9,725,251 | ||||||
327,524 | Synchrony Financial* | 9,960,005 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
43,008,819 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Energy – 9.9% |
| ||||||
216,112 | Apache Corp. | 9,610,500 | ||||||
430,434 | BP PLC ADR | 13,455,367 | ||||||
279,668 | Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. | 4,947,327 | ||||||
279,716 | Devon Energy Corp. | 8,950,912 | ||||||
449,647 | Exxon Mobil Corp. | 35,049,984 | ||||||
2,214,038 | Southwestern Energy Co.* | 15,741,810 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
87,755,900 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing – 3.0% |
| ||||||
224,170 | Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. | 13,741,621 | ||||||
379,739 | Whole Foods Market, Inc. | 12,721,257 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
26,462,878 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco – 2.3% |
| ||||||
299,157 | Mondelez International, Inc. Class A | 13,414,200 | ||||||
135,114 | Tyson Foods, Inc. Class A | 7,205,630 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
20,619,830 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – 4.5% |
| ||||||
195,699 | Aetna, Inc. | 21,158,976 | ||||||
243,920 | Medtronic PLC | 18,762,326 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
39,921,302 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Household & Personal Products – 1.6% |
| ||||||
184,628 | The Procter & Gamble Co. | 14,661,309 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Insurance – 9.0% |
| ||||||
340,025 | American International Group, Inc. | $ | 21,071,349 | |||||
445,936 | MetLife, Inc. | 21,498,575 | ||||||
365,891 | Prudential Financial, Inc. | 29,787,186 | ||||||
182,032 | The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. | 7,911,111 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
80,268,221 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Materials – 1.9% |
| ||||||
249,153 | E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. | 16,593,590 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Media – 2.5% |
| ||||||
174,148 | CBS Corp. Class B | 8,207,595 | ||||||
337,620 | Viacom, Inc. Class B | 13,896,439 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
22,104,034 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – 8.9% |
| ||||||
29,307 | Allergan PLC* | 9,158,438 | ||||||
127,221 | Johnson & Johnson | 13,068,141 | ||||||
175,205 | Merck & Co., Inc. | 9,254,328 | ||||||
236,785 | Mylan NV* | 12,802,965 | ||||||
944,779 | Pfizer, Inc. | 30,497,466 | ||||||
39,042 | Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 4,912,655 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
79,693,993 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Real Estate Investment Trust – 0.7% |
| ||||||
62,890 | American Tower Corp. | 6,097,186 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Retailing – 2.7% |
| ||||||
75,990 | Lowe’s Companies, Inc. | 5,778,280 | ||||||
407,145 | The Gap, Inc. | 10,056,481 | ||||||
6,644 | The Priceline Group, Inc.* | 8,470,768 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
24,305,529 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment – 2.3% |
| ||||||
465,033 | Intel Corp. | 16,020,387 | ||||||
129,433 | Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. | 4,918,454 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
20,938,841 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Software & Services – 5.4% |
| ||||||
15,882 | Alphabet, Inc. Class A* | 12,356,355 | ||||||
148,184 | Microsoft Corp. | 8,221,248 | ||||||
297,810 | Oracle Corp. | 10,878,999 | ||||||
99,238 | SAP SE ADR | 7,849,726 | ||||||
415,895 | Symantec Corp. | 8,733,795 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
48,040,123 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – 6.3% |
| ||||||
627,816 | Cisco Systems, Inc. | 17,048,343 | ||||||
1,015,938 | EMC Corp. | 26,089,288 | ||||||
264,590 | QUALCOMM, Inc. | 13,225,531 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
56,363,162 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Telecommunication Services – 3.4% |
| ||||||
877,484 | AT&T, Inc. | 30,194,224 | ||||||
|
|
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Transportation – 2.2% |
| ||||||
728,032 | Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.* | $ | 10,359,895 | |||||
154,146 | United Continental Holdings, Inc.* | 8,832,566 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
19,192,461 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Utilities – 4.4% |
| ||||||
130,530 | Duke Energy Corp. | 9,318,537 | ||||||
349,929 | FirstEnergy Corp. | 11,103,247 | ||||||
114,335 | NextEra Energy, Inc. | 11,878,263 | ||||||
127,028 | PG&E Corp. | 6,756,619 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
39,056,666 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 99.8% | ||||||||
(Cost $834,777,031) | $ | 888,786,651 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF | 1,811,926 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 890,598,577 | ||||||
|
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
* | Non-income producing security. |
Investment Abbreviation: | ||
ADR | —American Depositary Receipt |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments, at value (cost $834,777,031) | $ | 888,786,651 | ||
Cash | 8,226,764 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Investments sold | 5,605,000 | |||
Dividends | 1,020,572 | |||
Fund shares sold | 218,207 | |||
Reimbursement from investment adviser | 45,678 | |||
Total assets | 903,902,872 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Payables: | ||||
Fund shares redeemed | 12,519,782 | |||
Management fees | 556,417 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 147,879 | |||
Accrued expenses | 80,217 | |||
Total liabilities | 13,304,295 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 839,592,258 | |||
Undistributed net investment income | 1,299,901 | |||
Accumulated net realized loss | (4,303,202 | ) | ||
Net unrealized gain | 54,009,620 | |||
NET ASSETS | $ | 890,598,577 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional | $ | 279,909,731 | ||
Service | 610,688,846 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 890,598,577 | ||
Shares of beneficial interest outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional | 29,794,070 | |||
Service | 65,035,520 | |||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||
Institutional | $9.39 | |||
Service | 9.39 |
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Statement of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Investment income: | ||||
Dividends | $ | 20,501,574 | ||
Expenses: | ||||
Management fees | 7,233,295 | |||
Distribution and Service fees — Service Class | 1,645,199 | |||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 192,975 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 146,084 | |||
Professional fees | 72,440 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 66,502 | |||
Trustee fees | 28,385 | |||
Other | 89,876 | |||
Total expenses | 9,474,756 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (663,322 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 8,811,434 | |||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 11,690,140 | |||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||
Net realized gain from investments (including commissions recaptured of $80,366) | 95,458,298 | |||
Net change in unrealized loss on investments | (148,127,736 | ) | ||
Net realized and unrealized loss | (52,669,438 | ) | ||
NET DECREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | (40,979,298 | ) |
(a) Institutional and Service Shares incurred Transfer Agency fees of $61,369 and $131,606, respectively
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Statement of Changes in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 11,690,140 | $ | 11,642,320 | ||||
Net realized gain | 95,458,298 | 183,715,963 | ||||||
Net change in unrealized loss | (148,127,736 | ) | (61,717,949 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations | (40,979,298 | ) | 133,640,334 | |||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (4,277,987 | ) | (4,510,586 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (7,701,841 | ) | (7,646,742 | ) | ||||
From net realized gains | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (34,533,023 | ) | (59,582,661 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (75,483,763 | ) | (126,376,649 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (121,996,614 | ) | (198,116,638 | ) | ||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 81,069,087 | 66,617,776 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 121,996,614 | 198,116,638 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (168,775,231 | ) | (343,768,316 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from share transactions | 34,290,470 | (79,033,902 | ) | |||||
TOTAL DECREASE | (128,685,442 | ) | (143,510,206 | ) | ||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 1,019,284,019 | 1,162,794,225 | ||||||
End of year | $ | 890,598,577 | $ | 1,019,284,019 | ||||
Undistributed net investment income | $ | 1,299,901 | $ | 1,589,589 |
14 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | From net investment income | From net realized gains | Total distributions | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 11.39 | $ | 0.15 | $ | (0.67 | ) | $ | (0.52 | ) | $ | (0.16 | ) | $ | (1.32 | ) | $ | (1.48 | ) | $ | 9.39 | (4.41 | )% | $ | 279,910 | 0.74 | % | 0.81 | % | 1.38 | % | 83 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 11.38 | 0.13 | (0.67 | ) | (0.54 | ) | (0.13 | ) | (1.32 | ) | (1.45 | ) | 9.39 | (4.58 | ) | 610,689 | 0.99 | 1.06 | 1.13 | 83 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 12.59 | 0.16 | 1.38 | 1.54 | (0.19 | ) | (2.55 | ) | (2.74 | ) | 11.39 | 12.94 | 326,543 | 0.75 | 0.80 | 1.21 | 72 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 12.58 | 0.13 | 1.37 | 1.50 | (0.15 | ) | (2.55 | ) | (2.70 | ) | 11.38 | 12.61 | 692,741 | 1.00 | 1.05 | 0.96 | 72 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional | 10.76 | 0.14 | 3.39 | 3.53 | (0.16 | ) | (1.54 | ) | (1.70 | ) | 12.59 | 33.23 | 370,241 | 0.75 | 0.79 | 1.15 | 86 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 10.75 | 0.11 | 3.39 | 3.50 | (0.13 | ) | (1.54 | ) | (1.67 | ) | 12.58 | 32.93 | 792,553 | 1.00 | 1.04 | 0.91 | 86 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Institutional | 9.39 | 0.15 | 1.64 | 1.79 | (0.15 | ) | (0.27 | ) | (0.42 | ) | 10.76 | 19.07 | 351,677 | 0.77 | 0.78 | 1.40 | 120 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 9.38 | 0.12 | 1.64 | 1.76 | (0.12 | ) | (0.27 | ) | (0.39 | ) | 10.75 | 18.77 | 734,577 | 1.02 | 1.03 | 1.15 | 120 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Institutional | 10.24 | 0.14 | (d) | (0.86 | ) | (0.72 | ) | (0.13 | ) | — | (0.13 | ) | 9.39 | (7.05 | ) | 421,560 | 0.78 | 0.79 | 1.39 | (d) | 91 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 10.23 | 0.12 | (d) | (0.87 | ) | (0.75 | ) | (0.10 | ) | — | (0.10 | ) | 9.38 | (7.27 | ) | 857,659 | 1.03 | 1.04 | 1.23 | (d) | 91 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. |
(c) | The Fund's portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments. If such transactions were included, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Reflects income recognized from special dividends which amounted to $0.02 per share and 0.19% of average net assets. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 15 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs Large Cap Value Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is a diversified portfolio under the Act offering two classes of shares — Institutional and Service Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Fund’s valuation policy is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments. Distributions received from the Fund’s investments in United States (“U.S.”) real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) may be characterized as ordinary income, net capital gain or a return of capital. A return of capital is recorded by the Fund as a reduction to the cost basis of the REIT.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Fund are charged to that Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
D. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Fund’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
E. Commission Recapture — GSAM, on behalf of certain Funds, may direct portfolio trades, subject to seeking best execution, to various brokers who have agreed to rebate a portion of the commissions generated. Such rebates are made directly to a Fund as cash payments and are included in net realized gain (loss) from investments on the Statement of Operations.
16
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Fund’s policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Fund, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Fund’s portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Equity Securities — Equity securities traded on a U.S. securities exchange or the NASDAQ system, or those located on certain foreign exchanges, including but not limited to the Americas, are valued daily at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded. If there is no sale or official closing price or such price is believed by GSAM to not represent fair value, equity securities are valued at the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2.
Unlisted equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last sale price on the valuation date, or if no sale occurs, at the last bid price. Securities traded on certain foreign securities exchanges are valued daily at fair value determined by an independent fair value service (if available) under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees and consistent with applicable regulatory guidance. The independent fair value service takes into account multiple factors including, but not limited to, movements in the securities markets, certain depositary receipts, futures contracts and foreign currency exchange rates that have occurred subsequent to the close of the foreign securities exchange. These investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAM believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Fund’s investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAM, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a
17
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Fund’s investments classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Common Stock and/or Other Equity Investments(a) | ||||||||||||
North America | $ | 888,786,651 | $ | — | $ | — |
(a) | Amounts are disclosed by continent to highlight the impact of time zone differences between local market close and the calculation of NAV. Security valuations are based on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, which may differ from country of domicile. |
For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Schedule of Investments.
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Fund, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Fund’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, contractual and effective net management fees with GSAM were at the following rates:
Contractual Management Rate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
First $1 billion | Next $1 billion | Next $3 billion | Next $3 billion | Over $8 billion | Effective Rate | Effective Net Management Fee Rate^ | ||||||||||||||||||
0.75% | 0.68 | % | 0.65 | % | 0.64 | % | 0.63 | % | 0.75 | % | 0.72 | %* |
^ | Effective Net Management Rate includes the impact of management fee waivers of affiliated underlying funds, if any. |
* | GSAM agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in order to achieve a net management rate, as defined in the Fund’s most recent prospectus. This waiver will be effective through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM waived $287,839 of its management fee. |
B. Distribution and Service Plan — The Trust, on behalf of the Service Shares of the Fund, has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”). Under the Plan, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (the “Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service Shares.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Fund for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets of Institutional and Service Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a
18
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
percentage rate of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Fund is not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitation as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for the Fund is 0.004%. The Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM reimbursed $364,706 to the Fund. In addition, the Fund has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Fund’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, custody fee credits were $10,777.
E. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Fund participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Fund and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Fund based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Fund did not have any borrowings under the facility.
F. Other Transactions with Affiliates — For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs did not earn any brokerage commissions from portfolio transactions.
5. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were $786,941,708 and $856,326,858, respectively.
6. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, was as follows:
2014 | 2015 | |||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 78,350,802 | $ | 33,603,562 | ||||
Net long-term capital gains | 119,765,836 | 88,393,052 | ||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 198,116,638 | $ | 121,996,614 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Undistributed ordinary income — net | $ | 1,299,901 | ||
Undistributed long-term capital gains | 7,531,403 | |||
Total undistributed earnings | $ | 8,831,304 | ||
Timing differences (Qualified Late Year Loss Deferral/Post October Loss Deferral) | (2,441,596 | ) | ||
Unrealized gains — net | 44,616,611 | |||
Total accumulated gains — net | $ | 51,006,319 |
19
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
6. TAX INFORMATION (continued)
As of December 31, 2015, the Fund’s aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
Tax cost | $ | 844,170,040 | ||
Gross unrealized gain | 125,946,060 | |||
Gross unrealized loss | (81,329,449 | ) | ||
Net unrealized security gain | $ | 44,616,611 |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales.
GSAM has reviewed the Fund’s tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
7. OTHER RISKS
The Fund’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that a Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Fund may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Fund has unsettled or open transactions defaults.
20
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
8. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Fund. Additionally, in the course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
9. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
10. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 2,160,929 | $ | 23,733,358 | 1,950,877 | $ | 26,237,463 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 4,177,719 | 38,811,010 | 5,795,050 | 64,093,247 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (5,222,161 | ) | (57,804,985 | ) | (8,477,782 | ) | (113,015,181 | ) | ||||||||
1,116,487 | 4,739,383 | (731,855 | ) | (22,684,471 | ) | |||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 5,254,815 | 57,335,729 | 3,043,560 | 40,380,313 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 8,954,317 | 83,185,604 | 12,117,847 | 134,023,391 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (10,053,254 | ) | (110,970,246 | ) | (17,295,149 | ) | (230,753,135 | ) | ||||||||
4,155,878 | 29,551,087 | (2,133,742 | ) | (56,349,431 | ) | |||||||||||
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) | 5,272,365 | $ | 34,290,470 | (2,865,597 | ) | $ | (79,033,902 | ) |
21
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Large Cap Value Fund:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Large Cap Value Fund (the “Fund”), a fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015, the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian and the application of alternative auditing procedures where confirmation of securities purchased had not been received, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
22
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Fund Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional or Service Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service Shares) and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional Shares and Service Shares of the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Funds and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Fund, you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Share Class | Beginning Account 07/01/15 | Ending Account 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 944.30 | $ | 3.63 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | $ | 1,000 | $ | 1,021.48 | + | $ | 3.77 | |||||
Service | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 944.20 | $ | 4.85 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | $ | 1,000 | $ | 1,020.21 | + | $ | 5.04 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.74% and 0.99% for the Institutional and Service Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Fund’s actual annualized net expense ratios and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
23
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
24
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
25
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
26
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST LARGE CAP VALUE FUND
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31, 2015, 59.91% of the dividends paid from net investment company taxable income by the Large Cap Value Fund qualify for the dividends received deduction available to corporations.
Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Large Cap Value Fund designates $88,393,052 or, if different, the maximum amount allowable, as capital gain dividends paid during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.
28
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President, and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York
New York 10282
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Fund included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Fund in the future. These statements are based on Fund management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Fund, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Fund. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities for the 12-month period ended December 31 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Form N-Qs are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Fund’s first and third fiscal quarters. The Fund’s Form N-Qs may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Form N-Qs may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Fund holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Fund holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (“MSCI”) and Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) and is licensed for use by Goldman Sachs. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any other party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any of such standard or classification. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust: Goldman Sachs Large Cap Value Fund.
© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITLCVAR-16/29856-TEMPL-02/2016
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
Mid Cap Value Fund
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of risks that may affect the Fund. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Fund, please see the Fund’s Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Fund are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
The Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Fund invests primarily in mid-capitalization U.S. equity investments. The Fund’s equity investments are subject to market risk, which means that the value of the securities in which it invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors and/or general economic conditions. The securities of mid- and small-capitalization companies involve greater risks than those associated with larger, more established companies and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements. Different investment styles (e.g., “value”) tend to shift in and out of favor, and at times the Fund may underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes.
1
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Value Portfolio Management Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of -9.24% and -9.52%, respectively. These returns compare to the -4.78% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell Midcap® Value Index (with dividends reinvested) (the “Russell Index”), during the same time period.
What economic and market factors most influenced the equity markets as a whole during the Reporting Period?
Representing the U.S. equity market, the S&P 500® Index gained 1.38% during the Reporting Period. Central bank policy, a commodity price sell-off, geopolitical tensions, and China and global economic growth concerns were the key themes impacting U.S. equities throughout 2015.
As evidence of a U.S. economic and labor market recovery mounted, market expectations of a Federal Reserve (“Fed”) interest rate hike increased. The monetary policy divergence with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, which each eased policy during the calendar year, resulted in relative U.S. dollar strength. This paradoxically hurt U.S. equity performance despite improving domestic economic fundamentals. Also, geopolitical tensions intensified in the summer of 2015, as negotiations between Greece and its creditors unraveled, and the probability of a Greek exit, popularly known in the media as “Grexit,” from the euro increased. “Grexit” risk subsequently declined with an agreement in July 2015. However, concerns then escalated around China’s economic weakness, exacerbated by a surprise devaluation of its renminbi in August 2015, which further shook market confidence. U.S. equities sold off in the ensuing sharp global equity correction.
After holding the targeted federal funds rate steady in September and October 2015 in light of these external macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, the Fed voted unanimously for a 25 basis point hike in December 2015, a move largely expected by markets. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.) The fairly dovish language in the Fed’s announcement, which emphasized “gradual” adjustments to policy going forward, helped to somewhat assuage the markets.
Oil and commodity prices were “lower for longer” in 2015, as the supply glut took longer than expected to correct and demand concerns arose. Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude oil prices began 2015 at $57 and $53 per barrel, respectively, already well below 2014 highs of more than $100 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI crude oil prices ended 2015 still lower at approximately $37 per barrel. The U.S. consumer benefited from savings at the gas pump and consumer spending rose, particularly in areas typically associated with lower gas prices, such as autos and restaurants. However, this did not fully offset the negative impact on the U.S. energy industry and industrials companies. As a result, energy was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 Index by a wide margin during the Reporting Period, followed by materials, utilities and industrials. Conversely, more consumer-oriented sectors, including consumer discretionary, health care, information technology and consumer staples were the best performing sectors in the S&P 500 Index during the Reporting Period.
Within the U.S. equity market, there was significant disparity in performance not only among sectors but also among the various capitalization and style segments. Large-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell 1000® Index, posted modestly positive returns, while mid-cap stocks and small-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell Midcap® Index and Russell 2000® Index, respectively, generated negative returns. Large-cap stocks were most successful relative to small-cap stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. From a style perspective, growth-oriented stocks significantly outpaced value-oriented stocks across the capitalization spectrum. Growth outperformed relative to value during the Reporting Period primarily due to stronger performance of the growth-oriented information technology sector. (All as measured by the Russell Investments indices.)
2
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
The Fund underperformed the Russell Index on a relative basis. Stock selection had the greatest effect on the Fund’s performance relative to the Russell Index during the Reporting Period.
Which equity market sectors most significantly affected Fund performance?
Detracting from the Fund’s relative results most was stock selection in the financials, consumer discretionary, financials and utilities sectors. Such detractors were only partially offset by effective stock selection in the energy and materials sectors, which helped the Fund’s performance relative to the Russell Index. Having an overweighted allocation to consumer staples, which was the second-best performing sector in the Russell Index during the Reporting Period, also boosted the Fund’s relative results.
Which stocks detracted significantly from the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
Detracting from the Fund’s results relative to its benchmark index were positions in oil and natural gas exploration and production company Southwestern Energy, loan management, servicing and asset recovery company Navient and global clothing and accessories retailer Gap.
During the Reporting Period, Southwestern Energy’s underperformance was driven primarily by weak natural gas prices, which declined more than 20% in 2015. While we remained positive on its management team’s commitment to disciplined growth, we moderated the size of the Fund’s position in Southwestern Energy in favor of other opportunities that, in our view, have a more favorable risk/reward profile.
Following weak second calendar quarter results reported in July 2015, shares of Navient came under additional pressure after the company disclosed it received a letter from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) stating it may take legal action over Navient’s student loan practices. Shares of Navient came under additional pressure due to concerns around a potential downgrade of the company’s asset-backed securities by ratings agencies. While we did not believe, at the end of the Reporting Period, these issues posed a material risk to Navient’s operations in isolation, we moderated the size of the Fund’s position in favor of other opportunities which, in our view, have a more favorable risk/reward profile.
During the Reporting Period, Gap’s performance was driven by disappointing earnings results, induced by weaker than expected same-store sales comparisons and gross margins, foreign exchange headwinds resulting from a stronger U.S. dollar, and an increase in promotional expense due to a port strike that caused product delays and thus excess inventory. At the end of the Reporting Period, we remained constructive on the company’s new Chief Executive Officer and the changes he is implementing to improve the Gap brand, although we acknowledge a turnaround will take time. We also remained encouraged by what we see as the company’s long-term growth potential given its international expansion opportunities as well as its strong e-commerce platform. Gap’s management team is focused on modeling the Gap brand’s organization on Old Navy’s successful sourcing, merchandising and marketing model. The company plans to take these robust processes and implement them at Gap and Banana Republic, another retailer owned by Gap. We believe these initiatives could yield significant margin improvements and shorter lead times. Additionally, we believe Gap could benefit from an improving consumer spending environment, increasing demand for denim products and large declines in cotton prices, which make up a significant portion of the company’s cost structure.
What were some of the Fund’s best-performing individual stocks?
The Fund benefited most relative to the Russell Index from positions in Maxim Integrated Products, Fortune Brands Home & Security and Tyson Foods.
Shares of semiconductor company Maxim Integrated Products performed well throughout the Reporting Period, as its management continued to deliver on its restructuring initiatives, which contributed to the company’s earnings beat, driven by operational cost reductions. Additionally, its shares rose in October 2015 after news of a potential merger. At the end of the Reporting Period, we believed that Maxim Integrated Products was one of the most attractive opportunities in the semiconductor industry, regardless of whether it is acquired, and we were encouraged by its management team’s commitment to shareholder-friendly actions.
Fortune Brands Home & Security performed well, as the company continued to build on its industry-leading position in the U.S. home products market, benefiting from an improving U.S. housing market that increased demand for the company’s products. At the end of the Reporting Period, we continued to believe the company has a strong business model that is positioned well to continue to benefit from a strong U.S. housing market. We also think the company has a strong management team with the ability to increase share buybacks or participate in a merger or acquisition.
3
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Tyson Foods’ shares rose throughout the Reporting Period as a result of executing on its strategy to diversify away from traditional fresh meat sales through its acquisition of Hillshire Brands. The acquisition provided a differentiated product stream while also providing a boost to profitability. Tyson Foods’ shares also reacted positively to delivering strong fourth fiscal quarter results, along with an increase to its 2016 guidance and in its dividend. At the end of the Reporting Period, we believed Tyson Foods remained attractively valued relative to peers. We also believed the company remained a high quality business that generates strong cash flow, and we had confidence that its management would continue to allocate capital to maximize shareholder value.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we did not use derivatives as part of an active management strategy.
Did the Fund make any significant purchases or sales during the Reporting Period?
We initiated a Fund position in Citizens Financial Group, a consumer and commercial banking company. We believe its management can improve the bank’s operational efficiency through its cost-savings program and are encouraged by its asset sensitivity to higher interest rates. Overall, we are encouraged by its management team’s commitment to creating shareholder value and believe that Citizens Financial Group is attractively valued relative to its peer group.
We established a Fund position in Ralph Lauren at what we considered to be an attractive entry point after the company missed first quarter 2015 earnings estimates, largely due to foreign exchange headwinds and increased investments. We believe Ralph Lauren can benefit from strong growth trends in international markets, supported by store growth, as the company strengthens its store distribution around the world. In addition, we believe its margins became depressed after two years of investments, and we see room for operating margin expansion during the next few years. Overall, we believe Ralph Lauren is a strong brand that offers an attractive risk/reward profile, and we remained encouraged by its management’s commitment to return capital to shareholders.
We exited the Fund’s position in Fifth Third Bancorp during the Reporting Period. While we maintain a favorable view of the company, we opted to use the proceeds for positions within the financials sector that we felt had better risk-adjusted return potential.
We sold the Fund’s position in Cigna, a global health service organization. Cigna’s stock rose after the company reported better than expected first calendar quarter earnings and its management raised earnings guidance for 2015. Its shares continued to rise through much of the second quarter of 2015 on news flow of merger and acquisitions activity and industry consolidation amongst domestic health care maintenance organizations. Strict to our sell discipline, however, as the stock’s valuations appreciated and reached our price target, we exited the position and transitioned capital into higher conviction names.
Were there any notable changes in the Fund’s weightings during the Reporting Period?
In constructing the Fund’s portfolio, we focus on picking stocks rather than on making industry or sector bets. We seek to outpace the benchmark index by overweighting stocks that we expect to outperform and underweighting those that we think may lag. Consequently, changes in its sector weights are generally the direct result of individual stock selection or of stock appreciation or depreciation. That said, during the Reporting Period, the Fund’s exposure to financials, health care and materials increased compared to the Russell Index. The Fund’s allocations compared to the benchmark index in consumer discretionary, consumer staples and telecommunication services decreased.
How was the Fund positioned relative to its benchmark index at the end of the Reporting Period?
At the end of December 2015, the Fund had overweighted positions relative to the Russell Index in the consumer discretionary, consumer staples and information technology sectors. On the same date, the Fund had an underweighted position compared to the Russell Index in utilities and was rather neutrally weighted to the Russell Index in energy, health care, industrials, materials and financials. The Fund had no exposure to telecommunication services at the end of the Reporting Period.
Were there any changes to the Fund’s portfolio management team during the Reporting Period?
Effective February 18, 2015, Andrew Braun no longer serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer of the U.S. Value Equity Team or as a lead portfolio manager of the Mid Cap Value strategy. Andrew will, however, retain his sector coverage responsibilities for the Large and Mid Cap Value strategies.
With Andrew’s shift in responsibilities, Timothy Ryan, Vice President, began sharing lead portfolio management responsibility for our Mid Cap Value strategy with Dolores Bamford, Managing Director, who co-lead the strategy until her retirement. Tim will retain his sector coverage responsibilities for the Large, Mid, Small and SMID Cap Value portfolios and will continue to share lead
4
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
portfolio management responsibility for our Real Estate Securities strategy with Nora Creedon, Managing Director. Tim joined the U.S. Value Equity Team in 2010 and has 19 years of experience in the industry.
Upon Dolores’ retirement, Sung Cho, Vice President, assumed co-lead portfolio manager responsibilities for the Mid Cap Value strategy, along with Tim Ryan. Sung joined the U.S. Value Equity Team in 2008 and has 12 years of industry experience. Sung retained his research responsibilities for the telecommunications and consumer discretionary sectors in both the Large and Mid Cap Value strategies as well as for technology in Mid Cap Value.
Sean Gallagher, Managing Director and Head of the U.S. Value Equity Team, will continue in his role as Chief Investment Officer of the U.S. Value Equity Team. Sean has 22 years of investing experience and has been the head of the U.S. Value Equity Team and Co-Chief Investment Officer since 2009. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2000, was named managing director in 2005 and partner in 2008. As he has in the past, Sean will continue to work closely with his team, including 15 portfolio managers and more than 10 research analysts, to ensure the seamless management of our shareholders’ portfolios.
Effective September 1, 2015, Dolores Bamford retired from the firm. She left to pursue a Master of Divinity degree from the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Dolores had research responsibilities for energy in the Mid Cap Value strategy and served as co-lead portfolio manager, along with Tim Ryan.
What is the Fund’s tactical view and strategy for the months ahead?
At the end of the Reporting Period, we believe positive, but below average, returns for global equities in 2016 in light of modest economic growth forecasts and rising valuations in some areas of the market. However, in our view, equities still looked more attractive than other asset classes in a persistently low-return environment.
After dipping in 2015, we believe global economic growth to increase modestly in 2016, which we think will be enough to sustain corporate profitability and allow stock prices to move higher. In our view, central banks are likely to remain accommodative given still-fragile global economic growth, which we also see as helpful for equity markets. Even in the U.S., where Fed policy has moved toward normalization, we do not expect to see much negative impact from what are likely to be gradual interest rate increases given continued strength in the housing and labor markets. However, the strong U.S. dollar may well remain a headwind for U.S. multi-nationals.
While the macro outlook remains benign, U.S. credit and equities reflect some typical late-cycle signs, such as more shareholder-friendly actions, an increase in merger and acquisition activity and a pick-up in leverage, all of which tend to coincide with an environment lacking top-line growth. Higher equity valuations are also consistent with late-cycle indicators. In part due to years of ultra-low interest rates, U.S. equity market valuations have risen toward fair value, in our opinion, with some areas looking particularly vulnerable if companies cannot deliver growth.
One common theme across the developed markets is that we believe domestically-focused companies in the major regions could benefit from increasing domestic consumption while being more insulated from currency volatility. In the U.S., we expect that the strong dollar could continue to be a headwind for many globally-exposed companies but believe the consumer remains healthy.
We also believe that some extraordinary dynamics in the U.S. equity market in 2015 have set up investment opportunities for 2016. The extremely narrow trading breadth of the market hit a 30-year low. For example, just ten stocks accounted for approximately 40% of the total positive contribution to the S&P 500 Index return. Also, as mentioned earlier, value stocks notably underperformed growth stocks. We expect some broadening of the market and reversal of these trends in 2016, as investors focus on the risk of high-priced stocks as well as on the relative attractiveness of the hundreds of stocks trading below the market multiple.
Regardless of market direction, our fundamental, bottom-up stock selection continues to drive our process, rather than headlines or sentiment. We maintain high conviction in the companies the Fund owns and believe they have the potential to outperform relative to the broader market regardless of economic growth conditions. We continue to focus on undervalued companies that we believe have comparatively greater control of their own destiny, such as innovators with differentiated products, companies with low cost structures or companies that have been investing in their own businesses and may be poised to gain market share. We maintain our discipline in identifying companies with what we believe to be strong or improving balance sheets, led by quality management teams and trading at discounted valuations. We remain focused on the long-term performance of the Fund.
5
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Index Definitions
The Russell Midcap Value® Index is an unmanaged index of common stock prices that measures the performance of those Russell Midcap companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower forecasted growth values. The Index figures do not reflect any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell 2000® Index (with dividends reinvested) is an unmanaged index of common stock prices that measures the performance of the 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000® Index. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The S&P 500® Index (with dividends reinvested) is the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index of 500 stocks, an unmanaged index of common stock prices. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of the 800 smallest companies in the Russell 1000® Index, which represent approximately 25% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 1000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the 1,000 largest companies in the Russell 3000® Index, which represents approximately 92% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
6
FUND BASICS
Mid Cap Value Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | |||||||||||||
Institutional | -9.24 | % | 8.72 | % | 6.67 | % | 8.41 | % | 5/01/98 | |||||||||
Service | -9.52 | 8.44 | N/A | 6.16 | 1/09/06 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional Shares and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.83 | % | 0.87 | % | ||||
Service | 1.08 | 1.12 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectus for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
TOP TEN HOLDINGS AS OF 12/31/153
Holding | % of Net Assets | Line of Business | ||||||||
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | 2.5% | Banks | ||||||||
Lincoln National Corp. | 2.4 | Insurance | ||||||||
Raymond James Financial, Inc. | 2.1 | Diversified Financials | ||||||||
Sempra Energy | 1.9 | Utilities | ||||||||
Ralph Lauren Corp. | 1.9 | Consumer Durables & Apparel | ||||||||
Huntington Bancshares, Inc. | 1.9 | Banks | ||||||||
FirstEnergy Corp. | 1.9 | Utilities | ||||||||
Brixmor Property Group, Inc. | 1.8 | Real Estate Investment Trust | ||||||||
Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. | 1.7 | Technology Hardware & Equipment | ||||||||
Prologis, Inc. | 1.7 | Real Estate Investment Trust |
3 | The top 10 holdings may not be representative of the Fund’s future investments. |
7
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
FUND vs. BENCHMARK SECTOR ALLOCATIONS4
As of December 31, 2015
4 | The Fund is actively managed and, as such, its composition may differ over time. Consequently, the Fund’s overall sector allocations may differ from percentages contained in the graph above. The graph categorizes investments using Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”), however, the sector classifications used by the portfolio management team may differ from GICS. The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of market value. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
8
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on January 1, 2006 in the Institutional Shares at NAV. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell Index (with distributions reinvested), is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Service Shares will vary from Institutional Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Mid Cap Value Fund’s 10 Year Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | ||||||||||
Institutional (Commenced May 1, 1998) | -9.24% | 8.72% | 6.67% | 8.41% | ||||||||||
Service (Commenced January 9, 2006) | -9.52% | 8.44% | N/A | 6.16% |
9
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – 96.7% | ||||||||
| Banks – 9.2% |
| ||||||
779,221 | Citizens Financial Group, Inc. | $ | 20,407,798 | |||||
288,709 | First Horizon National Corp. | 4,192,054 | ||||||
1,380,586 | Huntington Bancshares, Inc. | 15,269,281 | ||||||
457,330 | KeyCorp | 6,032,183 | ||||||
105,004 | M&T Bank Corp. | 12,724,385 | ||||||
128,012 | PacWest Bancorp | 5,517,317 | ||||||
355,619 | Zions Bancorporation | 9,708,399 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
73,851,417 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Capital Goods – 5.7% |
| ||||||
158,973 | Armstrong World Industries, Inc.* | 7,269,835 | ||||||
207,380 | Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. | 11,509,590 | ||||||
25,968 | Hubbell, Inc. | 2,623,807 | ||||||
208,815 | Ingersoll-Rand PLC | 11,545,381 | ||||||
174,741 | Textron, Inc. | 7,340,870 | ||||||
136,828 | Triumph Group, Inc. | 5,438,913 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
45,728,396 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Durables & Apparel – 2.6% |
| ||||||
27,925 | Mohawk Industries, Inc.* | 5,288,716 | ||||||
137,819 | Ralph Lauren Corp. | 15,364,062 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
20,652,778 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Services – 1.1% |
| ||||||
383,734 | MGM Resorts International* | 8,718,437 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Diversified Financials – 4.7% |
| ||||||
23,666 | Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.* | 3,780,880 | ||||||
219,003 | Navient Corp. | 2,507,584 | ||||||
289,226 | Raymond James Financial, Inc. | 16,766,431 | ||||||
1,382,995 | SLM Corp.* | 9,017,128 | ||||||
160,641 | Voya Financial, Inc. | 5,929,259 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
38,001,282 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Energy – 7.8% |
| ||||||
449,532 | Antero Resources Corp.* | 9,799,798 | ||||||
125,975 | Concho Resources, Inc.* | 11,698,038 | ||||||
203,067 | Continental Resources, Inc.* | 4,666,480 | ||||||
283,274 | Gulfport Energy Corp.* | 6,960,042 | ||||||
164,483 | Newfield Exploration Co.* | 5,355,566 | ||||||
281,486 | Noble Energy, Inc. | 9,269,334 | ||||||
90,899 | Pioneer Natural Resources Co. | 11,396,917 | ||||||
185,252 | Southwestern Energy Co.* | 1,317,142 | ||||||
16,920 | Tesoro Corp. | 1,782,860 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
62,246,177 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing – 1.4% |
| ||||||
337,311 | Whole Foods Market, Inc. | 11,299,919 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco – 3.3% |
| ||||||
261,015 | ConAgra Foods, Inc. | 11,004,392 | ||||||
84,806 | Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. | 6,695,434 | ||||||
166,860 | Tyson Foods, Inc. Class A | 8,898,644 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
26,598,470 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – 4.2% |
| ||||||
54,361 | Cardinal Health, Inc. | $ | 4,852,806 | |||||
164,132 | Envision Healthcare Holdings, Inc.* | 4,262,508 | ||||||
91,511 | Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings* | 11,314,420 | ||||||
128,306 | Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. | 13,162,913 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
33,592,647 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Household & Personal Products – 1.0% |
| ||||||
102,516 | Edgewell Personal Care Co. | 8,034,179 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Insurance – 8.5% |
| ||||||
193,211 | Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. | 7,910,058 | ||||||
66,775 | Everest Re Group Ltd. | 12,225,835 | ||||||
784,346 | Genworth Financial, Inc. Class A* | 2,925,611 | ||||||
380,803 | Lincoln National Corp. | 19,139,159 | ||||||
190,617 | Principal Financial Group, Inc. | 8,573,953 | ||||||
187,010 | W.R. Berkley Corp. | 10,238,797 | ||||||
172,947 | XL Group PLC | 6,776,063 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
67,789,476 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Materials – 5.6% |
| ||||||
257,382 | Axalta Coating Systems Ltd.* | 6,859,230 | ||||||
163,212 | Celanese Corp. Series A | 10,989,064 | ||||||
188,986 | CF Industries Holdings, Inc. | 7,712,519 | ||||||
59,504 | Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. | 8,127,056 | ||||||
170,411 | Packaging Corp. of America | 10,744,414 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
44,432,283 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Media – 2.4% |
| ||||||
202,791 | Discovery Communications, Inc. Class A* | 5,410,464 | ||||||
147,520 | Liberty Media Corp. Series C* | 5,617,561 | ||||||
141,365 | Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. Class A | 7,804,762 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
18,832,787 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – 2.6% |
| ||||||
127,316 | Baxalta, Inc. | 4,969,143 | ||||||
192,339 | Endo International PLC* | 11,774,994 | ||||||
80,650 | Mylan NV* | 4,360,746 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
21,104,883 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Real Estate Investment Trust – 11.3% |
| ||||||
555,107 | Brixmor Property Group, Inc. | 14,332,863 | ||||||
585,548 | DDR Corp. | 9,860,628 | ||||||
63,385 | Federal Realty Investment Trust | 9,260,549 | ||||||
70,284 | Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. | 6,382,490 | ||||||
307,977 | Prologis, Inc. | 13,218,373 | ||||||
426,934 | RLJ Lodging Trust | 9,234,582 | ||||||
550,432 | Starwood Property Trust, Inc. | 11,316,882 | ||||||
145,088 | Ventas, Inc. | 8,187,316 | ||||||
89,317 | Vornado Realty Trust | 8,928,127 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
90,721,810 | ||||||||
|
|
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Retailing – 3.9% |
| ||||||
225,099 | Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.* | $ | 6,278,011 | |||||
510,340 | Staples, Inc. | 4,832,920 | ||||||
374,995 | The Gap, Inc. | 9,262,376 | ||||||
176,709 | Urban Outfitters, Inc.* | 4,020,130 | ||||||
115,769 | Williams-Sonoma, Inc. | 6,762,067 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
31,155,504 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment – 2.0% |
| ||||||
150,826 | Intersil Corp. Class A | 1,924,540 | ||||||
263,661 | Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. | 10,019,118 | ||||||
93,255 | Xilinx, Inc. | 4,380,187 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
16,323,845 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Software & Services – 6.4% |
| ||||||
185,102 | Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. | 11,217,181 | ||||||
429,958 | First Data Corp. Class A* | 6,887,927 | ||||||
96,580 | IAC/InterActiveCorp | 5,799,629 | ||||||
202,106 | Pandora Media, Inc.* | 2,710,242 | ||||||
430,180 | Symantec Corp. | 9,033,780 | ||||||
152,809 | VMware, Inc. Class A* | 8,644,405 | ||||||
74,955 | WEX, Inc.* | 6,626,022 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
50,919,186 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – 2.7% |
| ||||||
1,492,719 | Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. | 13,703,160 | ||||||
39,719 | F5 Networks, Inc.* | 3,851,154 | ||||||
722,997 | Viavi Solutions, Inc.* | 4,403,052 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
21,957,366 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Transportation – 3.1% |
| ||||||
782,189 | Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.* | 11,130,549 | ||||||
72,605 | Kirby Corp.* | 3,820,475 | ||||||
170,565 | United Continental Holdings, Inc.* | 9,773,375 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
24,724,399 | ||||||||
|
|
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Utilities – 7.2% |
| ||||||
122,119 | Ameren Corp. | $ | 5,279,204 | |||||
480,369 | FirstEnergy Corp. | 15,242,108 | ||||||
174,405 | NRG Energy, Inc. | 2,052,747 | ||||||
190,490 | PG&E Corp. | 10,132,163 | ||||||
159,476 | SCANA Corp. | 9,646,703 | ||||||
165,338 | Sempra Energy | 15,543,426 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
57,896,351 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 96.7% | ||||||||
(Cost $778,185,229) | $ | 774,581,592 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF | 26,421,951 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 801,003,543 | ||||||
|
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
* | Non-income producing security. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments, at value (cost $778,185,229) | $ | 774,581,592 | ||
Cash | 26,952,896 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Dividends | 1,414,520 | |||
Investments sold | 1,278,938 | |||
Fund shares sold | 695,349 | |||
Total assets | 804,923,295 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Payables: | ||||
Investments purchased | 1,942,110 | |||
Fund shares redeemed | 1,290,163 | |||
Management fees | 529,315 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 70,601 | |||
Accrued expenses | 87,563 | |||
Total liabilities | 3,919,752 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 823,758,160 | |||
Undistributed net investment income | 3,981,811 | |||
Accumulated net realized loss | (23,132,791 | ) | ||
Net unrealized loss | (3,603,637 | ) | ||
NET ASSETS | $ | 801,003,543 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional | $ | 535,458,708 | ||
Service | 265,544,835 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 801,003,543 | ||
Shares of beneficial interest outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional | 36,962,078 | |||
Service | 18,297,968 | |||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||
Institutional | $14.49 | |||
Service | 14.51 |
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Statement of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Investment income: | ||||
Dividends | $ | 15,082,463 | ||
Expenses: | ||||
Management fees | 7,695,555 | |||
Distribution and Service fees — Service Class | 833,195 | |||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 192,373 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 180,778 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 89,103 | |||
Professional fees | 74,740 | |||
Trustee fees | 26,602 | |||
Other | 82,179 | |||
Total expenses | 9,174,525 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (309,426 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 8,865,099 | |||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 6,217,364 | |||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||
Net realized gain from investments (including commissions recaptured of $66,610) | 24,622,227 | |||
Net change in unrealized loss on investments | (116,718,047 | ) | ||
Net realized and unrealized loss | (92,095,820 | ) | ||
NET DECREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | (85,878,456 | ) |
(a) Institutional and Service Shares incurred Transfer Agency fees of $125,723 and $66,650, respectively.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Statement of Changes in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 6,217,364 | $ | 5,540,478 | ||||
Net realized gain | 24,622,227 | 159,883,299 | ||||||
Net change in unrealized loss | (116,718,047 | ) | (37,866,794 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations | (85,878,456 | ) | 127,556,983 | |||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (2,359,711 | ) | (6,789,219 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (329,903 | ) | (2,691,480 | ) | ||||
From net realized gains | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (42,488,374 | ) | (113,060,264 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (21,063,319 | ) | (58,697,537 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (66,241,307 | ) | (181,238,500 | ) | ||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 71,780,808 | 97,834,874 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 66,241,307 | 181,238,500 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (239,467,354 | ) | (186,178,999 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from share transactions | (101,445,239 | ) | 92,894,375 | |||||
TOTAL INCREASE (DECREASE) | (253,565,002 | ) | 39,212,858 | |||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 1,054,568,545 | 1,015,355,687 | ||||||
End of year | $ | 801,003,543 | $ | 1,054,568,545 | ||||
Undistributed net investment income | $ | 3,981,811 | $ | 493,790 |
14 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | From net investment income | From net realized gains | Total distributions | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 17.43 | $ | 0.13 | $ | (1.75 | ) | $ | (1.62 | ) | $ | (0.07 | ) | $ | (1.25 | ) | $ | (1.32 | ) | $ | 14.49 | (9.24 | )% | $ | 535,459 | 0.84 | % | 0.87 | % | 0.74 | % | 94 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 17.45 | 0.08 | (1.75 | ) | (1.67 | ) | (0.02 | ) | (1.25 | ) | (1.27 | ) | 14.51 | (9.52 | ) | 265,545 | 1.09 | 1.12 | 0.48 | 94 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 18.64 | 0.12 | 2.31 | 2.43 | (0.21 | ) | (3.43 | ) | (3.64 | ) | 17.43 | 13.57 | 692,068 | 0.83 | 0.87 | 0.62 | 88 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 18.66 | 0.07 | 2.31 | 2.38 | (0.16 | ) | (3.43 | ) | (3.59 | ) | 17.45 | 13.29 | 362,501 | 1.08 | 1.12 | 0.38 | 88 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional | 15.33 | 0.13 | 4.88 | 5.01 | (0.16 | ) | (1.54 | ) | (1.70 | ) | 18.64 | 32.89 | 695,832 | 0.83 | 0.86 | 0.74 | 108 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 15.35 | 0.09 | 4.88 | 4.97 | (0.12 | ) | (1.54 | ) | (1.66 | ) | 18.66 | 32.56 | 319,524 | 1.08 | 1.11 | 0.51 | 108 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Institutional | 13.09 | 0.18 | (d) | 2.24 | 2.42 | (0.18 | ) | — | (0.18 | ) | 15.33 | 18.41 | 601,620 | 0.84 | 0.87 | 1.24 | (d) | 79 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 13.11 | 0.15 | (d) | 2.23 | 2.38 | (0.14 | ) | — | (0.14 | ) | 15.35 | 18.13 | 221,917 | 1.09 | 1.12 | 1.05 | (d) | 79 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Institutional | 14.10 | 0.11 | (1.01 | ) | (0.90 | ) | (0.11 | ) | — | (0.11 | ) | 13.09 | (6.38 | ) | 604,797 | 0.85 | 0.86 | 0.81 | 75 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 14.12 | 0.08 | (1.01 | ) | (0.93 | ) | (0.08 | ) | — | (0.08 | ) | 13.11 | (6.59 | ) | 159,638 | 1.10 | 1.11 | 0.61 | 75 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. |
(c) | The Fund's portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments. If such transactions were included, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Reflects income recognized from special dividends which amounted to $0.04 per share and 0.31% of average net assets. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 15 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is a diversified portfolio under the Act offering two classes of shares — Institutional and Service Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Fund’s valuation policy is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments. Distributions received from the Fund’s investments in United States (“U.S.”) real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) may be characterized as ordinary income, net capital gain or a return of capital. A return of capital is recorded by the Fund as a reduction to the cost basis of the REIT.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Fund are charged to that Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
D. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Fund’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
E. Commission Recapture — GSAM, on behalf of certain Funds, may direct portfolio trades, subject to seeking best execution, to various brokers who have agreed to rebate a portion of the commissions generated. Such rebates are made directly to a Fund as cash payments and are included in net realized gain (loss) from investments on the Statement of Operations.
16
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Fund’s policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Fund, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Fund’s portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Equity Securities — Equity securities traded on a U.S. securities exchange or the NASDAQ system, or those located on certain foreign exchanges, including but not limited to the Americas, are valued daily at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded. If there is no sale or official closing price or such price is believed by GSAM to not represent fair value, equity securities are valued at the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2.
Unlisted equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last sale price on the valuation date, or if no sale occurs, at the last bid price. Securities traded on certain foreign securities exchanges are valued daily at fair value determined by an independent fair value service (if available) under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees and consistent with applicable regulatory guidance. The independent fair value service takes into account multiple factors including, but not limited to, movements in the securities markets, certain depositary receipts, futures contracts and foreign currency exchange rates that have occurred subsequent to the close of the foreign securities exchange. These investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAM believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Fund’s investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAM, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of
17
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Fund’s investments classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Common Stock and/or Other Equity Investments(a) | ||||||||||||
North America | $ | 774,581,592 | $ | — | $ | — |
(a) | Amounts are disclosed by continent to highlight the impact of time zone differences between local market close and the calculation of NAV. Security valuations are based on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, which may differ from country of domicile. |
For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Schedule of Investments.
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Fund, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Fund’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, contractual and effective net management fees with GSAM were at the following rates:
Contractual Management Rate | ||||||||||||||||||||||
First $2 billion | Next $3 billion | Next $3 billion | Over $8 billion | Effective Rate | Effective Net Management Rate^ | |||||||||||||||||
0.80% | 0.72 | % | 0.68 | % | 0.67 | % | 0.80 | % | 0.77 | %* |
^ | Effective Net Management Rate includes the impact of management fee waivers of affiliated underlying funds, if any. |
* | GSAM agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in order to achieve a net management rate, as defined in the Fund’s most recent prospectus. This waiver will be effective through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM waived $288,577 of its management fee. |
B. Distribution and Service Plan — The Trust, on behalf of the Service Shares of the Fund, has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”). Under the Plan, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (the “Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service Shares.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Fund for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets of Institutional and Service Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a
18
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
percentage rate of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Fund is not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitation as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for the Fund is 0.054%. The Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM did not reimburse to the Fund. In addition, the Fund has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Fund’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, custody fee credits were $20,849.
E. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Fund participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Fund and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Fund based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Fund did not have any borrowings under the facility.
F. Other Transactions with Affiliates — For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs earned $42,686 in brokerage commissions from portfolio transactions.
5. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were $875,607,048 and $1,025,258,585, respectively.
6. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, was as follows:
2014 | 2015 | |||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 65,381,467 | $ | 19,814,139 | ||||
Net long-term capital gains | 115,857,033 | 46,427,168 | ||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 181,238,500 | $ | 66,241,307 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Undistributed ordinary income — net | $ | 3,516,192 | ||
Undistributed long-term capital gains | 235,384 | |||
Total undistributed earnings | $ | 3,751,576 | ||
Timing differences (Post October Loss Deferral, and certain REIT Adjustments) | (13,981,487 | ) | ||
Unrealized losses — net | (12,524,706 | ) | ||
Total accumulated losses — net | $ | (22,754,617 | ) |
19
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
6. TAX INFORMATION (continued)
As of December 31, 2015, the Fund’s aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
Tax cost | $ | 787,106,298 | ||
Gross unrealized gain | 63,209,073 | |||
Gross unrealized loss | (75,733,779 | ) | ||
Net unrealized security loss | $ | (12,524,706 | ) |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales and differences in the tax treatment of real estate investment trust investments.
In order to present certain components of the Fund’s capital accounts on a tax-basis, the Fund has reclassified $39,729 from undistributed net investment income to accumulated net realized gain (loss). This reclassification has no impact on the net asset value of the Fund and results primarily from differences in the tax treatment of real estate investment trust investments.
GSAM has reviewed the Fund’s tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
7. OTHER RISKS
The Fund’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that a Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Fund may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Fund has unsettled or open transactions defaults.
20
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
8. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Fund. Additionally, in the course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
9. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
10. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 1,719,609 | $ | 28,721,424 | 1,715,321 | $ | 33,575,125 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 3,114,450 | 44,848,085 | 7,070,766 | 119,849,483 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (7,566,438 | ) | (128,872,863 | ) | (6,423,243 | ) | (125,120,050 | ) | ||||||||
(2,732,379 | ) | (55,303,354 | ) | 2,362,844 | 28,304,558 | |||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 2,499,549 | 43,059,384 | 3,196,021 | 64,259,749 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 1,482,552 | 21,393,222 | 3,617,502 | 61,389,017 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (6,456,250 | ) | (110,594,491 | ) | (3,169,219 | ) | (61,058,949 | ) | ||||||||
(2,474,149 | ) | (46,141,885 | ) | 3,644,304 | 64,589,817 | |||||||||||
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) | (5,206,528 | ) | $ | (101,445,239 | ) | 6,007,148 | $ | 92,894,375 |
21
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Fund:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Fund (the “Fund”), a Fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015 and the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian and the application of alternative auditing procedures where confirmation of securities purchased had not been received, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
22
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Fund Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional or Service Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service Shares) and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional Shares and Service Shares of the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund's actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund's actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Funds and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Fund you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 908.10 | $ | 4.09 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,020.92 | + | 4.33 | ||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 906.30 | 5.29 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,019.66 | + | 5.60 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.85% and 1.10% for Institutional and Service Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Fund’s actual annualized net expense ratios and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
23
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
24
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
25
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
26
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MID CAP VALUE FUND
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31, 2015, 46.11% of the dividends paid from net investment company taxable income by the Mid Cap Value Fund qualify for the dividends received deduction available to corporations.
Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Mid Cap Value Fund designates $46,427,168 or, if different, the maximum amount allowable, as capital gain dividends paid during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.
28
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President, and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York
New York 10282
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Fund included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Fund in the future. These statements are based on Fund management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Fund, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Fund. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities for the 12-month period ended December 31 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Form N-Qs are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Fund’s first and third fiscal quarters. The Fund’s Form N-Qs may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Form N-Qs may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Fund holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Fund holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital international Inc. (“MSCI”) and Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) and is licensed for use by Goldman Sachs. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any other party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any of such standard or classification. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust: Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Fund.
© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITMCVAR-16/29859-TEMPL-02/2016
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
Money Market Fund
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of risks that may affect the Fund. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Fund, please see the Fund’s Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Money Market Fund are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
The Goldman Sachs Money Market Fund seeks to maximize current income to the extent consistent with the preservation of capital and the maintenance of liquidity by investing exclusively in high quality money market instruments. The Fund pursues its investment objective by investing in U.S. Government Securities (as defined in the Fund’s prospectus), obligations of U.S. banks, commercial paper and other short-term obligations of U.S. companies, states, municipalities and other entities and repurchase agreements. The Fund may also invest in U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of foreign banks, foreign companies and foreign governments.
An investment in the Fund is neither insured nor guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of an investment at $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.
1
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks to maximize current income to the extent consistent with the preservation of capital and the maintenance of liquidity by investing exclusively in high quality money market instruments.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
On July 29, 2015, the Goldman Sachs Money Market Portfolio Management Team announced that the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Money Market Fund will be repositioned and renamed the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Government Money Market Fund effective April 15, 2016. The repositioned and renamed fund will pursue its investment objective by investing only in government securities.
Below, the Goldman Sachs Money Market Portfolio Management Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Money Market Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
The Fund’s Institutional Shares’ standardized 7-day current yield was 0.24% and their standardized 7-day effective yield was also 0.24% as of December 31, 2015. The Institutional Shares’ one-month simple average yield was 0.15% as of December 31, 2015. The Institutional Shares’ 7-day distribution yield as of December 31, 2015 was 0.24%.
The Fund’s Service Shares’ standardized 7-day current yield was 0.01% and their standardized 7-day effective yield was also 0.01% as of December 31, 2015. The Service Shares’ one-month simple average yield was 0.01% as of December 31, 2015. The Service Shares’ 7-day distribution yield as of December 31, 2015 was 0.01%.
The yields represent past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted above.
Yields will fluctuate as market conditions change. The yield quotations more closely reflect the current earnings of the Fund than total return quotations.
What economic and market factors most influenced the money markets as a whole during the Reporting Period?
The Reporting Period was one wherein money market yields remained low throughout, as the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) kept its target rate near zero through most of 2015. At its December 2015 meeting, the Fed followed through on its widely anticipated first increase in interest rates since 2006, raising the targeted federal funds rate by 25 basis points. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.) Money market yields rose modestly toward the end of the Reporting Period as the Fed raised rates.
Central bank policy divergence was a major theme during the first quarter of 2015, with approximately 25 central banks easing policy, while the Fed contemplated policy tightening.
The European Central Bank began quantitative easing purchases through its public sector purchase program (“PSPP”), which contributed to broadly lower yields. Indeed, approximately 25% of euro-denominated sovereign debt posted negative yields.
The March 2015 Fed statement, economic projections and data points were all notably dovish, i.e. economic growth, inflation and fed funds projections were all reduced. (A dovish economy would tend to indicate lower interest rates; a dovish action or event is one that is not strong or aggressive (opposite of hawkish).) Markets sharply repriced as a result. The Fed dropped the “patient” language from its forward guidance statement regarding the first interest rate hike, as widely expected. However, the Fed’s statement, press conference and projections all softened the impact of that change in language. The Fed’s economic activity assessment was also dovish, with growth at a “solid pace” downgraded to growth having “moderated somewhat.” The median projection for the fed funds rate fell 50 basis points to 0.625% at year end-2015, fell 62.5 basis points to 1.875% at year end-2016 and fell 50 basis points to 3.125% at year end-2017. The March 2015 Fed minutes released at the beginning of April 2015 pointed to a divergence of views among Fed policymakers on policy normalization and exit mechanics. New York Fed President William Dudley said a premature rate hike could potentially damage the Fed’s credibility if it forced the Fed to reverse course and lower the fed funds rate back to near zero.
2
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
U.S. nonfarm payroll employment for March 2015 was disappointing, falling short of consensus expectations — 126,000 versus 245,000 median forecast. The U.S. unemployment rate remained steady at 5.5%, but labor force participation declined by one-tenth to 62.7%. Average hourly earnings for all workers rose 0.3% versus consensus 0.2%. As a result, the market pushed out the expected path of rate hikes.
During the second quarter of 2015, the temporary effects of a harsh winter and port closures were widely expected by the consensus to roll off and for the U.S. economy to bounce back somewhat from the prior quarter. The Eurozone’s economic progress took a back seat to the seemingly intractable challenges surrounding Greece. Chinese indicators exhibited a broad-based slowdown, adding to our doubts about the viability of its 7% growth target.
In the Fed’s June 2015 statement, we received updated projections as well as fed funds forecasts. While the statement acknowledged improvement in housing data, housing spending and labor market numbers, the decline in median data points conveyed more caution among the participants about the pace of the hiking cycle, with five members of the Fed forecasting just one rate hike in 2015. Fed Chair Janet Yellen also spoke in Cleveland on the economic outlook. She noted that she still expected to raise interest rates in 2015, however “unanticipated developments could delay or accelerate this first step” and the economic/inflation outlook “remains highly uncertain.” She also reiterated that the subsequent pace of increases is expected to be gradual.
U.S. non-farm payrolls for June 2015 came in slightly below expectations, at 223,000 versus 233,000 consensus, with a two-month net revision of -60,000. The U3 unemployment rate dropped closer to full employment levels, and data continued to largely come in ahead of consensus. However, broader measures of labor market slack, such as the U6/U3 gap and those working part-time involuntarily, remained elevated versus other comparable points in the monetary policy cycle. (There are various measures of labor utilization or underutilization. For example, U3 refers to total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (the official unemployment rate). U6 refers to total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force.) Wages remained below levels consistent with the Fed’s inflation portion of its mandate, though calendar effects were expected to lead to stronger wage gains in the next couple of months. The labor force participation rate also dropped sharply, to 62.6% from 62.9%.
The dominant market concerns in the third quarter of 2015 in terms of the macroeconomic environment included questions around the timing of Fed policy tightening, weaker economic growth indicators out of China along with unexpected equity volatility and currency devaluation there, and persistent weakness in commodity prices. These factors combined to weigh on global economic activity, such that U.S. economic growth became caught in the cross-currents of domestic strength versus developed market softness and emerging market volatility. Despite accommodative monetary policy across developed markets, the pace of inflation remained subdued in the world’s major economies.
During its September 2015 meeting, the Fed decided to remain on hold and sent what most perceived to be a clear dovish message to the market. Participant projections of the targeted federal funds rate and its timing shifted down and extended out, respectively. Also, projections for inflation over the next few years came down as did the expected unemployment rate. Messaging from Fed members increasingly indicated a desire to raise rates in 2015 however.
U.S. non-farm payrolls indicated 142,000 new jobs in August 2015, below market expectations of approximately 200,000. The unemployment rate remained at 5.1%. The U.S. Institute for Supply Management (“ISM”) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index declined to 50.2 in September 2015 from 51.1 in August 2015. Core inflation was flat at 1.8% year over year in September 2015.
After much anticipation, the fourth quarter of 2015 saw the Fed deliver the first interest rate hike since 2006. Outside of the U.S., the global monetary policy environment remained highly accommodative. Although the U.S. economy continued to display a positive growth trend at the conclusion of 2015, economic growth in other developed countries had softened, and emerging market economies broadly weakened largely due to weakness in commodity prices and concerns around a slowdown in China’s economy. Despite accommodative monetary policies by many global central banks, inflation remained subdued in the world’s major economies during the fourth calendar quarter.
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
The Fund’s yields remained low during the Reporting Period due primarily to the market factors discussed above. With the targeted federal funds rate near zero through much of the Reporting Period, money market yields remained anchored near the same level with little difference between maturities. That said, the money market yield curve, or spectrum of maturities, did steepen somewhat during the Reporting Period, as longer-term rates rose slightly. The Fund remained highly liquid throughout.
3
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
During the first quarter of 2015, general collateral repurchase agreements (“repo”) cheapened, and rates stayed elevated above the Fed’s reverse repurchase program (“RRP”) facility rate, spiking particularly at quarter end due to tight balance sheets. At that time, we entered a period of seasonal bill paydowns, which began in earnest in mid-April 2015 when the U.S. Treasury reduced issuance as a result of an influx of revenue from tax receipts. This exacerbated supply/demand dislocations at the short-term end of the yield curve. We had a bias to keep the Fund’s weighted average maturity long and targeted a 40 to 55 day range.
The end of the second quarter of 2015 presented wide gaps in repo levels, with significant spreads, or differentials, between bilateral funding levels, interdealer funding levels and execution levels for money market funds, as market participants unable to efficiently use balance sheets were forced to invest at expensive levels. Repo balances for money market funds came down as expected, and market usage of the Fed’s RRP facility overall was in line with recent quarter ends — approximately $400 billion of a total of $500 billion in available capacity. In the Fund, our focus remained on maintaining high levels of liquidity ahead of what we expect could be a rotation of cash from prime to government money market funds, as we approach implementation of money market fund reform deadlines. We shortened the Fund’s weighted average maturity range during the second quarter of 2015 to 25 to 40 days.
The end of the third quarter of 2015 saw the biggest take-up at the RRP facility since it was instituted, with $475 billion in total bids across the two term auctions and the overnight facility and $450 billion in total take-up. The total bids across all three auctions slightly exceeded year-end 2014. We continued to see a challenging technical environment at the front end of the yield curve. Sharp bill pay-downs as a result of debt ceiling constraints, quarter-end balance sheet pressures and a contingent of front-end investors caught off-guard by the Fed remaining on hold all contributed. Short bills were offered at negative levels into 2016, and liquidity was challenged across the board as the U.S. Treasury cut bill supply. Our focus in the Fund remained on maintaining high levels of liquidity and shorter maturities ahead of what we expected to be a rotation of cash from prime to government money market funds as we approached implementation of money fund reform. The Fund’s weighted average maturity range during the third quarter of 2015 was 20 to 35 days.
In the fourth quarter, the Fed followed through on its widely anticipated first increase in interest rates since 2006, raising the targeted federal funds rate 25 basis points. To date through the end of 2015, the fed funds effective rate traded in the mid-30s, essentially right in the middle of the target range, except for a dip over year end. Consensus expectations at the end of 2015 were for four more rate hikes in 2016 and for a rate of 3.5% over the longer term. The Fed’s statement was moderately dovish, as it stressed a gradual path of hikes and noted that inflation expectations had “edged down.” The Fed’s statement and press conference also stressed the importance of inflation in the glide path for normalization, implying that balance sheet reduction is still a ways off. LIBOR rates showed a decent increase in the week following the Fed’s announcement. Fed RRP usage totaled $475 billion over year-end 2015, matching the amount taken down at the end of the third calendar quarter. We expect the take-up to increase, as we see a rotation of cash out of prime money market funds and into government money market funds due to money market reform. The Fed also raised the cap on the RRP family to $2 trillion, or all of the U.S. Treasuries it owns that are eligible to be pledged in the RRP. However, in an unexpected twist, the Fed set the term facility rate spread over the overnight facility to zero, effectively eliminating any incentive to use anything other than the overnight offering. The Fund’s weighted average maturity began the fourth quarter of 2015 in the 15 to 25 day range. We subsequently lengthened the Fund’s weighted average maturity as the fourth calendar quarter progressed, ending in the 45 to 55 day range.
We felt comfortable that the Fund was appropriately positioned given the interest rate environment during the Reporting Period. While conditions throughout the Reporting Period did not provide bountiful opportunities to pick up yield, as the interest rate yield curve was still fairly flat through most of the Reporting Period, it should be noted that regardless of interest rate conditions, we manage the Fund consistently. Our investment approach has always been tri-fold — to seek preservation of capital, daily liquidity and maximization of yield potential. We manage interest and credit risk daily. Whether interest rates are historically low, high or in-between, we intend to continue to use our actively managed approach to seek to provide the best possible return within the framework of the Fund’s guidelines and objectives.
How did you manage the Fund’s weighted average maturity during the Reporting Period?
On December 31, 2014, the Fund’s weighted average maturity was 46 days. During the first quarter of 2015, we maintained the Fund’s weighted average maturity in a 40 to 55 day range. During the second quarter of 2015, we maintained the Fund’s weighted average maturity in a 25 to 40 day range. During the third quarter of 2015, we maintained the Fund’s weighted average maturity in a 20 to 35 day range. During the fourth quarter of 2015, we targeted a weighted average maturity for the Fund in a 15 to 25 day range initially and extended throughout the quarter, ending in a 45 to 55 day range. Throughout the Reporting Period, we made adjustments in line with our outlook on interest rates, Fed policy and the shape of the yield curve over the near term. The Fund’s
4
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
weighted average maturity on December 31, 2015 was 52 days. The weighted average maturity of a money market fund is a measure of its price sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Also known as effective maturity, weighted average maturity measures the weighted average of the maturity date of bonds held by the Fund taking into consideration any available maturity shortening features.
How did you manage the Fund’s weighted average life during the Reporting Period?
The weighted average life of the Fund was 112 days as of December 31, 2015. The weighted average life of a money market fund is a measure of a money market fund’s price sensitivity to changes in liquidity and/or credit risk.
Under amendments to SEC Rule 2a-7 that became effective in May 2010, the maximum allowable weighted average life of a money market fund is 120 days. While one of the goals of the SEC’s money market fund rule is to reinforce conservative investment practices across the money market fund industry, our security selection process has long emphasized conservative investment choices.
How was the Fund invested during the Reporting Period?
The Fund had investments in commercial paper, asset-backed commercial paper, U.S. Treasury securities, government agency securities, repurchase agreements, government guaranteed paper, variable rate demand notes, municipal debt and certificates of deposit during the Reporting Period. We focused on securities across the maturity spectrum, from overnight repurchase agreements to securities with one-year maturities. We preferred secured positions to unsecured positions.
With yields bound near zero, there was not a lot of dispersion in performance among securities available for purchase. Throughout, though, we stayed true to our investment discipline, favoring liquidity and high quality credits over added yield. The primary focal points for our team are consistently managing interest rate risk and credit risk. We were able to navigate interest rate risk by adjusting the Fund’s weighted average maturity longer or shorter as market conditions shifted and to manage potential credit risk by buying high quality, creditworthy names, strategies which added to the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period.
Did you make any changes in the Fund’s portfolio during the Reporting Period?
We did not make any significant changes in the Fund’s portfolio during the Reporting Period. As indicated earlier, we made adjustments to the Fund’s weighted average maturity and to specific security type composition allocations based on then-current market conditions, our near-term view, and anticipated and actual Fed monetary policy statements.
What is the Fund’s tactical view and strategy for the months ahead?
Going forward, we expect the Fed to continue to monitor income economic releases, preach data dependence and evaluate remaining labor market slack as it determines the optimal timing for its next interest rate increase. We expect normalization to continue into 2016.
Given our view, we expect to keep the Fund conservatively positioned as we continue to focus on preservation and daily liquidity. We do not believe there is value in sacrificing liquidity in exchange for opportunities that only modestly increase yield potential. We will continue to use our actively managed approach to seek the best possible return within the framework of the Fund’s investment guidelines and objectives. In addition, we will continue to manage interest, liquidity and credit risk daily.
We will, of course, continue to closely monitor economic data, Fed policy, and any shifts in the money market yield curve, as we strive to strategically navigate the interest rate environment.
As we approach April 15, 2016, which as indicated above is when we expect the Fund to be repositioned as a government money market fund, we intend to gradually increase its holdings of U.S. government securities. Please note that while there were no significant regulatory developments on the money market reform front during the Reporting Period, on July 23, 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) had adopted amendments to the rules that govern money market funds, which significantly changed the way certain money market funds will be required to operate. To qualify as a government money market fund, the Fund must invest at least 99.5% of its total assets in government securities, cash or repurchase agreements collateralized by government securities or cash, and so we expect to gradually allocate a larger percentage of the Fund’s assets to government securities ahead of its repositioning in April 2016. As a government money market fund, the Fund will seek to maintain a stable $1.00 net asset value per share and will not be subject to liquidity fees and/or redemption gates.
5
FUND BASICS
FUND COMPOSITION†
Security Type
(Percentage of Net Assets)
† | The Fund is actively managed and, as such, its portfolio composition may differ over time. The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value (based on amortized cost) of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. Figures in the above chart may not sum to 100% due to the exclusion of other assets and liabilities. |
6
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Amortized Cost | |||||||||||
Commercial Paper and Corporate Obligations – 20.8% | ||||||||||||||
| Adventist Health System/Sunbelt Obligated Group |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 3,000,000 | 0.508 | % | 01/27/16 | $ | 2,998,917 | ||||||||
| Albion Capital LLC |
| ||||||||||||
10,000,000 | 0.407 | 01/21/16 | 9,997,778 | |||||||||||
| Electricite de France |
| ||||||||||||
3,000,000 | 0.766 | 01/15/16 | 2,999,125 | |||||||||||
| Gotham Funding Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
3,000,000 | 0.396 | 01/22/16 | 2,999,317 | |||||||||||
| Kaiser Foundation Hospitals |
| ||||||||||||
5,000,000 | 0.457 | 02/17/16 | 4,997,062 | |||||||||||
| Liberty Street Funding LLC |
| ||||||||||||
5,000,000 | 0.664 | 03/16/16 | 4,993,229 | |||||||||||
| Matchpoint Finance PLC |
| ||||||||||||
5,000,000 | 0.519 | 02/17/16 | 4,996,671 | |||||||||||
| National Australia Bank Ltd. |
| ||||||||||||
5,000,000 | 0.664 | 03/21/16 | 4,992,778 | |||||||||||
| Old Line Funding Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
3,000,000 | 0.797 | 04/14/16 | 2,993,240 | |||||||||||
| Regency Markets No. 1 LLC |
| ||||||||||||
8,554,000 | 0.427 | 01/15/16 | 8,552,603 | |||||||||||
| Thunder Bay Funding, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
10,000,000 | 0.766 | 04/11/16 | 9,978,958 | |||||||||||
| Trinity Health Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
3,000,000 | 0.457 | 01/26/16 | 2,999,063 | |||||||||||
| Victory Receivables Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
5,000,000 | 0.376 | 01/14/16 | 4,999,332 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL COMMERCIAL PAPER AND CORPORATE OBLIGATIONS | | $ | 68,498,073 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
U.S. Government Agency Obligations – 27.7% | ||||||||||||||
| Federal Farm Credit Bank |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 200,000 | 0.530 | %(a) | 07/27/16 | $ | 199,983 | ||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.411 | (a) | 09/14/16 | 1,000,000 | ||||||||||
10,000,000 | 0.479 | (a) | 05/23/17 | 10,000,000 | ||||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.329 | (a) | 08/01/17 | 999,222 | ||||||||||
| Federal Home Loan Bank |
| ||||||||||||
3,000,000 | 0.270 | 02/10/16 | 2,999,888 | |||||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.340 | 03/08/16 | 999,975 | |||||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.330 | 03/09/16 | 999,957 | |||||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.340 | 03/09/16 | 999,975 | |||||||||||
17,500,000 | 0.489 | 03/09/16 | 17,484,133 | |||||||||||
2,500,000 | 0.449 | 03/18/16 | 2,497,647 | |||||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.449 | 03/23/16 | 998,998 | |||||||||||
16,000,000 | 0.255 | 04/20/16 | 15,987,778 | |||||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.561 | 05/27/16 | 997,754 | |||||||||||
1,250,000 | 0.243 | (a) | 06/02/16 | 1,249,723 | ||||||||||
3,000,000 | 0.603 | 06/22/16 | 2,991,494 | |||||||||||
2,500,000 | 0.603 | 06/24/16 | 2,492,830 | |||||||||||
3,500,000 | 0.613 | (b) | 07/05/16 | 3,489,325 | ||||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.498 | (a) | 09/22/16 | 999,998 | ||||||||||
| Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation |
| ||||||||||||
10,000,000 | 0.407 | (a) | 04/20/17 | 9,998,009 | ||||||||||
6,099,000 | 0.328 | (a) | 04/26/17 | 6,098,195 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
U.S. Government Agency Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Federal National Mortgage Association |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 1,225,000 | 0.422 | %(a) | 07/20/17 | $ | 1,223,852 | ||||||||
| Overseas Private Investment Corp. (USA) |
| ||||||||||||
4,500,000 | 0.330 | (a) | 01/07/16 | 4,500,000 | ||||||||||
2,000,000 | 0.420 | (a) | 01/07/16 | 2,000,000 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY OBLIGATIONS | | $ | 91,208,736 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations – 14.4% | ||||||||||||||
| United States Treasury Floating Rate Notes |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 17,200,000 | 0.329 | %(a) | 04/30/16 | $ | 17,202,870 | ||||||||
9,000,000 | 0.330 | (a) | 07/31/16 | 9,002,236 | ||||||||||
| United States Treasury Notes |
| ||||||||||||
3,000,000 | 1.500 | 06/30/16 | 3,015,493 | |||||||||||
3,500,000 | 3.250 | 06/30/16 | 3,545,701 | |||||||||||
12,900,000 | 4.875 | 08/15/16 | 13,231,178 | |||||||||||
250,000 | 3.000 | 09/30/16 | 254,343 | |||||||||||
1,200,000 | 4.625 | 11/15/16 | 1,240,498 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL U.S. TREASURY OBLIGATIONS |
| $ | 47,492,319 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Variable Rate Municipal Debt Obligations(a) – 6.9% | ||||||||||||||
| Los Angeles, California Community College District GO VRDN | | ||||||||||||
$ | 10,250,000 | 0.670 | %(c) | 01/07/16 | $ | 10,250,000 | ||||||||
| Massachusetts State Housing Finance Agency VRDN RB | | ||||||||||||
5,904,000 | 0.420 | 01/07/16 | 5,904,000 | |||||||||||
| New York City, New York GO VRDN Series 2007 Subseries D-4 | | ||||||||||||
250,000 | 0.010 | 01/07/16 | 250,000 | |||||||||||
| New York State Housing Finance Agency VRDN RB for | | ||||||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.350 | 01/07/16 | 1,000,000 | |||||||||||
| Providence Health & Services Obligated Group VRDN RB | | ||||||||||||
800,000 | 0.470 | 01/07/16 | 800,000 | |||||||||||
| Tampa, Florida Revenue for Allegany Health Systems – | | ||||||||||||
4,440,000 | 0.450 | (c) | 01/01/16 | 4,440,000 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL VARIABLE RATE MUNICIPAL DEBT OBLIGATIONS | | $ | 22,644,000 | ||||||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 7 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Amortized Cost | |||||||||||
Variable Rate Obligations(a) – 10.5% | ||||||||||||||
| Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 5,000,000 | 0.485 | %(c) | 05/16/16 | $ | 5,000,000 | ||||||||
| Bank of Nova Scotia (The) |
| ||||||||||||
5,000,000 | 0.548 | 05/23/16 | 5,000,000 | |||||||||||
| Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. (The) |
| ||||||||||||
8,970,000 | 0.857 | (c) | 02/26/16 | 8,974,690 | ||||||||||
| JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. |
| ||||||||||||
4,000,000 | 0.612 | 04/07/16 | 4,000,000 | |||||||||||
| Svenska Handelsbanken AB |
| ||||||||||||
5,000,000 | 0.584 | (c) | 05/04/16 | 5,000,000 | ||||||||||
| Wells Fargo Bank N.A. |
| ||||||||||||
2,500,000 | 0.740 | 05/19/16 | 2,500,000 | |||||||||||
| Westpac Banking Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
4,000,000 | 0.674 | (c) | 05/31/16 | 4,000,000 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL VARIABLE RATE OBLIGATIONS | | $ | 34,474,690 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Yankee Certificates of Deposit – 2.3% | ||||||||||||||
| Credit Industriel et Commercial |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 5,000,000 | 0.650 | % | 03/16/16 | $ | 5,000,000 | ||||||||
| Standard Chartered Bank |
| ||||||||||||
2,500,000 | 0.650 | 03/23/16 | 2,500,000 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL YANKEE CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT |
| $ | 7,500,000 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL INVESTMENTS BEFORE REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS | | $ | 271,817,818 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Repurchase Agreements(d) – 18.5% | ||||||||||||||
| BNP Paribas Securities Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 5,000,000 | 0.540%(a) | 01/07/16 | $ | 5,000,000 | |||||||||
| Maturity Value: $5,021,150 |
| ||||||||||||
| Settlement Date: 04/08/15 |
| ||||||||||||
| Collateralized by a mortgage-backed obligation, 4.822%, due | | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Joint Repurchase Agreement Account III |
| ||||||||||||
56,000,000 | 0.336 | 01/04/16 | 56,000,000 | |||||||||||
| Maturity Value: $56,002,090 |
| ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS |
| $ | 61,000,000 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 101.1% | $ | 332,817,818 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| LIABILITIES IN EXCESS OF OTHER | | (3,473,215 | ) | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 329,344,603 | ||||||||||||
|
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
(a) | Variable or floating rate security. Interest rate disclosed is that which is in effect at December 31, 2015. | |
(b) | All or a portion represents a forward commitment. | |
(c) | Security not registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Such securities may be deemed liquid by the Investment Adviser. At December 31, 2015, these securities amounted to $37,664,690 or approximately 11.4% of net assets. | |
(d) | Unless noted, all repurchase agreements were entered into on December 31, 2015. Additional information on Joint Repurchase Agreement Account III appears on page 9. |
Interest rates represent either the stated coupon rate, annualized yield on date of purchase for discounted securities, or, for floating rate securities, the current reset rate, which is based upon current interest rate indices. | ||
Maturity dates represent either the final legal maturity date on the security, the demand date for puttable securities, or the prerefunded date for those types of securities. |
Investment Abbreviations: | ||
FNMA | —Insured by Federal National Mortgage Association | |
GO | —General Obligation | |
LIQ | —Liquidity Agreement | |
LOC | —Letter of Credit | |
RB | —Revenue Bond | |
RMKT | —Remarketed | |
SBPA | —Standby Bond Purchase Agreement | |
SPA | —Stand-by Purchase Agreement | |
VRDN | —Variable Rate Demand Notes |
8 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION
JOINT REPURCHASE AGREEMENT ACCOUNT III — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had undivided interests in the Joint Repurchase Agreement Account III, with a maturity date of January 4, 2016, as follows:
Principal Amount | Maturity Value | Collateral Value | |||||||||||
$56,000,000 | $ | 56,002,090 | $ | 57,535,883 |
REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS — At December 31, 2015, the Principal Amounts of the Fund’s interest in the Joint Repurchase Agreement Account III were as follows:
Counterparty | Interest Rate | Principal Amount | ||||||
ABN Amro Bank N.V. | 0.330 | % | $ | 4,567,700 | ||||
Bank of America, N.A. | 0.310 | 7,612,833 | ||||||
BNP Paribas Securities Corp. | 0.310 | 9,820,555 | ||||||
Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. | 0.340 | 4,567,700 | ||||||
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. | 0.310 | 1,263,730 | ||||||
TD Securities USA, LLC | 0.360 | 9,135,400 | ||||||
Wells Fargo Securities, LLC | 0.350 | 19,032,082 | ||||||
TOTAL | $ | 56,000,000 |
At December 31, 2015, the Joint Repurchase Agreement Account III was fully collateralized by:
Issuer | Interest Rates | Maturity Dates | ||||
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. | 2.500 to 6.500 | % | 07/01/25 to 12/01/45 | |||
Federal National Mortgage Association | 2.500 to 5.500 | 12/01/25 to 01/01/46 | ||||
Government National Mortgage Association | 3.000 to 7.000 | 05/15/27 to 12/20/45 | ||||
U.S. Treasury Bills | 0.000 | 01/07/16 to 06/23/16 | ||||
U.S. Treasury Interest-Only Stripped Securities | 0.000 | 02/15/24 to 05/15/42 | ||||
U.S. Treasury Notes | 2.000 to 2.125 | 09/30/20 to 12/31/21 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 9 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments based on amortized cost | $ | 271,817,818 | ||
Repurchase agreements based on amortized cost | 61,000,000 | |||
Cash | 57,288 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Fund shares sold | 75,065 | |||
Interest | 329,109 | |||
Reimbursement from investment adviser | 78,372 | |||
Total assets | 333,357,652 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Payables: | ||||
Investment securities purchased | 3,489,325 | |||
Fund shares redeemed | 393,814 | |||
Management fees | 56,515 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agent fees | 45,903 | |||
Accrued expenses | 27,492 | |||
Total liabilities | 4,013,049 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 329,343,119 | |||
Accumulated net realized gain from investments | 1,484 | |||
NET ASSETS | $ | 329,344,603 | ||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share | $ | 1.00 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional Shares | $ | 1,142,618 | ||
Service Shares | 328,201,985 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 329,344,603 | ||
Shares of beneficial interest outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional Shares | 1,142,612 | |||
Service Shares | 328,200,488 |
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Statement of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Investment Income: | ||||
Interest | $ | 802,103 | ||
Expenses: | ||||
Distribution and Service fees — Service Shares | 779,315 | |||
Management fees | 640,413 | |||
Professional fees | 87,466 | |||
Transfer Agent fees(a) | 62,479 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 58,965 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 57,256 | |||
Trustee fees | 26,734 | |||
Other | 26,406 | |||
Total expenses | 1,739,034 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (954,254 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 784,780 | |||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 17,323 | |||
NET REALIZED GAIN FROM INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS | 1,557 | |||
NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | 18,880 |
(a) Institutional and Service Shares incurred Transfer Agent fees of $134 and $62,345, respectively.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 17,323 | $ | 10,306 | ||||
Net realized gain from investment transactions | 1,557 | 10,720 | ||||||
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations | 18,880 | 21,026 | ||||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income: | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (179 | ) | (29 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (17,144 | ) | (10,277 | ) | ||||
From net realized gains: | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (3 | ) | (1 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (1,874 | ) | (9,168 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (19,200 | ) | (19,475 | ) | ||||
From share transactions (at $1.00 per share): | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 206,637,372 | 160,663,051 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 19,200 | 19,475 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (184,078,571 | ) | (170,346,403 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from share transactions | 22,578,001 | (9,663,877 | ) | |||||
TOTAL INCREASE (DECREASE) | 22,577,681 | (9,662,326 | ) | |||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 306,766,922 | 316,429,248 | ||||||
End of year | $ | 329,344,603 | $ | 306,766,922 |
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of period | Net investment income(a) | Distributions from net investment income(b) | Net asset value, end of period | Total return(c) | Net assets, end of period (in 000's) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net assets | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 1.00 | $ | — | (d) | $ | — | (d) | $ | 1.00 | 0.02 | % | $ | 1,143 | 0.23 | % | 0.31 | % | 0.03 | % | ||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 1.00 | — | (d) | — | (d) | 1.00 | 0.01 | 328,202 | 0.26 | 0.56 | 0.01 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 1.00 | — | (d) | — | (d) | 1.00 | 0.01 | 773 | 0.23 | 0.31 | 0.03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 1.00 | — | (d) | — | (d) | 1.00 | 0.01 | 305,994 | 0.24 | 0.56 | — | (e) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional(f) | 1.00 | — | (d) | — | (d) | 1.00 | 0.01 | 25 | 0.24 | (g) | 0.36 | (g) | 0.04 | (g) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 1.00 | — | (d) | — | (d) | 1.00 | 0.01 | 316,404 | 0.28 | 0.55 | — | (e) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 1.00 | — | (d) | — | (d) | 1.00 | 0.01 | 357,545 | 0.35 | 0.53 | — | (e) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 1.00 | — | (d) | — | (d) | 1.00 | 0.01 | 144,173 | 0.30 | 0.66 | 0.01 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Distributions may not coincide with the current year net investment income or net realized gains as distributions may be paid from current or prior year earnings. |
(c) | Assumes reinvestment of all distributions. |
(d) | Amount is less than $0.0005 per share. |
(e) | Amount is less than 0.005% of average net assets. |
(f) | Commenced operations on October 16, 2013. |
(g) | Annualized. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs Money Market Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is a diversified portfolio under the Act offering two classes of shares — Institutional and Service Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The investment valuation policy of the Fund is to use the amortized-cost method permitted by Rule 2a-7 under the Act, which approximates market value, for valuing portfolio securities. Under this method, all investments purchased at a discount or premium are valued by accreting or amortizing the difference between the original purchase price and maturity value of the issue, as an adjustment to interest income. Under procedures and tolerances approved by the Board of Trustees (“Trustees”), GSAM evaluates the difference between the Fund’s net asset value per share (“NAV”) based upon the amortized cost of the Fund’s securities and the NAV based upon available market quotations (or permitted substitutes) at least once a week.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by the Fund are charged to the Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses.
D. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable and tax-exempt income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are declared and recorded daily and paid monthly by the Fund and may include short-term capital gains. Long-term capital gain distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
Under the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act of 2010, the Fund is permitted to carry forward capital losses incurred in taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010 for an unlimited period. However, any losses incurred during those future taxable years will be required to be utilized prior to the losses incurred in pre-enactment taxable years. As a result of this ordering rule, pre-enactment capital loss carryforwards may be more likely to expire unused. Additionally, post-enactment capital losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses rather than being considered all short-term as under previous law.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying
14
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Fund’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014, were as follows:
2015 | 2014 | |||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 17,396 | $ | 19,223 | ||||
Net long-term capital gains | 1,804 | 252 | ||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 19,200 | $ | 19,475 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings on a tax basis were as follows:
Undistributed (Distributions in excess of) ordinary income – net | $ | 1,484 |
The amortized cost for the Fund stated in the accompanying Statement of Assets and Liabilities also represents aggregate cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
GSAM has reviewed the Fund’s tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
E. Forward Commitments — A forward commitment involves entering into a contract to purchase or sell securities, typically on an extended settlement basis, for a fixed price at a future date. The purchase of securities on a forward commitment basis involves a risk of loss if the value of the security to be purchased declines before the settlement date. Conversely, the sale of securities on a forward commitment basis involves the risk that the value of the securities sold may increase before the settlement date. Although a Fund will generally purchase securities on a forward commitment basis with the intention of acquiring the securities for its portfolio, the Fund may dispose of forward commitments prior to settlement which may result in a realized gain or loss.
F. Repurchase Agreements — Repurchase agreements involve the purchase of securities subject to the seller’s agreement to repurchase the securities at a mutually agreed upon date and price, under the terms of a Master Repurchase Agreement (“MRA”). During the term of a repurchase agreement, the value of the underlying securities held as collateral on behalf of the Fund, including accrued interest, is required to exceed the value of the repurchase agreement, including accrued interest. The gross value of repurchase agreements is included in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities for financial reporting purposes. The underlying securities for all repurchase agreements are held at the Fund’s custodian or designated sub-custodians under tri-party repurchase agreements.
An MRA governs transactions between a Fund and select counterparties. An MRA contains provisions for, among other things, initiation of the transaction, income payments, events of default and maintenance of securities for repurchase agreements. An MRA also permits offsetting with collateral to create one single net payment in the event of default or similar events, including the bankruptcy or insolvency of a counterparty.
If the seller defaults, a Fund could suffer a loss to the extent that the proceeds from the sale of the underlying securities and other collateral held by the Fund are less than the repurchase price and the Fund’s costs associated with delay and enforcement of the repurchase agreement. In addition, in the event of default or insolvency of the seller, a court could determine that a Fund’s interest in the collateral is not enforceable, resulting in additional losses to the Fund.
Pursuant to exemptive relief granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and terms and conditions contained therein, the Fund, together with other funds of the Trust and registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates, may transfer uninvested cash into joint accounts, the daily aggregate balance of which is invested in one or
15
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
more repurchase agreements. Under these joint accounts, the Fund maintains pro-rata credit exposure to the underlying repurchase agreements’ counterparties. With the exception of certain transaction fees, the Fund is not subject to any expenses in relation to these investments.
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
The Trustees have approved Rule 2a-7 Procedures (“Procedures”) that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Fund at amortized cost. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation (including both amortized cost and market-based methods of valuation) of the Fund’s portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies related to the market-based method of valuation, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Procedures.
As of December 31, 2015, all investments are classified as Level 2. Please refer to the Schedule of Investments for further detail.
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Fund, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Fund’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
B. Distribution and Service Plan — The Trust, on behalf of the Service Shares of the Fund, has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”). Under the Plan, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor, is entitled to a fee, accrued daily and paid monthly for distribution services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers. This fee is equal to an annual percentage rate of the average daily net assets.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Fund for a fee pursuant to a Transfer Agency Agreement. The fee charged for such transfer agency services is accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets of Institutional and Service Shares.
16
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
D. Other Expense Agreements — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent that such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, 0.004% of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Fund is not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. This Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM reimbursed $237,765 to the Fund. In addition, the Fund has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Fund’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above.
E. Contractual and Net Fund Expenses — During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs, as the investment advisor, distributor and transfer agent, voluntarily agreed to waive a portion of management fees, distribution and service plan fees and the transfer agent fees attributable to the Fund. These waivers may be modified or terminated at any time at the option of Goldman Sachs. The following table outlines such fees (net of waivers) and Other Expenses (net of reimbursements and custodian and transfer agency fee credit reductions) in order to determine the Fund’s net annualized expenses for the fiscal period. The Fund is not obligated to reimburse Goldman Sachs for prior fiscal year fee waivers, if any.
Institutional Shares | Service Shares | |||||||||||||||
Fee/Expense Type | Contractual rate, if any | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Contractual rate, if any | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | ||||||||||||
Management Fee | 0.205 | % | 0.204 | % | 0.205 | % | 0.204 | % | ||||||||
Distribution and Service Fees | N/A | N/A | 0.25 | 0.03 | ||||||||||||
Transfer Agency Fees | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.02 | ||||||||||||
Other Expenses | — | 0.00 | (a) | — | 0.00 | (a) | ||||||||||
Net Expenses | 0.23 | % | 0.26 | % |
(a) | Amount is less than 0.005% of average net assets. |
N/A - Fees not applicable to respective share class.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs waived $4,472, $702,927 and $9,090 in management, distribution and service fees, and transfer agency fees, respectively.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the amounts owed to affiliates of the Fund were $56,515, $40,390 and $5,513 for management, distribution and service fees, and transfer agency fees, respectively.
F. Other Transactions with Affiliates — The Fund may purchase securities from, or sell securities to, an affiliated fund provided the affiliation is solely due to having a common investment adviser, common officers, or common Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, there were no purchase or sale transactions for the Fund with affiliated funds in compliance with Rule 17a-7 under the Act.
G. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Fund participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Fund and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Fund based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Fund did not have any borrowings under the facility.
17
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
5. OTHER RISKS
The Fund’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position that it ordinarily would.
Interest Rate Risk — When interest rates increase, the Fund’s yield will tend to be lower than prevailing market rates, and the market value of its securities or instruments may also be adversely affected. A low interest rate environment poses additional risks to the Fund, because low yields on the Fund’s portfolio holdings may have an adverse impact on the Fund’s ability to provide a positive yield to its shareholders, pay expenses out of Fund assets, or, at times, maintain a stable $1.00 share price.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Fund may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Fund has unsettled or open transactions defaults.
6. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Fund. Additionally, in the course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
7. OTHER MATTERS
On June 10, 2015, the Trustees approved a plan to convert the Fund from a “prime money market fund” to a “government money market fund” as defined by amended Rule 2a-7 under the Act. The Fund will be renamed the Goldman Sachs Government Money Market Fund, and will pursue its investment objective by investing only in “government securities,” as such term is defined in or interpreted under the Act, and repurchase agreements collateralized by such securities. GSAM expects that these changes will become effective on or after April 15, 2016.
8. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
18
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
9. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||
Shares sold | 2,610,668 | 1,028,618 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 182 | 30 | ||||||
Shares redeemed | (2,241,115 | ) | (280,777 | ) | ||||
369,735 | 747,871 | |||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||
Shares sold | 204,026,704 | 159,634,433 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 19,018 | 19,445 | ||||||
Shares redeemed | (181,837,456 | ) | (170,065,626 | ) | ||||
22,208,266 | (10,411,748 | ) | ||||||
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN SHARES | 22,578,001 | (9,663,877 | ) |
19
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Money Market Fund:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Money Market Fund (the “Fund”), a fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015, and the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian, brokers and the application of alternative auditing procedures where confirmation of securities purchased had not been received, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
20
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Fund Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of the Institutional Shares and Service Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees; distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service Shares); and other Fund expenses. This Example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees. Therefore, the second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included, your costs would have been higher.
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 7/1/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000.00 | $ | 1,000.10 | $ | 1.13 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000.00 | 1,024.07 | + | 1.15 | ||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000.00 | 1,000.03 | 1.29 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000.00 | 1,023.92 | + | 1.30 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year (or, since inception, if shorter); and then dividing that result by the number of days in the period. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.22% and 0.26% for the Institutional Shares and Service Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Fund’s actual annualized net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
21
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
22
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
23
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
24
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MONEY MARKET FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Money Market Fund designates $1,804, or, if different, the maximum amount allowable, as capital gain dividends paid during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.
25
TRUSTEES Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman Kathryn A. Cassidy Diana M. Daniels Herbert J. Markley James A. McNamara Jessica Palmer Alan A. Shuch Roy W. Templin Gregory G. Weaver | OFFICERS James A. McNamara, President Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York
New York 10282
Visit our Web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
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© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITMMAR-16/29862-TEMPL-02/2016
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
Multi-Strategy
Alternatives Portfolio
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of risks that may affect the Portfolio. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Portfolio, please see the Portfolio’s Prospectuses and the Prospectuses of the Underlying Funds.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Portfolio are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Portfolio’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Portfolio.
The Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio invests primarily in affiliated variable insurance funds and mutual funds (“underlying funds”) that provide exposure to liquid alternatives strategies and real assets. The Portfolio may also invest directly in other securities, including exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). The Portfolio is intended for investors seeking long-term growth of capital. Through its investments in the underlying funds and ETFs, the Portfolio indirectly invests in equity securities, fixed income and/or floating rate securities, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities, currencies, and restricted securities. In addition, the Portfolio and certain underlying funds may invest in derivatives including futures contracts, swaps, options, forward contracts and other instruments.
The Portfolio is subject to the risk factors of the underlying funds in direct proportion to its investments in those underlying funds, and the ability of the Portfolio to meet its investment objective is directly related to the ability of the underlying funds to meet their investment objectives, as well as the allocation among those underlying funds by the Investment Adviser. An underlying fund is subject to the risks associated with its investments, including (as applicable) those associated with equity (including master limited partnerships, real estate investment trusts and mid- and small-cap securities), fixed income (including non-investment grade securities, loans, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities), foreign and emerging countries, commodity and derivative investments generally. From time to time, the underlying funds in which the Portfolio invests, and the size of the investments in the underlying funds, is expected to change. Because the Portfolio is subject to the underlying fund expenses as well as its own expenses, the cost of investing in the Portfolio may be higher than investing in a mutual fund that only invests directly in stocks and bonds.
The investment program of the Portfolio is speculative, entails substantial risks and includes investment in underlying funds that utilize alternative investment techniques not employed by traditional mutual funds. The Portfolio should not be relied upon as a complete investment program. The Portfolio’s investment techniques (if they do not perform as designed) may increase the volatility of performance and the risk of investment loss, including the loss of the entire amount that is invested, and there can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Portfolio will be achieved.
1
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Global Portfolio Solutions Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio’s (the “Portfolio”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Portfolio perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Portfolio’s Advisor, Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of -4.89%, -4.51% and -4.76%, respectively. These returns compare to the 0.25% average annual total return of the Portfolio’s benchmark, the BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. Dollar Three-Month LIBOR Constant Maturity Index (the “LIBOR Index”), during the same period.
Please note that the Portfolio’s benchmark being the LIBOR Index is a means of emphasizing that the Portfolio has an unconstrained strategy. That said, this Portfolio employs a benchmark agnostic strategy and thus comparisons to a benchmark index are not particularly relevant.
What economic and market factors most influenced the Portfolio during the Reporting Period?
The Portfolio’s performance during the Reporting Period was driven by four main themes — divergence in central bank monetary policy, strengthening of the U.S. dollar, concerns about Chinese and global economic growth, and increased volatility in the financial markets.
Divergence in central bank monetary policy unfolded across regions, particularly in developed markets where a low inflationary environment persisted, throughout the Reporting Period. The European Central Bank (“ECB”) and the Bank of Japan maintained accommodative monetary policies, while the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) raised short-term interest rates in December 2015, lifting the target federal funds rate from near zero to a range between 0.25% and 0.50%.
The U.S. dollar appreciated versus major global currencies during the Reporting Period, helped by improving U.S. macroeconomic data and widespread monetary easing outside the U.S. The strength of the U.S. dollar, along with commodity price weakness, led to the significant underperformance of riskier emerging markets asset classes. Commodity prices, which first began falling in mid-2014, continued to decline throughout the Reporting Period, with negative impacts on energy-related sectors in both the equities and fixed income markets, most notably in the high yield corporate bond market.
Global economic growth concerns were dominated during the first half of the Reporting Period by questions about the future of the European Union, specifically Greece’s ability to meet its debt obligations, the outcome of a referendum on international creditors’ austerity demands and Greece’s membership in the European Union. Risks of a Greek exit declined with an agreement in July 2015. Concerns then centered on China, where signs of slowing economic growth raised concern about the outlook for the global economy.
These global economic growth concerns contributed to increased volatility across most global asset classes during the second half of the Reporting Period. Volatility increased amidst the turmoil surrounding Greece and later spiked in August 2015 following China’s surprise devaluation of the renminbi and a sharp sell-off in global equities. Volatility remained elevated through the remainder of the Reporting Period on investor concerns and uncertainty around slowing growth in China, diverging global monetary policy and commodities’ oversupply.
In this environment, growth-oriented investments and riskier asset classes were modestly rewarded, though with significant divergence in performance across regions and specific asset classes. Collectively, momentum or trend-following1 strategies outperformed traditional equity and fixed income classes. Amid the volatility during the Reporting Period, trend-following strategies performed well because they provided the ability to scale in and out of positions over different time horizons in a systematic fashion.
1 | In trend-following strategies, investment decisions are based on trends in asset classes over time. |
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
What key factors were responsible for the Portfolio’s performance during the Reporting Period?
The Portfolio’s performance is driven by three sources of return: strategic asset allocation to market exposures, short-term tactical allocation and excess returns from investments in underlying funds. During the Reporting Period, the Portfolio underperformed relative to its benchmark due primarily to its strategic allocations to equities and commodities. These results were partially offset by the Portfolio’s strategic allocations to satellite real asset classes, such as U.S. and international real estate securities and global public infrastructure.
Tactical asset allocation overall added to the Portfolio’s returns, led by short-term tactical allocations to European equities and U.S. large-cap equities. Both of these positions were managed throughout the Reporting Period to increase the Portfolio’s risk exposure opportunistically and to secure gains based on the Goldman Sachs Global Portfolio Solutions Team’s (the “Team”) fundamental views. In addition, the Team’s decision to underweight the Portfolio’s core allocation to commodities was advantageous. Commodities were pressured during the Reporting Period by the ongoing drop in oil prices amidst oversupply concerns, sluggish global economic growth and geopolitical worries. The Portfolio also benefited from the Team’s decision to reduce its explicit exposure to energy commodities, which was accomplished by switching the implementation of this positioning from the Goldman Sachs Commodity Strategy Fund, benchmarked to the energy-heavy S&P GSCI® Index, to the Goldman Sachs Dynamic Commodity Strategy Fund, which is benchmarked to the equal sector-weighted Bloomberg Commodity Index.
After accounting for their market exposures, overall investments in underlying funds, especially those with equity exposure, detracted broadly from the Portfolio’s results. In particular, two of the Portfolio’s underlying funds — the Goldman Sachs Long Short Fund and the Goldman Sachs Absolute Return Tracker Fund — underperformed their respective benchmarks. The Goldman Sachs Long Short Fund underperformed its benchmark primarily because of challenging stock selection and headline risk surrounding stocks in the health care and financials sectors. The Goldman Sachs Absolute Return Tracker Fund underperformed its benchmark primarily due to its long exposure to emerging markets equities. Also during the Reporting Period, the Goldman Sachs Dynamic Emerging Markets Debt Fund underperformed its benchmark, as the U.S. dollar appreciated and corporate credit came under pressure due to spread widening. (Spreads are yield differentials versus duration-equivalent U.S. Treasury securities.) On the positive side, the Portfolio was helped by its investments in the Goldman Sachs Long Short Credit Fund and the Goldman Sachs Fixed Income Macro Strategies Fund, both of which benefited from actively reducing or removing exposure to commodities during the Reporting Period. Both underlying funds were also helped by their investments in select higher quality corporate credit, which fared better than many other asset classes as investors sought to reduce their risk exposure during the second half of the Reporting Period.
How was the Portfolio positioned at the beginning of the Reporting Period?
At the beginning of the Reporting Period, the Portfolio was positioned, in terms of its total net assets, with 75.7% in liquid alternative strategies, 15.3% in real assets and 5.2% in cash and cash equivalents. (Liquid alternatives strategies generally include, but are not limited to, momentum or trend trading strategies (investment decisions based on trends in asset prices over time), hedge fund beta (long term total returns consistent with investment results that approximate the return and risk patterns of a diversified universe of hedge funds), managed risk investment strategies (which seek to manage extreme risk scenarios by implementing daily and monthly risk targets across a diversified mix of asset classes), and emerging markets debt and unconstrained fixed income strategies (which have the ability to move across various fixed income sectors). Real assets generally include, but are not limited to, commodities, global real estate securities, infrastructure and master limited partnerships (“MLPs”)). The strategic asset allocation of the Portfolio reflects a risk-based allocation approach to increase diversification across the Portfolio. The Portfolio had 3.8% of its total net assets invested in tactical exposures.
How did you tactically manage the Portfolio’s allocations during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period overall, the Portfolio maintained an overweight in liquid alternatives and an underweight in real assets to express the Team’s view that relatively unconstrained strategies may continue to benefit from the flexibility to go long and short in an uncertain market environment.
At the beginning of the Reporting Period, the Team adopted a tactical allocation to European large-cap stocks, accomplished by reducing the Portfolio’s position in U.S. large-cap stocks. This relative value country view was initiated based on a preference for European risk assets against the supportive backdrop of the ECB’s quantitative easing program and with the expectation that lower oil prices and a weaker euro would boost corporate earnings. (Relative value is attractiveness measured in terms of risk, liquidity and the return of one investment relative to another.) To limit the potential negative impact on U.S.-based investors of the euro’s depreciation, the Team selected a currency-hedged position, which was increased and decreased throughout the Reporting Period as the Team saw opportunities to increase risk exposure and capture gains. At the beginning of June 2015, the size of this position was
3
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
halved because the Team expected European equity market volatility to increase as Greek debt negotiation deadlines approached. The Team reallocated the proceeds to U.S. large-cap equities on the belief they would fare better than European equities if Greece ultimately left the European Union. Subsequently, this allocation was shifted back to European equities, as the Team believed the risk and reward trade-off for U.S. large-cap equities might not be as attractive given there was limited room for multiples expansion. (Multiples expansion is an increase in the price-earnings ratio, or multiple, of a stock or group of stocks.)
During the middle of the Reporting Period, the Team established an underweight allocation to commodities based on a view that there was limited upside potential to a rally in oil prices because of expected supply-side dynamics. In addition, as mentioned previously, the Team reduced the Portfolio’s explicit exposure to energy commodities by eliminating its investment in the Goldman Sachs Commodity Strategy Fund, benchmarked to the energy-heavy S&P GSCI® Index, and reallocating the proceeds to the Goldman Sachs Dynamic Commodity Strategy Fund, which is benchmarked to the equal sector-weighted Bloomberg Commodity Index.
During the Reporting Period overall, within the Portfolio’s allocation to satellite real asset classes, the Team decreased allocations to U.S. and international public real estate and added allocations to commodities and emerging markets debt.
In addition, during the Reporting Period overall, the Team adjusted the Portfolio’s asset allocation to more evenly balance the different sources of active risk in the Portfolio, particularly across its fixed income investments. These changes translated into a smaller allocation to momentum and hedge fund replication strategies, accomplished, respectively, through investments in the Goldman Sachs VIT Global Trends Allocation Fund2 and the Goldman Sachs Absolute Return Tracker Fund. Some of the proceeds were also invested in a new underlying fund — the Goldman Sachs Long Short Fund — that allows the Portfolio to access an additional fundamental, equity long-short risk factor in its liquid alternatives strategies. The rest of the proceeds were invested in a new short volatility strategy, implemented through an exchange traded fund (“ETF”), which seeks to benefit from periods of declining volatility, as measured by the CBOE Volatility Index® (“VIX®”). This short volatility strategy gives the Portfolio access to an additional source of potentially uncorrelated returns via the volatility risk premium and convexity risk factor in a capital efficient manner. (Volatility risk is the risk of a change of a portfolio’s price as a result of changes in the volatility of a risk factor. Convexity risk is the probability of loss resulting from adverse changes in the price of a trading position due to changes in the yield of the underlying asset.)
At the end of the Reporting Period, the Team added a new long-short emerging market equity strategy that seeks to go long select emerging market securities while seeking to hedge emerging markets equity beta. This is a complement to the existing lineup of strategies that feature a range of active return sources, without overexposing the Portfolio to pure emerging markets equity beta on which the Team currently has a less favorable view. (Beta is a measure of the volatility, or systematic risk, of a security or a portfolio in comparison to the market as a whole.)
How was the Portfolio positioned at the end of the Reporting Period?
At the end of the Reporting Period, the Portfolio was positioned, in terms of its total net assets, with 75.8% in liquid alternative strategies, 13.7% in real assets and 2.6% in cash. The Portfolio had 7.9% of its total net assets invested in tactical exposures.
How did the Portfolio use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Portfolio made limited use of derivatives. It used equity futures to replicate U.S. large cap equity and European equity exposures, reflecting a shift in implementation from ETFs. Given this change was made at the very end of the Reporting Period, the use of equity futures did not meaningfully add to or detract from the Portfolio’s performance beyond the returns expected of the asset classes these derivatives sought to replicate. Additionally, some of the underlying funds used derivatives during the Reporting Period to apply their active investment views with greater versatility and potentially to afford greater risk management precision. As market conditions warranted during the Reporting Period, some of these underlying funds engaged in forward foreign currency exchange contracts, financial futures contracts, options, swap contracts and structured securities to attempt to enhance portfolio return and for hedging purposes.
2 | Effective on April 30, 2015, the name of the Goldman Sachs VIT Global Markets Navigator Fund changed to the Goldman Sachs VIT Global Trends Allocation Fund. At the same time, the Underlying Fund’s investment objective and benchmark index also changed. Before April 29, 2015, the Underlying Fund’s investment objective was to seek to achieve investment results that approximate the performance of the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator IndexTM. As of April 29, 2015, the Underlying Fund’s investment objective is to seek total return while seeking to provide volatility management. The Underlying Fund’s benchmark index changed from the GS Global Markets Navigator IndexTM to the Global Trends Allocation Composite Index, which is composed of the MSCI World Index (60%) and the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (40%). |
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
What is the Portfolio’s tactical view and strategy for the months ahead?
When the Reporting Period began, the Portfolio was positioned for a market environment supportive of risk assets, with an overweight in riskier asset classes and an underweight in U.S. government bonds. The Team also anticipated increased divergence in performance across regions, driven by macroeconomic events and monetary policy decisions — a view borne out during the Reporting Period. Looking ahead, the Team expects the divergence in monetary policy between the U.S. and the rest of the world to become further pronounced given the Fed’s decision in December 2015 to raise rates. At the end of the Reporting Period, the Team believed the macroeconomic environment remained supportive of risk assets, especially those opportunities that offer good value. In this environment, the Team expected to emphasize the importance of relative value views that seek to take advantage of fundamental dislocations as long-term trends struggle to materialize in a shifting market.
Regarding the U.S., the Team continues to have confidence in its economic expansion. Although data surprised to the downside near the end of the Reporting Period, the Team believes the U.S. labor market still appeared robust and the U.S. savings rate had room to decline from its rather high level. Both factors, in the Team’s view, should support consumption and continued economic growth. The Team expects interest rates to remain somewhat range bound as accommodative monetary policies are maintained internationally. The Team also remains focused on the pacing of future Fed rate hikes as the short-term rate markets appeared extremely dovish — even complacent, in the Team’s view — at the end of the Reporting Period given the potential for higher U.S. inflation and better than expected U.S. growth. (Dovish tends to suggest lower interest rates.)
Outside the U.S., the Team still has a positive view on Europe, as the recent data remained supportive of continued recovery, with improved credit availability being one of the potential drivers along with a weaker euro, easy financial conditions and a supportive fiscal impulse. (Fiscal impulse is the initial stimulus to aggregate demand arising from fiscal policy from whatever source, whether discretionary or otherwise, during a given period.) Overall, the Team believes the quantitative easing programs of central banks, such as those of the ECB and the Bank of Japan, will continue to put pressure on U.S. bond yields. Accordingly, the Team plans to continue assessing the impact of global monetary policy divergence. The Team expects that Chinese economic growth will remain muted over the long term but believes that policy measures may provide some support in the near term.
Going forward, the Team intends to continue to look for opportunities to shift the Portfolio from passive market exposures to positions based on selective views and strategies that emphasize active risk. The Team believes the environment may reward a more selective and less broad-brush approach to Portfolio positioning.
Relative to equities, the Team expects the asset class to benefit from slowly improving conditions in developed markets, low levels of inflation and supportive monetary policy. The Portfolio was positioned at the end of the Reporting Period for an uptick in global economic growth, and the Team continues to believe global equity markets, particularly in select developed markets such as the U.S. and Europe, are compelling given the Team’s expectations of attractive earnings growth, an increasingly stable macroeconomic environment and monetary policy support.
Within fixed income, the Team remains focused on quality in the Portfolio’s high yield corporate bond investments. Risk appetite was broadly dampened after a sharp selloff in the U.S. high yield corporate bond market near the end of the Reporting Period, which was also hurt by the drop of crude oil prices to their lowest level since 2004.
Within currencies, the Team expects continued U.S. dollar appreciation and has a less favorable view of emerging markets currencies given modest global economic growth expectations and soft commodity prices.
5
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Index Definitions
The BoA Merrill Lynch U.S. Dollar Three-Month LIBOR Constant Maturity Index is based on the assumed purchase of a synthetic instrument having three months to maturity and with a coupon equal to the closing quote for three-month LIBOR. That issue is sold the following day (priced at a yield equal to the current day closing three-month LIBOR rate) and is rolled into a new three-month instrument. The index, therefore, will always have a constant maturity equal to exactly three months.
The S&P GSCI is the first major investable commodity index. It is one of the most widely recognized benchmarks that is broad-based and production weighted to represent the global commodity market beta. The index is designed to be investable by including the most liquid commodity futures, and provides diversification with low correlations to other asset classes.
The Bloomberg Commodity Index Total Return is calculated on an excess return basis and reflects commodity futures price movements. The index rebalances annually, weighted two thirds by trading volume and one third by world production, and weight-caps are applied at the commodity, sector and group level for diversification. Roll period typically occurs from the sixth to tenth business day based on the roll schedule.
The CBOE Volatility Index® (VIX®) is a key measure of market expectations of near-term volatility conveyed by S&P 500® stock index option prices. Since its introduction in 1993, VIX has been considered by many to be the world’s premier barometer of investor sentiment and market volatility.
“GS Global Markets Navigator Index” is a trademark or service mark of Goldman, Sachs & Co. and has been licensed for use by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. in connection with the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Navigator Fund (the “Fund”). As the licensor of this trademark or service mark, Goldman, Sachs & Co. does not make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the fund.
6
FUND BASICS
Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Since Inception | Inception Date | |||||||
Institutional | -4.51 | % | -3.08 | % | 4/25/14 | |||||
Service | -4.76 | -3.34 | 4/25/14 | |||||||
Advisor | -4.89 | -3.48 | 4/25/14 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns or cumulative total returns (only if the performance period is one year or less) as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.66 | % | 21.64 | % | ||||
Service | 0.91 | 22.02 | ||||||
Advisor | 1.06 | 14.40 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Portfolio, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectuses for the Portfolio and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights of this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Portfolio’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
7
FUND BASICS
OVERALL UNDERLYING FUND AND ETF WEIGHTINGS3
Percentage of Net Assets
3 | The Portfolio is actively managed and, as such, its composition may differ over time. The percentage shown for each Underlying Fund and ETF reflects the value of that underlying fund or ETF as a percentage of net assets of the Portfolio. Figures in the graph above may not sum to 100% due to rounding and/or exclusion of other assets and liabilities. Underlying sector allocations of Exchange Traded Funds and Investment Companies held by the Portfolio are not reflected in the graph above. The above graph depicts the Portfolio’s investments but may not represent the Portfolio’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
8
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on April 25, 2014 (commencement of the Portfolio’s operations) in Advisor Shares at NAV. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Portfolio’s benchmark, the LIBOR Index, is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Portfolio level expenses but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Portfolio as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Institutional and Service Shares will vary from Advisor Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Portfolio performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Portfolio operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Portfolio.
Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio’s Lifetime Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from April 25, 2014 through December 31, 2015.
Cumulative Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Since Inception | ||
Institutional (Commenced April 25, 2014) | -4.51% | -3.08% | ||
Service (Commenced April 25, 2014) | -4.76% | -3.34% | ||
Advisor (Commenced April 25, 2014) | -4.89% | -3.48% |
9
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Underlying Funds (Institutional Shares)(a) – 90.4% | ||||||||
| Equity – 28.5% |
| ||||||
145,585 | Goldman Sachs Long Short Fund | $ | 1,343,748 | |||||
90,223 | Goldman Sachs VIT Global Trends Allocation Fund | 982,531 | ||||||
33,215 | Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity Fund | 510,845 | ||||||
5,421 | Goldman Sachs Real Estate Securities Fund | 108,252 | ||||||
15,280 | Goldman Sachs International Real Estate Securities Fund | 90,303 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,035,679 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Fixed Income – 61.9% |
| ||||||
155,831 | Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund | 1,499,095 | ||||||
165,299 | Goldman Sachs Absolute Return Tracker Fund | 1,464,549 | ||||||
139,615 | Goldman Sachs Fixed Income Macro Strategies Fund | 1,235,596 | ||||||
116,069 | Goldman Sachs Long Short Credit Strategies Fund | 1,092,205 | ||||||
101,433 | Goldman Sachs Dynamic Emerging Markets Debt Fund | 789,146 | ||||||
83,020 | Goldman Sachs Dynamic Commodity Strategy Fund | 502,270 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
6,582,861 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| TOTAL UNDERLYING FUNDS (INSTITUTIONAL SHARES) – 90.4% | |||||||
(Cost $10,292,288) | $ | 9,618,540 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Exchange Traded Funds – 2.3% | ||||||||
2,729 | PowerShares DB Gold Fund | $ | 94,587 | |||||
1,763 | ProShares Short VIX Short-Term Futures ETF | 88,944 | ||||||
307 | SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust | 62,594 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS | ||||||||
(Cost $262,585) | $ | 246,125 | ||||||
|
|
Shares | Description Rate | Value | ||||||
Investment Company(a)(b) – 7.6% | ||||||||
Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund — FST Shares |
| |||||||
812,720 | 0.185 | % | $ | 812,720 | ||||
(Cost $812,720) | ||||||||
| ||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 100.3% | ||||||||
(Cost $11,367,593) | $ | 10,677,385 | ||||||
| ||||||||
LIABILITIES IN EXCESS OF OTHER ASSETS – (0.3)% | (31,584 | ) | ||||||
| ||||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 10,645,801 | ||||||
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
(a) | Represents Affiliated Funds. | |
(b) | Variable rate security. Interest rate or distribution rate disclosed is that which is in effect on December 31, 2015. |
Investment Abbreviation: | ||
SPDR | —Standard and Poor’s Depositary Receipts |
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION
FUTURES CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Portfolio had the following futures contracts:
Type | Number of Contracts Long (Short) | Expiration Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||||||
EURO STOXX 50 Index | 11 | March 2016 | $ | 392,338 | $ | 5,824 | ||||||
mini MSCI Emerging Markets Index Futures | (13) | March 2016 | (511,875 | ) | 7,409 | |||||||
S&P 500 E-Mini Index | 3 | March 2016 | 305,310 | 429 | ||||||||
TOTAL | $ | 13,662 |
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments in Affiliated Underlying Funds, at value (cost $11,105,008) | $ | 10,431,260 | ||
Investments, at value (cost $262,585) | 246,125 | |||
Cash | 76,935 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Collateral on certain derivative contracts | 78,183 | |||
Portfolio shares sold | 24,046 | |||
Dividends | 2,075 | |||
Total assets | 10,858,624 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | 426 | |||
Payables: | ||||
Expense Reimbursement to Investment Advisor | 127,351 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 3,410 | |||
Portfolio shares redeemed | 11,519 | |||
Accrued expenses | 70,117 | |||
Total liabilities | 212,823 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 11,517,739 | |||
Undistributed net investment income | 2,719 | |||
Accumulated net realized loss | (198,149 | ) | ||
Net unrealized loss | (676,508 | ) | ||
NET ASSETS | $ | 10,645,801 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional | $ | 957,754 | ||
Service | 21,618 | |||
Advisor | 9,666,429 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 10,645,801 | ||
Shares outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional | 104,705 | |||
Service | 2,366 | |||
Advisor | 1,059,859 | |||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||
Institutional | $9.15 | |||
Service | 9.14 | |||
Advisor | 9.12 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Statement of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Investment income: | ||||
Dividends from Affiliated Underlying Funds | $ | 207,541 | ||
Dividends from Unaffiliated Funds | 8,528 | |||
Total investment income | 216,069 | |||
Expenses: | ||||
Amortization of offering costs | 83,023 | |||
Professional fees | 73,860 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 39,349 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 28,507 | |||
Distribution and Service fees(a) | 27,944 | |||
Trustee fees | 19,661 | |||
Management fees | 11,977 | |||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 1,598 | |||
Other | 2,961 | |||
Total expenses | 288,880 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (243,562 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 45,318 | |||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 170,751 | |||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||
Net realized gain (loss) from: | ||||
Investments in Affiliated Underlying Funds | (174,351 | ) | ||
Investments | (25,418 | ) | ||
Capital gain distributions from Affiliated Underlying Funds | 43,959 | |||
Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on: | ||||
Investments in Affiliated Underlying Funds | (558,219 | ) | ||
Investments | (21,088 | ) | ||
Futures contracts | 13,662 | |||
Net realized and unrealized loss | (721,455 | ) | ||
NET DECREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | (550,704 | ) |
(a) Class specific Distribution and Service, and Transfer Agency fees were as follows:
Distribution and Service Fees | Transfer Agency Fees | |||||||||||||||||
Advisor | Service | Advisor | Institutional | Service | ||||||||||||||
$ | 27,910 | $ | 34 | $ | 1,395 | $ | 199 | $ | 4 |
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Period Ended December 31, 2014(a) | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 170,751 | $ | 24,303 | ||||
Net realized gain (loss) | (155,810 | ) | 32,232 | |||||
Net change in unrealized loss | (565,645 | ) | (110,863 | ) | ||||
Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations | (550,704 | ) | (54,328 | ) | ||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (20,864 | ) | (12,295 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (439 | ) | (103 | ) | ||||
Advisor Shares | (183,729 | ) | (36,975 | ) | ||||
From net realized gains | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (1,452 | ) | (181 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (33 | ) | (2 | ) | ||||
Advisor Shares | (14,588 | ) | (570 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (221,105 | ) | (50,126 | ) | ||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 9,018,089 | 4,570,440 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 221,105 | 50,126 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (2,079,723 | ) | (257,973 | ) | ||||
Net increase in net assets resulting from share transactions | 7,159,471 | 4,362,593 | ||||||
TOTAL INCREASE | 6,387,662 | 4,258,139 | ||||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 4,258,139 | — | ||||||
End of year | $ | 10,645,801 | $ | 4,258,139 | ||||
Undistributed net investment income | $ | 2,719 | $ | 45 |
(a) Commenced operations on April 25, 2014
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period
Income (loss) from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of period | Net investment income(a)(b) | Net realized and unrealized loss | Total from investment operations | From net investment income | From net realized gains | Total distributions | Net asset value, end of period | Total return(c) | Net assets, end of period (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets(d) | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets(d) | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets(b) | Portfolio turnover rate(e) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 9.81 | $ | 0.20 | $ | (0.65 | ) | $ | (0.45 | ) | $ | (0.20 | ) | $ | (0.01 | ) | $ | (0.21 | ) | $ | 9.15 | (4.51 | )% | $ | 958 | 0.22 | % | 4.40 | % | 2.02 | % | 53 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 9.81 | 0.24 | (0.71 | ) | (0.47 | ) | (0.19 | ) | (0.01 | ) | (0.20 | ) | 9.14 | (4.76 | ) | 22 | 0.48 | 3.33 | 2.54 | 53 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Advisor | 9.79 | 0.21 | (0.69 | ) | (0.48 | ) | (0.18 | ) | (0.01 | ) | (0.19 | ) | 9.12 | (4.89 | ) | 9,666 | 0.62 | 3.51 | 2.16 | 53 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional (Commenced April 25, 2014) | 10.00 | 0.09 | (0.16 | ) | (0.07 | ) | (0.12 | ) | — | (f) | (0.12 | ) | 9.81 | (0.67 | ) | 1,003 | 0.22 | (g) | 24.63 | (g) | 1.30 | (g) | 25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service (Commenced April 25, 2014) | 10.00 | 0.07 | (0.16 | ) | (0.09 | ) | (0.10 | ) | — | (f) | (0.10 | ) | 9.81 | (0.85 | ) | 10 | 0.49 | (g) | 25.05 | (g) | 1.02 | (g) | 25 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Advisor (Commenced April 25, 2014) | 10.00 | 0.11 | (0.21 | ) | (0.10 | ) | (0.11 | ) | — | (f) | (0.11 | ) | 9.79 | (0.97 | ) | 3,246 | 0.62 | (g) | 16.16 | (g) | 1.66 | (g) | 25 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Recognition of net investment income by the Portfolio is affected by the timing of declaration of dividends by the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests. |
(c) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the period. Total returns for periods less than one full year are not annualized. |
(d) | Expense ratios exclude the expenses of the Underlying Funds in which the Portfolio invests. |
(e) | The portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments and certain derivatives. If such transactions were included, the portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(f) | Amount is less than $0.005 per share. |
(g) | Annualized. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 14 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio (the “Portfolio”). The Portfolio is a diversified portfolio under the Act offering three classes of shares — Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Portfolio pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
The Portfolio invests primarily in a combination of domestic and international equity and fixed income underlying funds (“Underlying Funds”) which are registered under the Act, for which GSAM or Goldman Sachs Asset Management International (“GSAMI”), also an affiliate of Goldman Sachs, act as investment advisers. Additionally, this Portfolio may invest a portion of its assets directly in other securities and instruments, including unaffiliated exchange traded funds (“Unaffiliated Funds”).
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Portfolio’s valuation policy, as well as the Underlying Funds’ is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Capital gain distributions received from Underlying Funds are recognized on ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments. Income distributions are recognized in accordance with the character that is distributed. Capital gain distributions are recorded as capital gains in the financial statements. Income distributions are recorded in income.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Portfolio are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Portfolio are charged to that Portfolio, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
Expenses included in the accompanying financial statements reflect the expenses of the Portfolio and do not include any expenses associated with the Underlying Funds. Because the Underlying Funds have varied expense and fee levels and the Portfolio may own different proportions of the Underlying Funds at different times, the amount of fees and expenses incurred indirectly by the Portfolio will vary.
D. Offering Costs — Offering costs paid in connection with the offering of shares of the Portfolio were amortized on a straight-line basis over 12 months from the date of commencement of operations.
E. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Portfolio’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly,
15
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
the Portfolio is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Portfolio’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Portfolio’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Portfolio’s policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the investments held by the Portfolio, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Portfolio’s investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Underlying Funds (Including Money Market Funds) — Investments in the Underlying Funds are valued at the NAV per share of the Institutional Share class (the FST Share class for Money Market Funds) of each Underlying Fund on the day of valuation. Because the Portfolio invests primarily in other mutual funds that fluctuate in value, the Portfolio’s shares will correspondingly fluctuate in value. These investments are generally classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. For information regarding an Underlying Fund’s accounting policies and investment holdings, please see the Underlying Fund’s shareholder report.
16
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
Derivative Contracts — A derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from underlying assets, indices, reference rates or a combination of these factors. The Portfolio enters into derivative transactions to hedge against changes in interest rates, securities prices, and/or currency exchange rates, to increase total return, or to gain access to certain markets or attain exposure to other underliers.
Exchange-traded derivatives, including futures and options contracts, are valued at the last sale or settlement price and typically fall within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Over-the-counter (“OTC”) and centrally cleared derivatives are valued using market transactions and other market evidence, including market-based inputs to models, calibration to market-clearing transactions, broker or dealer quotations, or other alternative pricing sources. Where models are used, the selection of a particular model to value OTC and centrally cleared derivatives depends upon the contractual terms of, and specific risks inherent in, the instrument, as well as the availability of pricing information in the market. Valuation models require a variety of inputs, including contractual terms, market prices, yield curves, credit curves, measures of volatility, voluntary and involuntary prepayment rates, loss severity rates and correlations of such inputs. For OTC and centrally cleared derivatives that trade in liquid markets, model inputs can generally be verified and model selection does not involve significant management judgment. OTC and centrally cleared derivatives are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy when significant inputs are corroborated by market evidence.
i. Futures Contracts — Futures contracts are contracts to buy or sell a standardized quantity of a specified commodity or security and are valued based on exchanged settlement prices or independent market quotes. Futures contracts are valued at the last settlement price, or in the absence of a sale, the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions, at the end of each day on the board of trade or exchange upon which they are traded. Upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund deposits cash or securities in an account on behalf of the broker in an amount sufficient to meet the initial margin requirement. Subsequent payments are made or received by a Fund equal to the daily change in the contract value and are recorded as variation margin receivable or payable with a corresponding offset to unrealized gains or losses.
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAM believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Portfolio’s investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAM, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at the time of determining the Portfolio’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
17
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Portfolio’s investments and derivatives classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Equity Underlying Funds | $ | 3,035,679 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Fixed Income Underlying Funds | 6,582,861 | — | — | |||||||||
Exchange Traded Funds | 246,125 | — | — | |||||||||
Investment Company | 812,720 | — | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 10,677,385 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Derivative Type | ||||||||||||
Assets(a) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | 13,662 | $ | — | $ | — |
(a) | Amount shown represents unrealized gain (loss) at fiscal year end. |
4. INVESTMENTS IN DERIVATIVES
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the gross value of derivative contracts as of December 31, 2015. These instruments were used as part of the Funds’ investment strategies and to obtain and/or manage exposure related to the risks below. The values in the tables below exclude the effects of cash collateral received or posted pursuant to these derivative contracts, and therefore are not representative of the Funds’ net exposure.
Risk | Statement of Assets and Liabilities | Assets(a) | Statement of Assets and Liabilities | Liabilities | ||||
Equity | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | $13,662 | — | $— |
(a) | Includes unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts described in the Additional Investment Information sections of the Schedule of Investments. Only current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. |
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the Portfolio’s gains (losses) related to these derivatives and their indicative volumes for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. These gains (losses) should be considered in the context that these derivative contracts may have been executed to create investment opportunities and/or economically hedge certain investments, and accordingly, certain gains (losses) on such derivative contracts may offset certain (losses) gains attributable to investments. These gains (losses) are included in “Net realized gain (loss)” or “Net change in unrealized gain (loss)” on the Statement of Operations:
Risk | Statement of Operations | Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Net Change in Unrealized Gain (Loss) | Average Number of Contracts(a) | ||||||||||
Equity | Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts | $ | — | $ | 13,662 | 2 |
(a) | Average number of contracts is based on the average of month end balances for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. |
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Portfolio, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Portfolio’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of 0.15% of the Portfolio’s average daily net assets. GSAM has agreed to waive all of its management fee. The management fee waiver will remain in effect through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date, GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Board of Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM waived $11,977 of its management fee.
The Portfolio invests in FST Shares of the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund, which is an affiliated Underlying Fund. GSAM has agreed to waive a portion of its management fee payable by the Portfolio in an amount equal to the management fee it earns as an investment adviser to the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM waived $353 of the Portfolio’s management fee.
B. Distribution and Service Plan — The Trust, on behalf of the Portfolio, has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”). Under the Plan, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (“the Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% and 0.40% of the Portfolio’s average daily net assets attributable to Service and Advisor Shares, respectively.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Portfolio for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets of Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Portfolio (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a percentage rate of the average daily net assets of the Portfolio. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Portfolio is not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitation as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for the Portfolio is 0.204%. The Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM reimbursed $231,076 to the Portfolio. In addition, the Portfolio has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Portfolio’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, custody fee credits were $156.
E. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Portfolio participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Portfolio and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Portfolio based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Portfolio did not have any borrowings under the facility.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
F. Other Transactions with Affiliates — The Portfolio invests primarily in the Institutional Shares of the Underlying Funds. These Underlying Funds are considered to be affiliated with the Portfolio. The tables below show the transactions in and earnings from investments in these Underlying Funds for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015:
Underlying Funds | Market Value 12/31/2014 | Purchases at Cost | Proceeds from Sales | Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Change in Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) | Market Value 12/31/2015 | Dividend Income | Capital Gain Distributions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Absolute Return Tracker Fund | $ | 878,658 | $ | 1,339,282 | $ | (680,005 | ) | $ | (23,291 | ) | $ | (50,095 | ) | $ | 1,464,549 | $ | 10,275 | $ | 17,638 | |||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Commodity Strategy Fund | 167,016 | 16,504 | (181,120 | ) | (50,795 | ) | 48,395 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Dynamic Commodity Strategy Fund | — | 641,520 | (30,122 | ) | (31 | ) | (109,097 | ) | 502,270 | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Dynamic Emerging Markets Debt Fund | 107,559 | 884,331 | (118,491 | ) | (14,606 | ) | (69,647 | ) | 789,146 | 23,178 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Emerging Markets Equity Fund | — | 515,498 | — | — | (4,653 | ) | 510,845 | 498 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund | — | 5,317,200 | (4,504,480 | ) | — | — | 812,720 | 81 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Fixed Income Macro Strategies Fund | $ | 500,686 | $ | 884,480 | $ | (100,000 | ) | $ | (5,927 | ) | $ | (43,643 | ) | $ | 1,235,596 | $ | 74,306 | $ | — | |||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs International Real Estate Securities Fund | 106,346 | 56,683 | (70,657 | ) | 1,931 | (4,000 | ) | 90,303 | 2,412 | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Long Short Credit Strategies Fund | 421,356 | 849,146 | (138,964 | ) | (10,882 | ) | (28,451 | ) | 1,092,205 | 32,275 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Long Short Fund | — | 2,074,525 | (510,000 | ) | (70,180 | ) | (150,597 | ) | 1,343,748 | 3,557 | 2,769 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Real Estate Securities Fund | 123,491 | 112,729 | (128,527 | ) | 4,104 | (3,545 | ) | 108,252 | 2,371 | 2,725 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund | 624,400 | 1,114,607 | (160,000 | ) | (10,528 | ) | (69,384 | ) | 1,499,095 | 55,604 | — | |||||||||||||||||||||
Goldman Sachs VIT Global Trends Allocation Fund | 712,199 | 791,406 | (453,426 | ) | 5,854 | (73,502 | ) | 982,531 | 2,984 | 20,827 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 3,641,711 | $ | 14,597,911 | $ | (7,075,792 | ) | $ | (174,351 | ) | $ | (558,219 | ) | $ | 10,431,260 | $ | 207,541 | $ | 43,959 |
As of December 31, 2015, the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. was the beneficial owner of approximately 97% and 44% of the Institutional and Service Class Shares, respectively, of the Portfolio.
6. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were $10,693,816 and $3,976,348, respectively.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
7. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, was as follows:
Distributions paid from: | 2014 | 2015 | ||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 50,126 | $ | 205,079 | ||||
Net long-term capital gains | — | 16,026 | ||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 50,126 | $ | 221,105 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Undistributed ordinary income — net | $ | 2,256 | ||
Capital loss carryforward | (38,410 | ) | ||
Timing differences (Post October Loss Deferral) | (65,991 | ) | ||
Unrealized losses — net | (769,793 | ) | ||
Total accumulated losses — net | $ | (871,938 | ) |
As of December 31, 2015, the Portfolio’s aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
Tax cost | $ | 11,447,178 | ||
Gross unrealized gain | 8,915 | |||
Gross unrealized loss | (778,708 | ) | ||
Net unrealized security loss | $ | (769,793 | ) |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales, net mark to market gains/(losses) on regulated futures contracts and differences in the tax treatment of underlying fund investments.
In order to present certain components of the Portfolio’s capital accounts on a tax-basis, the Portfolio has reclassified $2,763 of paid-in capital and $34,192 of accumulated net realized gain into undistributed net investment income. These reclassifications have no impact on the NAV of the Portfolio and result primarily from certain non-deductible expenses and differences in the tax treatment of underlying fund investments.
GSAM has reviewed the Portfolio’s tax position for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Portfolio’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
8. OTHER RISKS
The Portfolio’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Investments in the Underlying Funds — The investments of the Portfolio are concentrated in the Underlying Funds, and the Portfolio’s investment performance is directly related to the investment performance of the Underlying Funds it holds. The Portfolio is subject to the risk factors associated with the investments of the Underlying Funds in direct proportion to the amount of assets allocated to each. To the extent that the Portfolio has a relative concentration of its portfolio in a single Underlying Fund, the Portfolio may be more susceptible to adverse developments affecting that Underlying Fund, and may be more susceptible to losses because of these developments.
21
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
8. OTHER RISKS (continued)
Investments in Other Investment Companies — As a shareholder of another investment company, including an exchange-traded fund (“ETF”), the Portfolio will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any net management fees and other expenses paid by such other investment companies, in addition to the fees and expenses regularly borne by the Portfolio. ETFs are subject to risks that do not apply to conventional mutual funds, including but not limited to the following: (i) the market price of the ETF’s shares may trade at a premium or a discount to their NAV; and (ii) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained.
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Portfolio or an Underlying Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Portfolio’s or an Underlying Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Portfolio’s or an Underlying Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Portfolio’s or an Underlying Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Portfolio or Underlying Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Portfolio’s or an Underlying Fund’s performance to the extent that the Portfolio or an Underlying Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Underlying Funds may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that a Portfolio will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, a Portfolio may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions. Liquidity risk may be the result of, among other things, the reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed income securities or the lack of an active market. The potential for liquidity risk may be magnified by a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where investor redemptions from fixed income mutual funds may be higher than normal, potentially causing increased supply in the market due to selling activity.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Portfolio and the Underlying Funds trade financial instruments and enter into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Portfolio and the Underlying Funds may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Portfolio and the Underlying Funds have unsettled or open transactions defaults.
Investing in foreign markets may involve special risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation, less public information and less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Portfolio and the Underlying Funds invest. Loss may also result from the imposition of exchange controls, confiscations and other government restrictions by the United States or other governments, or from problems in registration, settlement or custody. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Portfolio and the Underlying Funds have exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. To the extent that the Portfolio and the Underlying Funds also invest in securities of issuers located in emerging markets, these risks may be more pronounced.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
9. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Portfolio. Additionally, in the course of business, the Portfolio enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Portfolio’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Portfolio that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
11. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014(a) | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 167 | $ | 1,635 | 100,984 | $ | 1,010,213 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 2,436 | 22,316 | 1,268 | 12,476 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (90 | ) | (866 | ) | (60 | ) | (586 | ) | ||||||||
2,513 | 23,085 | 102,192 | 1,022,103 | |||||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 1,310 | 12,500 | 999 | 10,000 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 51 | 472 | 11 | 105 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (5 | ) | (51 | ) | — | — | ||||||||||
1,356 | 12,921 | 1,010 | 10,105 | |||||||||||||
Advisor Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 924,410 | 9,003,954 | 353,261 | 3,550,227 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 21,718 | 198,317 | 3,823 | 37,545 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (217,661 | ) | (2,078,806 | ) | (25,692 | ) | (257,387 | ) | ||||||||
728,467 | 7,123,465 | 331,392 | 3,330,385 | |||||||||||||
NET INCREASE | 732,336 | $ | 7,159,471 | 434,594 | $ | 4,362,593 |
(a) | Commenced operations on April 25, 2014. |
23
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio (the “Portfolio”), a fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015, and the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Portfolio’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian, brokers, and transfer agent, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Portfolio Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional, Service or Advisor Shares of the Portfolio, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service and Advisor Shares) and other Portfolio expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional Shares, Service Shares and Advisor Shares of the Portfolio and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Portfolio's actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Portfolio's actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Portfolios and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Portfolio you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 950.10 | $ | 1.08 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,024.10 | + | 1.12 | ||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 948.60 | 2.31 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,022.84 | + | 2.40 | ||||||||
Advisor | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 948.20 | 3.04 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,022.08 | + | 3.16 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Portfolio’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.22%, 0.47% and 0.62% for Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Portfolio’s actual annualized net expense ratios and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
25
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
26
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Portfolio’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
28
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST MULTI-STRATEGY ALTERNATIVES PORTFOLIO
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Portfolio’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31, 2015, 7.12% of the dividends paid from net investment company taxable income by the Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio qualify for the dividends received deduction available to corporations.
Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio designates $16,026 or, if different, the maximum amount allowable, as capital gain dividends paid during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.
29
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President, and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York
New York 10282
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Portfolio included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Portfolio in the future. These statements are based on Portfolio management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Portfolio, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Portfolio. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Portfolio uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Portfolio voted proxies relating to portfolio securities for the 12-month period ended December 31 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Portfolio files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Portfolio’s Form N-Qs are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Portfolio’s first and third fiscal quarters. The Portfolio’s Form N-Qs may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Form N-Qs may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Portfolio holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Portfolio holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (“MSCI”) and Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) and is licensed for use by Goldman Sachs. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any other party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any of such standard or classification. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Diversification does not protect an investor from market risk and does not ensure a profit.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Portfolio are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Portfolio.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust: Goldman Sachs Multi-Strategy Alternatives Portfolio.
© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITMSAAR-16/30460-TEMPL02/2/2016
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs Core Fixed Income Fund
Goldman Sachs Equity Index Fund
Goldman Sachs Growth Opportunities Fund
Goldman Sachs High Quality Floating Rate Fund
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of the risks that may affect the Funds. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Funds, please see the Funds’ Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Funds are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about a Fund.
The Goldman Sachs Core Fixed Income Fund invests primarily in fixed income securities, including U.S. government securities, corporate debt securities, privately issued mortgage-backed securities and asset-backed securities. The Fund’s investments in fixed income securities are subject to the risks associated with debt securities generally, including credit, liquidity and interest rate risk. Any guarantee on U.S. government securities applies only to the underlying securities of the Fund if held to maturity and not to the value of the Fund’s shares. Investments in mortgage-backed securities are also subject to prepayment risk (i.e., the risk that in a declining interest rate environment, issuers may pay principal more quickly than expected, causing the Fund to reinvest proceeds at lower prevailing interest rates). Foreign and emerging markets investments may be more volatile and less liquid than investments in U.S. securities and are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and adverse economic and political developments. Derivative instruments may involve a high degree of financial risk. These risks include the risk that a small movement in the price of the underlying security or benchmark may result in a disproportionately large movement, unfavorable or favorable, in the price of the derivative instrument; risks of default by a counterparty; and liquidity risk (i.e., the risk that an investment may not be able to be sold without a substantial drop in price, if at all).
The Goldman Sachs Equity Index Fund attempts to replicate the aggregate price and yield performance of a benchmark index (i.e., the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index) that measures the investment returns of large capitalization stocks. The Fund’s equity investments are subject to market risk, which means that the value of the securities in which it invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors and/or general economic conditions. The Fund is not actively managed, and therefore the Fund will not typically dispose of a security until the security is removed from the index. Performance may vary substantially from the performance of the benchmark it tracks as a result of share purchases and redemptions, transaction costs, expenses and other factors.
The Goldman Sachs Growth Opportunities Fund invests primarily in U.S. equity investments with a primary focus on mid-capitalization companies. The Fund’s equity investments are subject to market risk, which means that the value of the securities in which it invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors and/or general economic conditions. The securities of mid-capitalization companies involve greater risks than those associated with larger, more established companies and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements. Different investment styles (e.g., “growth”) tend to shift in and out of favor, and at times the Fund may underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes.
1
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
The Goldman Sachs High Quality Floating Rate Fund invests primarily in high quality floating rate or variable rate obligations, and the Fund considers “high quality” obligations to be (i) those rated AAA or Aaa by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization at the time of purchase (or, if unrated, determined by the Investment Adviser to be of comparable quality), and (ii) U.S. government securities, including mortgage-backed securities, and repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities. The Fund’s investments in fixed income securities are subject to the risks associated with debt securities generally, including credit, liquidity and interest rate risk. Any guarantee on U.S. government securities applies only to the underlying securities of the Fund if held to maturity and not to the value of the Fund’s shares. Investments in mortgage-backed securities are also subject to prepayment risk (i.e., the risk that in a declining interest rate environment, issuers may pay principal more quickly than expected, causing the Fund to reinvest proceeds at lower prevailing interest rates). Foreign investments may be more volatile and less liquid than investments in U.S. securities and are subject to the risks of adverse economic or political developments. Derivative instruments may involve a high degree of financial risk. These risks include the risk that a small movement in the price of the underlying security or benchmark may result in a disproportionately large movement, unfavorable or favorable, in the price of the derivative instrument; the risk of default by a counterparty; and liquidity risk. At times, the Fund may be unable to sell certain of its illiquid investments without a substantial drop in price, if at all.
2
MARKET REVIEW
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust Funds
Market Review
During the 12 months ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”), the broad U.S. equities and fixed income markets recorded modest gains.
Equity Markets
Representing the U.S. equity market, the S&P 500® Index gained 1.38% during the Reporting Period. Central bank policy, a commodity price sell-off, geopolitical tensions, and China and global economic growth concerns were the key themes impacting U.S. equities throughout 2015.
As evidence of a U.S. economic and labor market recovery mounted, market expectations of a Federal Reserve (“Fed”) interest rate hike increased. The monetary policy divergence with the European Central Bank (“ECB”) and the Bank of Japan, which each eased policy during the calendar year, resulted in relative U.S. dollar strength. This paradoxically hurt U.S. equity performance despite improving domestic economic fundamentals. Also, geopolitical tensions intensified in the summer of 2015, as negotiations between Greece and its creditors unraveled, and the probability of a Greek exit, popularly known in the media as “Grexit,” from the euro increased. “Grexit” risk subsequently declined with an agreement in July 2015. However, concerns then escalated around China’s economic weakness, exacerbated by a surprise devaluation of its renminbi in August 2015, which further shook market confidence. U.S. equities sold off in the ensuing sharp global equity correction.
After holding the targeted federal funds rate steady in September and October 2015 in light of these external macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, the Fed voted unanimously for a 25 basis point hike in December 2015, a move largely expected by markets. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.) The fairly dovish language in the Fed’s announcement, which emphasized “gradual” adjustments to policy going forward, helped to somewhat assuage the markets. (Dovish language tends to suggest lower interest rates.)
Oil and commodity prices were “lower for longer” in 2015, as the supply glut took longer than expected to correct and demand concerns arose. Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude oil prices began 2015 at $57 and $53 per barrel, respectively, already well below 2014 highs of more than $100 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI crude oil prices ended 2015 still lower at approximately $37 per barrel. The U.S. consumer benefited from savings at the gas pump and consumer spending rose, particularly in areas typically associated with lower gas prices, such as autos and restaurants. However, this did not fully offset the negative impact on the U.S. energy industry and industrials companies. As a result, energy was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500® Index by a wide margin during the Reporting Period, followed by materials, utilities and industrials. Conversely, more consumer-oriented sectors, including consumer discretionary, health care, information technology and consumer staples, were the best performing sectors in the S&P 500® Index during the Reporting Period.
Within the U.S. equity market, there was significant disparity in performance not only among sectors but also among the various capitalization and style segments. Large-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell 1000® Index, posted modestly positive returns, while mid-cap stocks and small-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell Midcap® Index and Russell 2000® Index, respectively, generated negative returns. Large-cap stocks were most successful relative to small-cap stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. From a style perspective, growth-oriented stocks significantly outpaced value-oriented stocks across the capitalization spectrum. Growth outperformed relative to value during the Reporting Period primarily due to stronger performance of the growth-oriented information technology sector. (All as measured by the Russell Investments indices.)
Fixed Income Markets
In January 2015, when the Reporting Period began, spread, or non-U.S. Treasury, sectors generated broadly positive returns. As the Fed and the U.K. considered raising short-term interest rates, global monetary policy easing intensified with the ECB announcing its quantitative easing program and approximately 25 other global central banks easing monetary policy. The U.S. dollar appreciated for a third consecutive quarter, reaching a 12-year high versus the euro ahead of the Fed’s March 2015 policy meeting. The anti-austerity Syriza party was victorious in Greece’s elections, raising fears of a renewed debt crisis. Near first calendar quarter end, Eurozone finance ministers agreed to a four-month extension of the existing Greek bailout package, buying time but leaving unresolved the question of how Greece would fund debt repayments during July and August 2015.
3
MARKET REVIEW
During the second calendar quarter, the performance of spread sectors was mixed. High yield corporate bonds and emerging markets debt ended the quarter roughly where they began, while investment grade corporate bonds recorded a decline. U.S. Treasury yields rose amid significant volatility during May and early June 2015, as U.S. economic data improved, including positive surprises in inflation and retail sales. First quarter 2015 U.S. Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) was revised upwards from -0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of -0.2%. The upward revision stemmed in part from stronger than estimated consumer spending and inventory data. U.S. dollar gains hit a roadblock on uncertainty around the Fed’s plans for raising interest rates in 2015. The Eurozone’s economic progress took a back seat in the second calendar quarter to the seemingly intractable challenges surrounding Greece.
In the third quarter of 2015, spread sectors underperformed U.S. Treasuries as the outlook for the global economy grew cloudy. Investors focused on slowing economic growth in China, the devaluation of the Chinese renminbi and an unexpected increase in market volatility. Oil and other commodities prices dropped to new lows, partly because of falling demand from China. Uncertainty about the timing of potential Fed policy tightening became an increasingly key theme. Surprisingly to many, the Fed chose to leave rates unchanged at its September 2015 policy meeting, citing conditions in the global economy. Although the U.S. economy continued to improve, economic growth in other developed countries softened and emerging markets economies broadly weakened. Despite accommodative monetary policies by many global central banks, inflation remained subdued in the world’s major economies.
Spread sectors generally outperformed U.S. Treasuries during the fourth quarter of 2015, which saw the first Fed rate hike since 2006. Outside the U.S., the global monetary policy environment remained highly accommodative. The U.S. economy continued to display a positive growth trend, but economic growth in other developed countries had softened by the end of the Reporting Period. At the same time, growth in emerging markets countries broadly weakened, largely due to commodity price declines and concerns about the slowing Chinese economy.
For the Reporting Period overall, the broad fixed income market was virtually flat. High yield corporate bonds posted steep losses. Sovereign emerging markets debt also declined, underperforming U.S. Treasuries. In addition, investment grade corporate bonds and agency securities recorded negative returns, followed at some distance by commercial mortgage-backed securities and residential mortgage-backed securities. Although asset-backed securities generated a positive return, they also trailed U.S. Treasuries. The U.S. Treasury yield curve, or spectrum of maturities, flattened during the Reporting Period, as shorter-term yields rose more than either intermediate-term or longer-term yields. The yield on the bellwether 10-year U.S. Treasury rose approximately 10 basis points during the Reporting Period to 2.27%.
Looking Ahead
Equity Markets
At the end of the Reporting Period, we expected positive, but below average, returns for global equities in 2016 in light of modest economic growth forecasts and rising valuations in some areas of the market. However, in our view, equities still looked more attractive than other asset classes in a persistently low-return environment.
After dipping in 2015, we expect global economic growth to increase modestly in 2016, which we think will be enough to sustain corporate profitability and allow stock prices to move higher. In our view, central banks are likely to remain accommodative given still-fragile global economic growth, which we also see as helpful for equity markets. Even in the U.S., where Fed policy has moved toward normalization, we do not expect to see much negative impact from what are likely to be gradual interest rate increases given continued strength in the housing and labor markets. However, the strong U.S. dollar may well remain a headwind for U.S. multi-nationals.
While the macro outlook remains benign, U.S. credit and equities reflect some typical late-cycle signs, such as more shareholder-friendly actions, an increase in merger and acquisition activity and a pick-up in leverage, all of which tend to coincide with an environment lacking top-line growth. Higher equity valuations are also consistent with late-cycle indicators. In part due to years of ultra-low interest rates, U.S. equity market valuations have risen toward fair value, in our opinion, with some areas looking particularly vulnerable if companies cannot deliver growth.
4
MARKET REVIEW
One common theme across the developed markets is that we believe domestically-focused companies in the major regions could benefit from increasing domestic consumption while being more insulated from currency volatility. In the U.S., we expect that the strong dollar could continue to be a headwind for many globally-exposed companies but believe the consumer remains healthy.
We also believe that some extraordinary dynamics in the U.S. equity market in 2015 have set up investment opportunities for 2016. The extremely narrow trading breadth of the market hit a 30-year low. For example, just ten stocks accounted for approximately 40% of the total positive contribution to the S&P 500® Index return. Also, as mentioned earlier, value stocks notably underperformed growth stocks. We expect some broadening of the market and reversal of these trends in 2016, as investors focus on the risk of high-priced stocks as well as on the relative attractiveness of the hundreds of stocks trading below the market multiple.
Fixed Income Markets
At the end of the Reporting Period, we expected the global economy to maintain its course of slow growth and low inflation in 2016. We also expected continued gradual policy tightening by the Fed and for global monetary policy to remain accommodative. In our view, valuations in some market segments at the end of the Reporting Period suggested investors were focused on potential worst-case scenarios for global growth and inflation, commodity prices, corporate bond performance and conditions in the emerging markets and China. We also believed investors were concerned about geopolitical intrusions, such as the threat of terrorist attacks and the displacement of millions of people from Syria and other war-torn regions.
Looking ahead, we believe the U.S. economy can sustain a gradual increase in interest rates. In our view, the Fed is likely to raise rates between one and three times during 2016, depending on the path of inflation and financial conditions. Overall, we see economic growth moderating if consumption softens, as we expect, with the fading benefits of low oil prices. In the Eurozone, we think weak inflation will lead the ECB to ease again in the second half of 2016 and that downward pressure on yields is likely to continue. Our growth forecast for the region is slightly below the market consensus, due to weak demand from outside Europe and potential weakening in Eurozone consumption. However, we see a potentially positive contribution from increased government spending in Europe on services to accommodate migrants and on greater national security. U.K. growth, in our view, is likely to slow somewhat, due to continued fiscal cutbacks and weak exports. We believe U.K. interest rates will probably continue to underperform Eurozone markets as the Bank of England nears its first rate hike, possibly around mid-2016. Japan faces continued challenges, we believe, in getting inflation back on target, though the recent firming in core inflation may keep the Bank of Japan on hold through 2016. We expect Japan’s growth to improve somewhat, with consumption supported by low oil prices and additional benefits from a tourism boom. China’s growth continues to slow, but we expect policymakers to find a way to uphold its 6.5% GDP target in 2016. Currency devaluation could help at the margins, but we do not anticipate a much sharper weakening in the Chinese renminbi. We believe rising consumer spending and relatively healthy services activity are supportive domestic factors. Looking ahead, we expect further targeted stimulus by the People’s Bank of China and its policymakers to continue balancing reform objectives against the need to generate growth.
5
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks a total return consisting of capital appreciation and income that exceeds the total return of the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Fixed Income Portfolio Management Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Core Fixed Income Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of 0.60% and 0.27%, respectively. These returns compare to the 0.55% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the “Barclays Index”), during the same time period.
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
The Fund’s top-down country strategy contributed positively to performance. The Fund benefited from its long positions in Canada, Europe and Japan versus its short position in the U.S. Our bottom-up individual issue selection within the corporate and securitized sectors also added to results.
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s tactical duration and yield curve positioning detracted from its relative performance. Duration is a measure of the Fund’s sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Yield curve indicates a spectrum of maturities. In addition, the Fund’s top-down cross-sector strategy hurt returns during the Reporting Period. In our cross-sector strategy, we invest Fund assets across a variety of fixed income sectors, including some that may not be included in the Barclays Index.
Our top-down currency strategy did not have a meaningful impact on Fund performance during the Reporting Period.
Which fixed income market sectors most affected Fund performance during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund was hampered by its overweight relative to the Barclays Index in U.S. corporate bonds, as credit spreads (yield differentials to U.S. Treasuries) widened. Spreads widened on elevated supply due to heavy merger activity as well as on an increase in global market volatility driven by uncertainty about China’s economic slowdown and depressed commodity prices. On the positive side, the Fund’s underweight position in agency mortgage-backed securities added to returns, as that sector underperformed during the Reporting Period because of higher prepayment speeds.
Did the Fund’s duration and yield curve positioning strategy help or hurt its results during the Reporting Period?
Tactical management of the Fund’s duration and yield curve positioning detracted overall from relative returns during the Reporting Period. In particular, the Fund was hurt by its short duration position relative to the Barclays Index during the first quarter of 2015, as an unusually cold winter weighed on U.S. economic data and low oil prices suppressed inflation, keeping U.S. Treasury yields low. This performance was slightly offset by the Fund’s short duration positioning during the second calendar quarter as well as its more neutral duration positioning during the third calendar quarter and in October and November 2015, which contributed positively as interest rates rose. During December 2015, the Fund’s long duration position relative to the Barclays Index also helped performance.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
As market conditions warranted during the Reporting Period, currency transactions were carried out using primarily over-the-counter (“OTC”) forward foreign exchange contracts. Currency transactions were used as we sought both to enhance returns and to hedge the Fund’s portfolio against currency exchange rate fluctuations. OTC forward foreign exchange contracts had a positive impact on Fund performance during the Reporting Period. In addition, Treasury futures were employed as warranted to facilitate specific duration, yield curve and country strategies. During the Reporting Period, Treasury futures had a positive impact on Fund performance. Interest rate swaps were also used to manage exposure to fluctuations in interest rates, which had a positive impact on Fund performance during the Reporting Period. Overall, we employ derivatives and similar instruments for the efficient management of the Fund’s portfolio. Derivatives and similar instruments allow us to manage interest rate, credit and currency risks
6
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
more effectively by allowing us both to hedge and to apply active investment views with greater versatility and to afford greater risk management precision than we would otherwise be able to implement.
Were there any notable changes in the Fund’s weightings during the Reporting Period?
During the summer of 2015, we transitioned the Fund’s short duration position relative to the Barclays Index to a neutral position. We shifted the Fund to a tactical long duration position in December 2015 ahead of the Fed’s policy meeting, as expectations for a rate hike were already reflected in interest rates. Throughout the Reporting Period, we maintained the Fund’s overweight compared to the Barclays Index in corporate credit, with a bias toward lower-rated securities, amid what we considered to be favorable valuations and fundamentals. We maintained the Fund’s exposure to agency multi-family mortgage-backed securities and its underweight in mortgage pass-through securities. (Pass-through mortgages consist of a pool of residential mortgage loans, where homeowners’ monthly payments of principal, interest and prepayments pass from the original bank through a government agency or investment bank to investors.) Given strong fundamentals in the U.S. housing market and our positive outlook for the U.S. economy, we maintained the Fund’s overweight in non-agency mortgage-backed securities throughout the Reporting Period. In addition, we maintained a small overweight in emerging markets debt, because we believed global market volatility and lower oil prices had created attractive opportunities.
Were there any changes to the Fund’s portfolio management team during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, David Bowen, the head of the Fund’s currency strategy, left the firm. By design, all investment decisions for the Fund are performed within a co-lead or team structure, with multiple subject matter experts. This strategic decision making has been the cornerstone of our approach and ensures continuity in the Fund. Sam Finkelstein, who is head of the macro strategies team, became head of the Fund’s currency strategy.
How was the Fund positioned relative to the Barclays Index at the end of the Reporting Period?
At the end of the Reporting Period, the Fund was underweight U.S. government securities compared to the Barclays Index on a market-value weighted basis. It was overweight agency mortgage-backed securities, within which it held a small overweight in agency multi-family securities. In addition, the Fund was overweight investment grade corporate bonds, asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities. It was marginally overweight agency commercial mortgage obligations, non-agency mortgage-backed securities, mortgage pass-through securities and emerging markets debt. The Fund was neutral relative to the Barclays Index in quasi-government bonds and covered bonds at the end of the Reporting Period. (Covered bonds are securities created from either mortgage loans or public sector loans.) The Fund had a small allocation to high yield corporate bonds, which are not represented in the Barclays Index, at the end of the Reporting Period.
7
FUND BASICS
Core Fixed Income Fund
As of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | ||||||||||
Institutional | 0.60 | % | N/A | 1.50 | % | 4/30/13 | ||||||||
Service | 0.27 | 3.58 | % | 4.07 | 1/09/06 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.42 | % | 0.63 | % | ||||
Service | 0.67 | 0.89 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectus for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
8
FUND BASICS
FUND COMPOSITION3
3 | The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. Figures in the graph may not sum to 100% due to the exclusion of other assets and liabilities. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
4 | “Federal Agencies” are mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (“FHLMC”). GNMA instruments are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. |
5 | “Agency Debentures” include agency securities offered by companies such as FNMA and FHLMC, which operate under a government charter. While they are required to report to a government regulator, their assets are not explicitly guaranteed by the government and they otherwise operate like any other publicly traded company. |
9
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on January 9, 2006 (commencement of operations) in the Service Class Shares. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses, but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Institutional Shares will vary from Service Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry/country investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Core Fixed Income Fund’s Lifetime Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 9, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Since Inception | |||
Institutional (Commenced April 30, 2013) | 0.60% | N/A | 1.50% | |||
Service (Commenced January 9, 2006) | 0.27% | 3.58% | 4.07% |
10
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks to achieve investment results that correspond to the aggregate price and yield performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment returns of large capitalization stocks.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (“SSgA”), the Fund’s Subadvisor, discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Equity Index Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Service Shares generated an average annual total return of 0.94%. This return compares to the 1.38% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500® Index (with dividends reinvested) (the “S&P 500® Index”), during the same time period.
During the Reporting Period, which sectors and which industries in the S&P 500® Index were the strongest contributors to the Fund’s performance?
Five of the 10 sectors in the S&P 500® Index advanced during the Reporting Period. In terms of total return, the sectors that made the strongest positive contributions to the S&P 500® Index and to the Fund were consumer discretionary, health care and consumer staples. The largest sector by weighting in the S&P 500® Index at the end of the Reporting Period was information technology at a weighting of 20.69%. The industries with the strongest performance in terms of total return were movies and entertainment; Internet retail; construction materials; recreational products; and Internet software and services.
On the basis of impact (which takes both total returns and weightings into account), the sectors that made the strongest positive contributions to the S&P 500® Index and to the Fund were consumer discretionary, information technology and health care. The industries with the strongest performance on the basis of impact were Internet software and services; Internet retail; packaged software; tobacco; and restaurants.
Which sectors and industries in the S&P 500® Index were the weakest contributors to the Fund’s performance?
In terms of total return, during the Reporting Period, the weakest performing sectors were energy, materials and utilities. The weakest performing industries in terms of total return were coal; other consumer specialties; oil and gas pipelines; casinos and gaming; and precious metals.
On the basis of impact, the weakest performing sectors were energy, financials and materials. The weakest performing industries on the basis of impact were oil and gas production; integrated oil; oil and gas pipelines; railroads; and telecommunications equipment.
Which individual stocks were the top performers, and which were the greatest detractors?
On the basis of impact, the stocks that made the strongest positive contribution were Amazon.com, Microsoft, General Electric, Alphabet Class A and Alphabet Class C. The weakest performers were Kinder Morgan, Exxon Mobil, QUALCOMM, Wal-Mart Stores and Berkshire Hathaway.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund did not use derivatives as part of an active management strategy to add value to the Fund’s results. However, equity index futures were used to equitize the Fund’s cash holdings. In other words, we put the Fund’s cash holdings to work by using them as collateral for the purchase of equity index futures. We also used these equity index futures to provide liquidity for daily cash flow requirements. Equity index futures had a neutral impact on the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period.
Were there any changes to the Fund’s portfolio management team during the Reporting Period?
There were no changes to the Fund’s portfolio management team during the Reporting Period.
11
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
What changes were made to the makeup of the S&P 500® Index during the Reporting Period?
Twenty-six stocks were removed from the S&P 500® Index during the Reporting Period. They were Altera, Comcast Class A Special, Computer Sciences, Sigma-Aldrich, Genworth Financial, Four Corners Property Trust, Hudson City Bancorp, Joy Global, Hospira, Pall, DIRECTV, Noble, Family Dollar Stores, Allegheny Technologies, Integrys Energy Group, QEP Resources, Lorillard, Windstream Holdings, Allergan, Avon Products, Denbury Resources, Nabors Industries, CareFusion, PetSmart, Covidien and Safeway.
There were 28 stocks added to the S&P 500® Index during the Reporting Period. They were Church & Dwight, CSRA, Illumina, Synchrony Financial, Four Corners Property Trust, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Verisk Analytics, Comcast Class A Common, News Class B, Twenty-First Century Fox Class B, United Continental Holding, Activision Blizzard, Signet Jewelers, PayPal Holdings, Advance Auto Parts, Columbia Pipeline Group, Baxalta, Hunt J.B. Transport Services, Qorvo, Realty Income Corporation, American Airlines Group, Equinix, Hanesbrands, SL Green Realty, Henry Schein, Skyworks Solutions, Endo International and HCA Holdings.
The source of the data included in the above Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis with respect to the Goldman Sachs Equity Index Fund is FactSet as of 12/31/15.
Characteristics presented are calculated using the month end market value of holdings, except for beta and standard deviation, if shown, which use month end return values. Averages reflect the market weight of securities in the portfolio. Market data, prices, and dividend estimates for characteristics calculations provided by FactSet Research Systems, Inc. All other portfolio data provided by SSGA. Characteristics are as of the date indicated, are subject to change, and should not be relied upon as current thereafter.
Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Index returns are unmanaged and do not reflect the deduction of any fees or expenses. Index returns reflect all items of income, gain and loss and the reinvestment of dividends and other income.
SSgA may have or may seek investment management or other business relationships with companies discussed in this material or affiliates of those companies, such as their officers, directors and pension plans.
The views expressed in this material are the views of SSGA’s Global Equity Beta Solutions Team through the period ended December 31, 2015 and are subject to change based on market and other conditions. All information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed. There is no representation or warranty as to the current accuracy, reliability or completeness of, nor liability for, decisions based on such information and it should not be relied on as such. This document contains certain statements that may be deemed forward-looking statements. Please note that any such statements are not guarantees of any future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected.
12
FUND BASICS
Equity Index Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | ||||||||||
Service | 0.94 | % | 12.11 | % | 6.67 | % | 1/09/06 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Service | 0.48 | % | 0.69 | % |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectus for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
TOP TEN HOLDINGS AS OF 12/31/153
Holding | % of Net Assets | Line of Business | ||||
Apple, Inc. | 3.3% | Technology Hardware & Equipment | ||||
Microsoft Corp. | 2.5 | Software & Services | ||||
Exxon Mobil Corp. | 1.8 | Energy | ||||
General Electric Co. | 1.6 | Capital Goods | ||||
Johnson & Johnson | 1.6 | Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences | ||||
Amazon.com, Inc. | 1.4 | Retailing | ||||
Wells Fargo & Co. | 1.4 | Banks | ||||
Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. Class B | 1.4 | Diversified Financials | ||||
JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 1.3 | Banks | ||||
Facebook, Inc. Class A | 1.3 | Software & Services |
3 | The top 10 holdings may not be representative of the Fund’s future investments. |
13
FUND BASICS
FUND VS. BENCHMARK SECTOR ALLOCATIONS4
As of December 31, 2015
4 | The Fund is actively managed and, as such, its composition may differ over time. Consequently, the Fund’s overall sector allocations may differ from percentages contained in the graph above. The graph categorizes investments using Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”), however, the sector classifications used by the portfolio management team may differ from GICS. The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of market value. Underlying sector allocations of Exchange Traded Funds and Investment Companies held by the Fund are not reflected in the graph above. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
14
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made in the Fund on January 9, 2006 (commencement of operations). For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the S&P 500 Index (with distributions reinvested), is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses, but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Equity Index Fund’s Lifetime Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 9, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Since Inception | |||
Equity Index Fund (Commenced January 9, 2006) | 0.94% | 12.11% | 6.67% |
15
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Growth Investment Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Growth Opportunities Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of -5.20% and -5.20%, respectively. These returns compare to the -0.20% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell Midcap® Growth Index (with dividends reinvested) (the “Russell Index”), during the same time period.
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
The Fund underperformed the Russell Index during the Reporting Period as a result of stock selection.
Which equity market sectors helped and hurt Fund performance?
Our bottom-up approach focuses on security selection, and as a result, we do not make active sector-level investment decisions. That said, on a sector level, stock selection in the consumer staples, health care and industrials sectors detracted from the Fund’s relative returns. Investments in the information technology, financials and energy sectors added to the Fund’s results.
Which individual stocks detracted from the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
Leading detractors from the Fund’s relative performance were Kate Spade, an apparel and accessories designer; PVH, a clothing company; and Kansas City Southern, a transportation holding company.
Kate Spade reported first and second quarter 2015 earnings that were disappointing overall. Although revenues topped expectations in the first calendar quarter, sales growth was modest. Toward the end of the Reporting Period, the company released encouraging third calendar quarter earnings results, indicating it had significantly beat expectations for comparable store sales growth. Despite the company’s weakness during the Reporting Period, we believe its strong underlying fundamentals remain intact and the catalysts for growth are unchanged. In our view, wholesale expansion, merchandising initiatives and Kate Spade’s strategic partnership with Exclusive Brands could potentially fuel revenue growth and support the company’s attractive valuation. The Fund maintained a position in the stock at the end of the Reporting Period.
Shares of PVH experienced ongoing pressure during the Reporting Period, driven by weak data that are suggestive of weakness in the U.S. retail environment. In our view, investors have overreacted and these concerns are transitory. We believe PVH is a leading franchise with dominant market share and strong fundamentals. In particular, its established brand names Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein have demonstrated international strength and have been a key source of growth. PVH continues to be resilient, we believe, in spite of macroeconomic and sector challenges. At the end of the Reporting Period, we remained positive on the company’s long-term profile, the quality of its management and the stock’s return potential, and thus the Fund continued to hold the stock.
Kansas City Southern reported third quarter 2015 earnings that were largely in line with consensus estimates, but its shares declined after the company lowered its outlook for automobile carload volumes. Like other railroad operators, Kansas City Southern faced currency hurdles, along with a number of other challenges related to industry-wide carload volume growth resulting from weak macroeconomic activity. Despite these headwinds, which we consider transitory, Kansas City Southern maintained high organic growth relative to its peers. We think the company has significant opportunities for improvement in terms of its service quality, cost efficiency and operations that potentially allow for meaningful margin expansion. At the end of the Reporting Period, we maintained conviction in Kansas City Southern’s strong volume growth drivers, specifically those related to Mexico’s new automobile plants, and the above average pricing in the company’s near-term contract negotiations. In our view, Kansas City Southern remains a high quality growth business with a favorable market structure, high barriers to entry and improving fundamental trends heading into 2016. At the end of the Reporting Period, we maintained the Fund’s investment in the stock.
16
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FUND
Which individual stocks added to the Fund’s relative performance during the Reporting Period?
The Fund benefited most relative to the Russell Index from its positions in Equinix, a leading data center solutions company; Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrances, a beauty products retailer; and Netflix, a television show and movie Internet subscription service.
Equinix reported strong first, second and third quarter 2015 earnings and raised guidance across key metrics three times during the Reporting Period. (Metrics are data that are used to assess the state of a company.) Most notably, the company’s revenue and earnings grew significantly on a year over year basis. Operating leverage also returned to the business after a period of systems investment and international expansion. At the end of the Reporting Period, we continued to have a favorable outlook for Equinix, as its pricing has been a net positive in the low churn rate environment. (Churn rate is the percentage of subscribers that discontinue their subscription in a given time period.) Going forward, we believe Equinix can benefit further from its steady recurring revenue business model, the stable demand environment and the integration of recent acquisitions that could, in our view, unlock significant synergies. The Fund continued to hold Equinix at the end of the Reporting Period.
Shares of Ulta Salon, Cosmetic & Fragrance benefited from the company’s strong quarterly results throughout the Reporting Period. In December 2015, the company reported third quarter 2015 earnings with better than expected top- and bottom-line results. Accelerated traffic growth drove healthy comparable sales across the company’s stores, salons and e-commerce offerings, while increased marketing efforts appeared to be having an impact. We believe that Ulta Salon, Cosmetic & Fragrance is well positioned for future growth, as it plans on doubling its store count in the next few years, is testing a new small store format and is rapidly growing its e-commerce presence. In our opinion, these investments could have a near-term impact on margins. At the end of the Reporting Period, the Fund continued to hold the stock, as we believe it continued to trade at an attractive valuation with the company likely to benefit, in our view, from significant brand recognition and positive growth momentum.
Netflix reported first quarter 2015 earnings that exceeded market expectations in terms of earnings per share and key subscription metrics. The company’s second and third calendar quarter earnings were largely in line with market expectations and were received favorably by the market. New user additions thrived, seemingly due to improving content availability and increasing success of Netflix original series offerings. In our view, sentiment around subscriber growth and pricing showed signs of improvement and reflected Netflix’s ability to execute and deliver unique, high quality content. At the end of the Reporting Period, we continued to have conviction in the strength of Netflix’s franchise and believed the company’s international expansion initiatives and secular tailwinds could be key drivers of future growth. Given the exceptional move in the stock during the Reporting Period, however, we took profits and exited the Fund’s position as it grew beyond our market cap threshold for mid-cap companies.
Did the Fund make any significant purchases or sales during the Reporting Period?
Among the purchases initiated during the Reporting Period, we established a Fund position in Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks, Turbo Tax and Quicken. We believe Intuit should see stable pricing and demand for its core business in the long term. Furthermore, the company should be able to launch scalable new products that, in our view, can increase revenue with similar profit margins. We also believe the company is well positioned to successfully make the transition from desktop and licensing to online subscriptions.
We added a Fund position in Tractor Supply Company, a retail chain offering products for agriculture and home improvement. We took advantage of softness in the company’s stock price, which appeared to be the result of a weaker than expected outlook and inclement weather during winter 2015, to purchase what we consider to be a high quality, well organized franchise with strong fundamentals, market share and organic growth. In our opinion, investors will continue to have a positive view of Tractor Supply Company if it improves operating margins and launches new initiatives such as a loyalty program, as anticipated. We also expect the retailer to benefit from the favorable macroeconomic backdrop in the home-related goods industry.
Among notable sales during the Reporting Period was the Fund’s position in pharmaceutical company Mylan. Although we continue to believe Mylan is a fundamentally strong company that possesses its own value-creation strategies, our conviction in the name was tested during the Reporting Period because of the lack of both near-term upside and growth visibility. Accordingly, we exited Fund’s position in favor of other ideas with what we viewed as more attractive risk/reward profiles.
We exited the Fund’s position in CBRE Group, a provider of commercial real estate investment management services. The stock performed well after a positive third quarter 2015 earnings release, and we decided to liquidate the Fund’s position on that strength and reallocate the proceeds to higher conviction ideas.
Were there any notable changes in the Fund’s weightings during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we shifted the Fund from an overweight position relative to the Russell Index in the financials sector to an underweight position. We moved the Fund from a neutral position in health care to an overweight position. In addition, we
17
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FUND
increased the Fund’s overweight in the telecommunication services sector. We shifted the Fund from neutral positions compared to the Russell Index in the materials and consumer discretionary sectors to underweight positions. Also during the Reporting Period, the Fund moved from an overweight in consumer staples and an underweight in information technology to neutral positions in both sectors relative to the Russell Index.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
The Fund did not use derivatives or similar instruments within its investment process during the Reporting Period.
Were there any changes to the Fund’s portfolio management team during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, Craig Glassner, a co-lead portfolio manager, left the firm. By design, all investment decisions for the Fund are performed within a co-lead or team structure, with multiple subject matter experts. This strategic decision making has been the cornerstone of our approach and ensures continuity in the Fund. Steve Barry and Ashley Woodruff remained co-lead portfolio managers for the Fund at the end of the Reporting Period.
How was the Fund positioned relative to the Russell Index at the end of the Reporting Period?
As mentioned, the Fund’s sector positioning relative to the Russell Index is the result of our stock selection, as we take a pure bottom-up, research-intensive approach to investing. From that perspective, then, at the end of the Reporting Period, the Fund’s portfolio was broadly diversified with overweight positions compared to the Russell Index in the health care and telecommunication services sectors. The Fund had smaller weightings than the Russell Index in the financials, materials and industrials sectors at the end of the Reporting Period. It was relatively neutral compared to the Russell Index at the end of the Reporting Period in the consumer staples, utilities, energy, consumer discretionary and information technology sectors.
18
FUND BASICS
Growth Opportunities Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | ||||||||||
Institutional | -5.20 | % | N/A | 9.14 | % | 4/30/13 | ||||||||
Service | -5.20 | 9.81 | % | 8.16 | 1/09/06 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.90 | % | 1.14 | % | ||||
Service | 1.06 | 1.38 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectus for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
TOP TEN HOLDINGS AS OF 12/31/153
Holding | % of Net Assets | Line of Business | ||||
Equinix, Inc. | 2.8% | Real Estate | ||||
Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc. | 2.4 | Retailing | ||||
Panera Bread Co. Class A | 2.4 | Consumer Services | ||||
Intuit, Inc. | 2.3 | Software & Services | ||||
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. | 2.3 | Diversified Financials | ||||
McCormick & Co., Inc. | 2.3 | Food, Beverage & Tobacco | ||||
Tractor Supply Co. | 2.2 | Retailing | ||||
LinkedIn Corp. Class A | 2.2 | Software & Services | ||||
SBA Communications Corp. Class A | 2.2 | Telecommunication Services | ||||
Amphenol Corp. Class A | 2.1 | Technology Hardware & Equipment |
3 | The top 10 holdings may not be representative of the Fund’s future investments. |
19
FUND BASICS
FUND vs. BENCHMARK SECTOR ALLOCATIONS4
As of December 31, 2015
4 | The Fund is actively managed and, as such, its composition may differ over time. Consequently, the Fund’s overall sector allocations may differ from percentages contained in the graph above. The graph categorizes investments using Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”), however, the sector classifications used by the portfolio management team may differ from GICS. The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of market value. Underlying sector allocations of Exchange Traded Funds and Investment Companies held by the Fund are not reflected in the graph above. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
20
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on January 9, 2006 (commencement of operations) in the Service Class Shares. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell Midcap Growth Index (with distributions reinvested), is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses, but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Institutional Shares will vary from Service Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Growth Opportunities Fund’s Lifetime Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 9, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Since Inception | |||
Institutional (Commenced April 30, 2013) | -5.20% | N/A | 9.14% | |||
Service (Commenced January 9, 2006) | -5.20% | 9.81% | 8.16% |
21
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST HIGH QUALITY FLOATING RATE FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks to provide a high level of current income, consistent with low volatility of principal.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Fixed Income Portfolio Management Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs High Quality Floating Rate Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Advisor, Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of -0.57%, -0.16% and -0.42%, respectively. These returns compare to the 0.05% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Three-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index (the “BofA Index”), during the Reporting Period.
We note that the Fund’s benchmark being the BofA Index is a means of emphasizing that the Fund has an unconstrained strategy. That said, this Fund employs a benchmark agnostic strategy and thus comparisons to a benchmark index are not particularly relevant.
What key factors had the greatest impact on the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s tactical duration and U.S. yield curve positioning detracted from results. Duration is a measure of the Fund’s sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Yield curve indicates a spectrum of maturities. Additionally, our top-down cross-sector strategy hurt relative returns. In our cross-sector strategy, we invest Fund assets based on a discipline of valuing each fixed income sector in the context of all investment opportunities within the Fund’s universe.
On the positive side, our individual issue selection added to the Fund’s relative performance.
Which fixed income market sectors helped or hurt Fund performance during the Reporting Period?
Within our cross-sector strategy, the Fund’s overweight in mortgage-backed securities hurt relative performance. An overweight to corporate credit also detracted from returns during the Reporting Period.
The Fund benefited from individual issue selection overall, especially within the mortgage-backed securities and corporate credit sectors. This was slightly offset by individual issue selection among asset-backed securities (“ABS”), which dampened results.
Did the Fund’s duration and yield curve positioning strategy help or hurt its results during the Reporting Period?
Tactical management of the Fund’s duration and yield curve positioning detracted overall from relative returns during the Reporting Period. In particular, the Fund’s underweight position relative to the BofA Index in the three-month and five-year segments of the U.S. Treasury yield curve hurt performance, as yields fell early in the Reporting Period.
Were there any notable changes in the Fund’s weightings during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we reduced the Fund’s short duration position relative to the BofA Index but maintained a slightly short position because we believed interest rates could increase as the U.S. economy strengthened. In addition, we decreased the Fund’s exposure to residential mortgage-backed securities and ABS. We increased its exposure to government securities, but maintained an underweight position relative to the BofA Index. We also increased the Fund’s exposure to cash during the Reporting Period.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
As market conditions warranted, the Fund used U.S. Treasury futures and Eurodollar futures to manage the duration and term structure of the Fund. (Term structure, most often depicted as a yield curve, refers to the term structure of interest rates, which is the relationship between the yield to maturity and the time to maturity for pure discount bonds. Eurodollar futures are contracts that are linked to time deposits denominated in U.S. dollars at banks outside the U.S.) Treasury futures and Eurodollar futures contributed positively to Fund performance during the Reporting Period.
22
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST HIGH QUALITY FLOATING RATE FUND
Were there any changes to the Fund’s portfolio management team during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, Robert Leggett, a co-portfolio manager of the Fund and co-head of the Fund’s global liquidity management strategy, left the firm. By design, all investment decisions for the Fund are performed within a co-lead or team structure, with multiple subject matter experts. Dave Fishman remains a portfolio manager of the Fund and head of the Fund’s global liquidity management strategy.
How was the Fund positioned relative to the BofA Index at the end of the Reporting Period?
At the end of the Reporting Period, the Fund had very little exposure to U.S. government securities, which represent 100% of the BofA Index. The Fund had positions in ABS, U.S. and non-U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities, agency adjustable-rate mortgage-backed securities, agency collateralized mortgage obligations, mortgage pass-through securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities, none of which are represented in the BofA Index. Pass-through mortgages consist of a pool of residential mortgage loans, where homeowners’ monthly payments of principal, interest and prepayments pass from the original bank through a government agency or investment bank to investors.
Changes to the Fund’s Portfolio Management Team after the Reporting Period
After the close of the Reporting Period, on February 11, 2016, Fund co-portfolio manager James McCarthy announced his intention to retire from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”). As such, effective that date, Mr. McCarthy no longer had portfolio management responsibilities for the Fund. Effective February 11, 2016, joining Dave Fishman, Fund portfolio manager and head of the Fund’s global liquidity management strategy, are John Olivo, head of the Fund’s short duration strategy, and Matthew Kaiser. As always, the Fixed Income Portfolio Management Team is organized into a series of specialist teams which focus on generating and implementing investment ideas within their area of expertise. Both top-down and bottom-up decisions are made by these small strategy teams, rather than by one portfolio manager or committee. Ultimate accountability for the portfolio resides with the lead portfolio managers, who set the long-term risk budget and oversee the portfolio construction process.
23
FUND BASICS
High Quality Floating Rate Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | ||||||||||
Institutional | -0.16 | % | N/A | 0.19 | % | 4/30/13 | ||||||||
Service | -0.42 | 1.77 | % | 3.47 | 1/09/06 | |||||||||
Advisor | -0.57 | N/A | -0.54 | 10/15/14 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.39 | % | 0.69 | % | ||||
Service | 0.65 | 0.95 | ||||||
Advisor | 0.76 | 1.12 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectus for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
24
FUND BASICS
FUND COMPOSITION3
3 | The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. Figures in the above graph may not sum to 100% due to the exclusion of other assets and liabilities. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
4 | “Federal Agencies” are mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (“FHLMC”). GNMA instruments are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. |
25
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST HIGH QUALITY FLOATING RATE FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on January 9, 2006 (commencement of operations) in the Service Class Shares. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the BofA ML Three Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index, is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses, but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Institutional and Advisor Shares will vary from Service Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
High Quality Floating Rate Fund’s Lifetime Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 9, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Since Inception | |||||
Institutional (Commenced April 30, 2013) | -0.16% | N/A | 0.19% | |||||
Service (Commenced January 9, 2006) | -0.42% | 1.77% | 3.47% | |||||
Advisor (Commenced October 15, 2014) | -0.57% | N/A | -0.54% |
26
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Index Definitions
Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is a broad based index that follows the U.S. dollar denominated investment grade fixed rate taxable bond market. It includes U.S. Treasuries, agency and corporate securities, mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities and commercial mortgage-backed securities.
The S&P 500® Index is a U.S. stock market index based on the market capitalizations of 500 large companies having common stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ. The S&P 500® Index components and their weightings are determined by S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of the mid-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Russell Midcap® Index is a subset of the Russell 1000® Index. The Russell Midcap® Index includes approximately 800 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The Russell Midcap® Index represents approximately 31% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 1000® Index companies. The Russell Midcap® Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive and unbiased barometer for the mid-cap segment. The Russell Midcap® Index is completely reconstituted annually to ensure larger stocks do not distort the performance and characteristics of the true mid-cap opportunity set.
Russell Midcap® Growth Index is an unmanaged index that measures the performance of those companies in the Russell Midcap® Index with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. Its figures do not reflect any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes.
Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the large-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Russell 1000® Index is a subset of the Russell 3000® Index and includes approximately 1000 of the largest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The Russell 1000® Index represents approximately 92% of the U.S. market. The Russell 1000® Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive and unbiased barometer for the large-cap segment and is completely reconstituted annually to ensure new and growing equities are reflected.
Russell 2000® Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Russell 2000® Index is a subset of the Russell 3000® Index representing approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of that index. The Russell 2000® Index includes approximately 2000 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The Russell 2000® Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive and unbiased small-cap barometer and is completely reconstituted annually to ensure larger stocks do not distort the performance and characteristics of the true small-cap opportunity set.
BofA Merrill Lynch Three-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index is an unmanaged market index of U.S. Treasury securities maturing in 90 days that assumes reinvestment of all income. It is composed of a single issue purchased at the beginning of the month and held for a full month. At the end of the month that issue is sold and rolled into a newly selected issue. The issue selected at each month-end rebalancing is the outstanding U.S. Treasury Bill that matures closest to, but not beyond, three months from the rebalancing date. To qualify for selection, an issue must have settled on or before the month-end rebalancing date. While the index will often hold the U.S. Treasury Bill issued at the most recent three-month auction, it is also possible for a seasoned six-month U.S. Treasury Bill to be selected.
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – 34.8% | ||||||||||||||
| Automobiles & Components – 0.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| Ford Motor Credit Co. LLC |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 475,000 | 5.875 | % | 08/02/21 | $ | 530,484 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Banks – 10.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| American Express Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 3.625 | 12/05/24 | 74,149 | |||||||||||
250,000 | 6.800 | (a) | 09/01/66 | 251,250 | ||||||||||
| Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA |
| ||||||||||||
300,000 | 3.000 | 10/20/20 | 297,993 | |||||||||||
| Bank of America Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 5.700 | 01/24/22 | 112,939 | |||||||||||
225,000 | 4.125 | 01/22/24 | 232,309 | |||||||||||
275,000 | 4.000 | 04/01/24 | 281,286 | |||||||||||
| Barclays Bank PLC |
| ||||||||||||
275,000 | 2.500 | 02/20/19 | 277,062 | |||||||||||
| BNP Paribas SA |
| ||||||||||||
275,000 | 2.375 | 05/21/20 | 272,214 | |||||||||||
| CBA Capital Trust II(a)(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
375,000 | 6.024 | 03/29/49 | 375,938 | |||||||||||
| Compass Bank(b) |
| ||||||||||||
375,000 | 2.750 | 09/29/19 | 369,072 | |||||||||||
| Credit Suisse Group Funding Guernsey Ltd.(c) |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 3.125 | 12/10/20 | 399,168 | |||||||||||
| Credit Suisse New York |
| ||||||||||||
325,000 | 2.300 | 05/28/19 | 324,991 | |||||||||||
| Discover Financial Services(b) |
| ||||||||||||
225,000 | 3.750 | 03/04/25 | 216,091 | |||||||||||
| ING Bank NV(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
325,000 | 4.125 | 11/21/23 | 331,016 | |||||||||||
| Intesa Sanpaolo SpA |
| ||||||||||||
350,000 | 2.375 | 01/13/17 | 350,863 | |||||||||||
350,000 | 3.875 | 01/16/18 | 359,698 | |||||||||||
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
| ||||||||||||
450,000 | 4.400 | 07/22/20 | 479,204 | |||||||||||
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. Series Z(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 5.300 | 12/29/49 | 249,063 | |||||||||||
| KBC Bank NV(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 8.000 | 01/25/23 | 218,000 | |||||||||||
| KeyCorp |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 2.900 | 09/15/20 | 397,368 | |||||||||||
| LBG Capital No.1 PLC(a)(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 8.000 | 12/29/49 | 130,000 | |||||||||||
| Lloyds Bank PLC |
| ||||||||||||
175,000 | 2.300 | 11/27/18 | 175,614 | |||||||||||
| Macquarie Bank Ltd.(c) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 6.625 | 04/07/21 | 224,056 | |||||||||||
| Mizuho Bank Ltd.(c) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 2.550 | 03/17/17 | 201,713 | |||||||||||
| Morgan Stanley |
| ||||||||||||
800,000 | 3.700 | 10/23/24 | 803,219 | |||||||||||
| Morgan Stanley Series F |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 3.875 | 04/29/24 | 101,775 | |||||||||||
| PNC Preferred Funding Trust II(a)(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 1.735 | 03/29/49 | 179,000 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Banks – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Regions Bank |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 250,000 | 7.500 | % | 05/15/18 | $ | 277,845 | ||||||||
| Resona Bank Ltd.(a)(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
650,000 | 5.850 | 09/29/49 | 654,875 | |||||||||||
| Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 5.125 | 05/28/24 | 403,516 | |||||||||||
| Royal Bank of Scotland PLC(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 9.500 | 03/16/22 | 106,201 | |||||||||||
| Santander Bank NA(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 2.000 | 01/12/18 | 247,909 | |||||||||||
| Santander Holdings USA, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
165,000 | 4.625 | 04/19/16 | 166,448 | |||||||||||
| Santander Issuances SAU |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 5.179 | 11/19/25 | 196,252 | |||||||||||
| Santander UK Group Holdings PLC(c) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 4.750 | 09/15/25 | 197,361 | |||||||||||
| Santander UK PLC(c) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 5.000 | 11/07/23 | 260,238 | |||||||||||
| Synchrony Financial(b) |
| ||||||||||||
350,000 | 2.600 | 01/15/19 | 349,537 | |||||||||||
| The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd.(c) |
| ||||||||||||
300,000 | 2.150 | 09/14/18 | 299,141 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
10,844,374 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Consumer Services – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Marriott International, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 2.875 | 03/01/21 | 123,956 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Diversified Financials – 0.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| GE Capital Trust I(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 6.375 | 11/15/67 | 156,750 | |||||||||||
| General Motors Financial Co., Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 3.250 | 05/15/18 | 125,626 | |||||||||||
175,000 | 3.500 | 07/10/19 | 175,586 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
457,962 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Diversified Manufacturing – 0.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| Roper Technologies, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 3.000 | 12/15/20 | 124,709 | |||||||||||
| Xylem, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 3.550 | 09/20/16 | 253,412 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
378,121 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Electric – 0.9% |
| ||||||||||||
| Florida Power & Light Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
193,000 | 4.125 | 02/01/42 | 192,229 | |||||||||||
| Pacific Gas & Electric Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 3.500 | 06/15/25 | 101,533 | |||||||||||
| Progress Energy, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
350,000 | 7.000 | 10/30/31 | 431,578 | |||||||||||
| Puget Sound Energy, Inc. Series A(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 6.974 | 06/01/67 | 81,250 | |||||||||||
| Southern California Edison Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
175,000 | 4.050 | 03/15/42 | 167,621 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
974,211 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
28 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Energy – 1.7% |
| ||||||||||||
| Anadarko Petroleum Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 160,000 | 3.450 | %(b) | 07/15/24 | $ | 141,134 | ||||||||
100,000 | 6.450 | 09/15/36 | 95,383 | |||||||||||
| Apache Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 4.250 | 01/15/44 | 121,160 | |||||||||||
| Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 3.450 | 11/15/21 | 115,538 | |||||||||||
| ConocoPhillips Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
175,000 | 3.350 | 11/15/24 | 160,699 | |||||||||||
100,000 | 4.150 | 11/15/34 | 85,103 | |||||||||||
| Devon Energy Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 4.000 | 07/15/21 | 23,116 | |||||||||||
75,000 | 5.600 | 07/15/41 | 58,755 | |||||||||||
80,000 | 4.750 | 05/15/42 | 59,078 | |||||||||||
| Dolphin Energy Ltd.(c) |
| ||||||||||||
57,264 | 5.888 | 06/15/19 | 60,328 | |||||||||||
| Energy Transfer Partners LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 4.750 | 01/15/26 | 63,590 | |||||||||||
| Halliburton Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 3.375 | 11/15/22 | 123,027 | |||||||||||
150,000 | 3.800 | 11/15/25 | 146,661 | |||||||||||
| Kinder Morgan, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
175,000 | 3.050 | 12/01/19 | 161,229 | |||||||||||
| Marathon Oil Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 2.700 | 06/01/20 | 66,185 | |||||||||||
| Pioneer Natural Resources Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 3.450 | 01/15/21 | 115,433 | |||||||||||
| Valero Energy Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 3.650 | 03/15/25 | 141,273 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
1,737,692 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Food & Beverage(c) – 0.9% |
| ||||||||||||
| Kraft Heinz Foods Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 2.800 | 07/02/20 | 99,672 | |||||||||||
175,000 | 3.950 | 07/15/25 | 176,595 | |||||||||||
| Pernod-Ricard SA |
| ||||||||||||
375,000 | 4.450 | 01/15/22 | 388,756 | |||||||||||
| Suntory Holdings Ltd. |
| ||||||||||||
275,000 | 2.550 | 09/29/19 | 273,533 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
938,556 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing(b) – 0.7% |
| ||||||||||||
| CVS Health Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 2.800 | 07/20/20 | 125,573 | |||||||||||
125,000 | 4.125 | 05/15/21 | 132,237 | |||||||||||
225,000 | 3.500 | 07/20/22 | 228,664 | |||||||||||
100,000 | 3.875 | 07/20/25 | 101,797 | |||||||||||
| Whole Foods Market, Inc.(c) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 5.200 | 12/03/25 | 100,183 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
688,454 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – 1.0% |
| ||||||||||||
| Becton Dickinson and Co. |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 2.675 | 12/15/19 | 200,555 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Cigna Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 150,000 | 3.250 | % | 04/15/25 | $ | 145,009 | ||||||||
| Medtronic, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 2.500 | 03/15/20 | 75,146 | |||||||||||
150,000 | 3.150 | 03/15/22 | 151,549 | |||||||||||
| Stryker Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 3.375 | 11/01/25 | 123,442 | |||||||||||
| UnitedHealth Group, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 4.625 | 07/15/35 | 103,995 | |||||||||||
200,000 | 4.750 | 07/15/45 | 210,143 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
1,009,839 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Healthcare – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| DENTSPLY International, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 2.750 | 08/15/16 | 125,922 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Insurance – 0.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America(c) |
| ||||||||||||
180,000 | 4.900 | 09/15/44 | 181,815 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Life Insurance – 1.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| AIA Group Ltd.(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
275,000 | 3.200 | 03/11/25 | 264,737 | |||||||||||
| American International Group, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
175,000 | 3.750 | 07/10/25 | 173,261 | |||||||||||
75,000 | 4.500 | 07/16/44 | 69,330 | |||||||||||
| Genworth Holdings, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 8.625 | 12/15/16 | 78,375 | |||||||||||
| Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co.(a)(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 5.200 | 10/20/45 | 256,875 | |||||||||||
| Prudential Financial, Inc.(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 5.375 | 05/15/45 | 74,625 | |||||||||||
| Reliance Standard Life Global Funding II(c) |
| ||||||||||||
225,000 | 2.500 | 01/15/20 | 222,877 | |||||||||||
| The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.(c) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 6.063 | 03/30/40 | 240,299 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
1,380,379 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Materials – 0.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| Ecolab, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 5.500 | 12/08/41 | 107,675 | |||||||||||
| Monsanto Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 4.400 | 07/15/44 | 166,743 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
274,418 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Media – 1.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| 21st Century Fox America, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 3.700 | 09/15/24 | 75,402 | |||||||||||
150,000 | 3.700 | (c) | 10/15/25 | 148,468 | ||||||||||
| CCO Safari II LLC (b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 3.579 | 07/23/20 | 24,845 | |||||||||||
200,000 | 4.908 | 07/23/25 | 199,441 | |||||||||||
| Comcast Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 3.375 | 08/15/25 | 404,152 | |||||||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 29 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Media – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| DIRECTV Holdings LLC |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 250,000 | 3.800 | % | 03/15/22 | $ | 252,947 | ||||||||
50,000 | 4.450 | (b) | 04/01/24 | 51,266 | ||||||||||
50,000 | 3.950 | (b) | 01/15/25 | 49,379 | ||||||||||
| Time Warner Cable, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 5.000 | 02/01/20 | 52,828 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 7.300 | 07/01/38 | 26,944 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 5.875 | (b) | 11/15/40 | 23,702 | ||||||||||
| Time Warner, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 3.875 | 01/15/26 | 98,836 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
1,408,210 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Metals and Mining – 0.8% |
| ||||||||||||
| Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 4.000 | 11/14/21 | 75,000 | |||||||||||
| Glencore Finance Canada Ltd.(c) |
| ||||||||||||
500,000 | 2.700 | 10/25/17 | 457,500 | |||||||||||
| Glencore Funding LLC (c) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 1.700 | 05/27/16 | 123,750 | |||||||||||
175,000 | 2.500 | 01/15/19 | 146,125 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
802,375 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Noncaptive-Financial – 0.8% |
| ||||||||||||
| Capital One Financial Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 4.200 | 10/29/25 | 246,924 | |||||||||||
| International Lease Finance Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
375,000 | 5.750 | 05/15/16 | 379,687 | |||||||||||
150,000 | 7.125 | (c) | 09/01/18 | 164,438 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
791,049 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – 2.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| AbbVie, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
275,000 | 2.500 | 05/14/20 | 271,396 | |||||||||||
| Actavis Funding SCS |
| ||||||||||||
225,000 | 2.350 | 03/12/18 | 225,263 | |||||||||||
50,000 | 3.450 | (b) | 03/15/22 | 50,092 | ||||||||||
185,000 | 3.800 | (b) | 03/15/25 | 183,409 | ||||||||||
125,000 | 4.850 | (b) | 06/15/44 | 123,664 | ||||||||||
| Bayer US Finance LLC(c) |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 3.000 | 10/08/21 | 403,377 | |||||||||||
| EMD Finance LLC(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
375,000 | 2.950 | 03/19/22 | 361,819 | |||||||||||
| Forest Laboratories, Inc.(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
325,000 | 4.375 | 02/01/19 | 340,462 | |||||||||||
100,000 | 5.000 | 12/15/21 | 108,660 | |||||||||||
| Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 3.650 | 12/15/25 | 99,785 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
2,167,927 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Pipelines – 1.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc.(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 3.300 | 06/01/20 | 97,994 | |||||||||||
| Enbridge, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 3.500 | 06/10/24 | 41,738 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Pipelines – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| EnLink Midstream Partners LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 175,000 | 4.150 | % | 06/01/25 | $ | 134,650 | ||||||||
| Enterprise Products Operating LLC(b) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 3.350 | 03/15/23 | 22,776 | |||||||||||
| Enterprise Products Operating LLC Series A(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
450,000 | 8.375 | 08/01/66 | 402,750 | |||||||||||
| Sunoco Logistics Partners Operations LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 4.250 | 04/01/24 | 43,258 | |||||||||||
| Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. LLC |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 8.375 | 06/15/32 | 48,548 | |||||||||||
| TransCanada Pipelines Ltd.(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 6.350 | 05/15/67 | 75,000 | |||||||||||
| Western Gas Partners LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 3.950 | 06/01/25 | 83,987 | |||||||||||
| Williams Partners LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 3.900 | 01/15/25 | 187,243 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
1,137,944 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Property/Casualty Insurance(b) – 0.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| ACE INA Holdings, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 2.875 | 11/03/22 | 49,596 | |||||||||||
50,000 | 3.350 | 05/03/26 | 49,801 | |||||||||||
| Allied World Assurance Co. Holdings Ltd. |
| ||||||||||||
175,000 | 4.350 | 10/29/25 | 171,621 | |||||||||||
| Chubb Corp.(a) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 6.375 | 04/15/37 | 118,750 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
389,768 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Real Estate Development – 0.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| MDC Holdings, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 5.500 | 01/15/24 | 152,774 | |||||||||||
125,000 | 6.000 | 01/15/43 | 98,877 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
251,651 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Real Estate Investment Trusts – 3.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| American Campus Communities Operating Partnership LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
275,000 | 4.125 | 07/01/24 | 274,012 | |||||||||||
| Brixmor Operating Partnership LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 3.850 | 02/01/25 | 72,891 | |||||||||||
| Camden Property Trust |
| ||||||||||||
325,000 | 5.700 | 05/15/17 | 339,343 | |||||||||||
| CubeSmart LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 4.000 | 11/15/25 | 123,728 | |||||||||||
| DDR Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
375,000 | 7.500 | 04/01/17 | 399,440 | |||||||||||
225,000 | 7.875 | 09/01/20 | 268,626 | |||||||||||
| HCP, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
275,000 | 6.000 | 01/30/17 | 287,051 | |||||||||||
125,000 | 2.625 | (b) | 02/01/20 | 122,735 | ||||||||||
| Healthcare Realty Trust, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
350,000 | 5.750 | 01/15/21 | 383,536 | |||||||||||
| Healthcare Trust of America Holdings LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 3.375 | 07/15/21 | 98,136 | |||||||||||
| National Retail Properties, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 4.000 | 11/15/25 | 123,228 | |||||||||||
|
|
30 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Real Estate Investment Trusts – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Select Income REIT(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 50,000 | 2.850 | % | 02/01/18 | $ | 49,905 | ||||||||
75,000 | 3.600 | 02/01/20 | 75,415 | |||||||||||
| Senior Housing Properties Trust(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 3.250 | 05/01/19 | 124,408 | |||||||||||
| Ventas Realty LP(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 3.500 | 02/01/25 | 119,396 | |||||||||||
| Welltower, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
375,000 | 2.250 | 03/15/18 | 374,398 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
3,236,248 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Software & Services(b) – 0.8% |
| ||||||||||||
| Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 3.625 | 10/15/20 | 252,961 | |||||||||||
| Fiserv, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 2.700 | 06/01/20 | 148,452 | |||||||||||
| Microsoft Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 3.125 | 11/03/25 | 201,144 | |||||||||||
| Visa, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 3.150 | 12/14/25 | 250,926 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
853,483 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Technology – 0.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| Amphenol Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 3.125 | 09/15/21 | 122,587 | |||||||||||
| Intel Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 3.700 | 07/29/25 | 206,938 | |||||||||||
| QUALCOMM, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 3.000 | 05/20/22 | 49,181 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
378,706 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 4.900 | 10/15/25 | 147,181 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Tobacco – 1.6% |
| ||||||||||||
| BAT International Finance PLC(c) |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 3.950 | 06/15/25 | 411,496 | |||||||||||
| Imperial Tobacco Finance PLC(c) |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 2.050 | 02/11/18 | 398,189 | |||||||||||
| Reynolds American, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
875,000 | 4.450 | 06/12/25 | 915,844 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
1,725,529 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Transportation(c) – 0.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| ERAC USA Finance LLC |
| ||||||||||||
350,000 | 2.350 | 10/15/19 | 345,002 | |||||||||||
| Penske Truck Leasing Co. LP / PTL Finance Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 3.375 | 02/01/22 | 194,198 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
539,200 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Wireless Telecommunications – 2.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| American Tower Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 4.700 | 03/15/22 | 130,628 | |||||||||||
| AT&T, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 3.400 | 05/15/25 | 143,521 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Wireless Telecommunications – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Verizon Communications, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 607,000 | 2.625 | % | 02/21/20 | $ | 608,755 | ||||||||
850,000 | 4.500 | 09/15/20 | 911,300 | |||||||||||
800,000 | 5.150 | 09/15/23 | 876,793 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
2,670,997 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Wirelines Telecommunications – 0.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| Telefonica Emisiones SAU |
| ||||||||||||
175,000 | 3.192 | 04/27/18 | 178,210 | |||||||||||
150,000 | 5.462 | 02/16/21 | 167,791 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
346,001 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL CORPORATE OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $36,829,932) | $ | 36,492,452 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – 36.8% | ||||||||||||||
| Adjustable Rate Non-Agency(a)(b) – 0.6% |
| ||||||||||||
| Countrywide Alternative Loan Trust Series 2005-38, Class A1 |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 169,437 | 1.757 | % | 09/25/35 | $ | 149,965 | ||||||||
| Lehman XS Trust Series 2005-7N, Class 1A1A |
| ||||||||||||
249,226 | 0.692 | 12/25/35 | 209,823 | |||||||||||
| Master Adjustable Rate Mortgages Trust Series 2006-OA2, | | ||||||||||||
308,650 | 1.107 | 12/25/46 | 228,594 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
588,382 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Collateralized Mortgage Obligations – 6.6% |
| ||||||||||||
| Agency Multi-Family – 5.0% |
| ||||||||||||
| FHLMC Multifamily Structured Pass-Through Certificates | | ||||||||||||
$ | 300,000 | 3.300 | % | 04/25/23 | $ | 311,994 | ||||||||
| FHLMC Multifamily Structured Pass-Through Certificates | | ||||||||||||
300,000 | 3.034 | 10/25/20 | 310,159 | |||||||||||
| FNMA |
| ||||||||||||
361,376 | 2.800 | 03/01/18 | 368,440 | |||||||||||
1,026,158 | 3.740 | 05/01/18 | 1,068,851 | |||||||||||
320,000 | 3.840 | 05/01/18 | 334,270 | |||||||||||
800,000 | 4.506 | 06/01/19 | 834,807 | |||||||||||
176,834 | 3.414 | 10/01/20 | 186,607 | |||||||||||
170,293 | 3.619 | 12/01/20 | 180,317 | |||||||||||
887,973 | 3.765 | 12/01/20 | 946,232 | |||||||||||
367,061 | 4.381 | 06/01/21 | 402,358 | |||||||||||
| FNMA ACES Series 2012-M8, Class A2 |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 2.349 | 05/25/22 | 98,742 | |||||||||||
| FNMA ACES Series 2012-M8, Class ASQ2 |
| ||||||||||||
75,018 | 1.520 | 12/25/19 | 75,051 | |||||||||||
| GNMA |
| ||||||||||||
124,797 | 3.950 | 07/15/25 | 133,938 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
5,251,766 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 31 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Regular Floater(a)(b) – 1.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| Aire Valley Mortgages PLC Series 2004-1X, Class 3A2 |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 326,812 | 0.287 | % | 09/20/66 | $ | 346,245 | ||||||||
| Aire Valley Mortgages PLC Series 2006-1A, Class 1A(c) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 68,524 | 0.790 | 09/20/66 | 65,480 | ||||||||||
| Aire Valley Mortgages PLC Series 2006-1X, Class 2A1 |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 184,475 | 0.167 | 09/20/66 | 194,551 | ||||||||||
| Connecticut Avenue Securities Series 2014-C03, Class 1M1 |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 36,836 | 1.622 | 07/25/24 | 36,644 | ||||||||||
| Connecticut Avenue Securities Series 2015-C01, Class 2M1 |
| ||||||||||||
7,203 | 1.922 | 02/25/25 | 7,200 | |||||||||||
| Eurosail PRIME-UK 2007-A PLC Series 2007-PR1X, Class A1 |
| ||||||||||||
GBP | 74,394 | 0.985 | 09/13/45 | 101,613 | ||||||||||
| Granite Master Issuer PLC Series 2003-3, Class 3A |
| ||||||||||||
8,434 | 0.962 | 01/20/44 | 12,432 | |||||||||||
| Leek Finance Number Eighteen PLC Series 18X, Class A2B |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 170,620 | 0.830 | 09/21/38 | 178,591 | ||||||||||
| Leek Finance Number Eighteen PLC Series 18X, Class A2C |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 42,655 | 0.127 | 09/21/38 | 48,590 | ||||||||||
| Leek Finance Number Seventeen PLC Series 17X, Class A2C |
| ||||||||||||
27,059 | 0.147 | 12/21/37 | 31,320 | |||||||||||
| Quadrivio Finance SRL Series 2011-1, Class A1 |
| ||||||||||||
105,376 | 0.447 | 07/25/60 | 113,939 | |||||||||||
| Thrones 2013-1 PLC Series 2013-1, Class A |
| ||||||||||||
GBP | 65,410 | 2.082 | 07/20/44 | 96,460 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
1,233,065 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Sequential Fixed Rate – 0.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| FNMA REMIC Series 2012-111, Class B |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 30,367 | 7.000 | 10/25/42 | 34,496 | ||||||||||
| FNMA REMIC Series 2012-153, Class B |
| ||||||||||||
77,358 | 7.000 | 07/25/42 | 89,761 | |||||||||||
| National Credit Union Administration Guaranteed Notes | | ||||||||||||
300,000 | 3.000 | 06/12/19 | 312,726 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
436,983 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL COLLATERALIZED MORTGAGE OBLIGATIONS | | $ | 6,921,814 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities – 2.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| Sequential Fixed Rate – 2.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| Banc of America Commercial Mortgage Trust Series 2007-4, | | ||||||||||||
$ | 314,098 | 5.774 | % | 02/10/51 | $ | 326,688 | ||||||||
| FREMF Mortgage Trust Series 2014-K40, Class C(b)(c)(d) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 4.072 | 11/25/47 | 88,459 | |||||||||||
| FREMF Mortgage Trust Series 2014-K41, Class B(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 3.831 | 11/25/47 | 90,529 | |||||||||||
| GS Mortgage Securities Trust Series 2007-GG10, Class A1A(d) |
| ||||||||||||
601,981 | 5.794 | 08/10/45 | 625,959 | |||||||||||
| GS Mortgage Securities Trust Series 2007-GG10, Class A4(d) |
| ||||||||||||
268,784 | 5.794 | 08/10/45 | 276,225 | |||||||||||
| JP Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust | | ||||||||||||
435,082 | 5.811 | 06/12/43 | 438,465 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Sequential Fixed Rate – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| JP Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust | | ||||||||||||
$ | 255,758 | 5.695 | % | 02/12/49 | $ | 266,813 | ||||||||
| Wachovia Bank Commercial Mortgage Trust Series 2007-C34, | | ||||||||||||
491,576 | 5.608 | 05/15/46 | 502,966 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES | | $ | 2,616,104 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Federal Agencies – 27.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Adjustable Rate FHLMC(a) – 0.5% |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 548,016 | 2.500 | % | 09/01/35 | $ | 581,543 | ||||||||
| Adjustable Rate FNMA(a) – 1.2% |
| ||||||||||||
287,693 | 2.104 | 05/01/33 | 298,902 | |||||||||||
512,729 | 2.458 | 05/01/35 | 544,007 | |||||||||||
380,255 | 2.721 | 09/01/35 | 403,548 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
1,246,457 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| FHLMC – 2.6% |
| ||||||||||||
62,370 | 5.500 | 02/01/18 | 64,688 | |||||||||||
6,317 | 5.500 | 04/01/18 | 6,545 | |||||||||||
2,642 | 4.500 | 09/01/18 | 2,736 | |||||||||||
8,315 | 5.500 | 09/01/18 | 8,684 | |||||||||||
229 | 9.500 | 08/01/19 | 230 | |||||||||||
26 | 9.500 | 08/01/20 | 28 | |||||||||||
47,796 | 6.500 | 10/01/20 | 54,604 | |||||||||||
10,226 | 4.500 | 07/01/24 | 10,938 | |||||||||||
56,261 | 4.500 | 11/01/24 | 60,301 | |||||||||||
11,833 | 4.500 | 12/01/24 | 12,672 | |||||||||||
10,969 | 6.000 | 03/01/29 | 12,319 | |||||||||||
163 | 6.000 | 04/01/29 | 183 | |||||||||||
15,179 | 7.500 | 12/01/29 | 18,404 | |||||||||||
135,533 | 7.000 | 05/01/32 | 158,110 | |||||||||||
204 | 6.000 | 08/01/32 | 233 | |||||||||||
82,871 | 7.000 | 12/01/32 | 96,765 | |||||||||||
5,098 | 5.000 | 10/01/33 | 5,591 | |||||||||||
7,371 | 5.000 | 07/01/35 | 8,081 | |||||||||||
9,877 | 5.000 | 12/01/35 | 10,941 | |||||||||||
81,179 | 5.500 | 01/01/37 | 89,666 | |||||||||||
2,492 | 5.000 | 03/01/38 | 2,721 | |||||||||||
146,429 | 7.000 | 02/01/39 | 169,603 | |||||||||||
5,225 | 5.000 | 06/01/41 | 5,727 | |||||||||||
1,865,012 | 3.500 | 04/01/43 | 1,922,638 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
2,722,408 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| FNMA – 9.1% |
| ||||||||||||
522 | 6.000 | 04/01/16 | 523 | |||||||||||
1,440 | 6.500 | 05/01/16 | 1,447 | |||||||||||
4,502 | 6.500 | 09/01/16 | 4,547 | |||||||||||
6,090 | 6.500 | 11/01/16 | 6,159 | |||||||||||
529 | 7.500 | 04/01/17 | 537 | |||||||||||
66,046 | 5.500 | 02/01/18 | 68,474 | |||||||||||
73,481 | 5.000 | 05/01/18 | 76,050 | |||||||||||
6,738 | 6.500 | 08/01/18 | 7,697 | |||||||||||
|
|
32 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| FNMA – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 44,290 | 7.000 | % | 08/01/18 | $ | 46,180 | ||||||||
1,161 | 5.000 | 06/01/23 | 1,229 | |||||||||||
39,514 | 5.000 | 08/01/23 | 43,461 | |||||||||||
113,941 | 5.500 | 09/01/23 | 123,804 | |||||||||||
31,489 | 5.500 | 10/01/23 | 34,353 | |||||||||||
2,050 | 6.000 | 12/01/23 | 2,313 | |||||||||||
8,080 | 4.500 | 07/01/24 | 8,652 | |||||||||||
137,393 | 4.500 | 11/01/24 | 147,192 | |||||||||||
56,769 | 4.500 | 12/01/24 | 60,852 | |||||||||||
68 | 7.000 | 07/01/25 | 78 | |||||||||||
122 | 7.000 | 11/01/25 | 126 | |||||||||||
14,931 | 9.000 | 11/01/25 | 17,491 | |||||||||||
46,093 | 7.000 | 08/01/26 | 52,642 | |||||||||||
687 | 7.000 | 08/01/27 | 794 | |||||||||||
5,370 | 7.000 | 09/01/27 | 5,891 | |||||||||||
159 | 7.000 | 01/01/28 | 184 | |||||||||||
3,309 | 6.000 | 01/01/29 | 3,734 | |||||||||||
86,341 | 6.000 | 02/01/29 | 98,437 | |||||||||||
78,762 | 6.000 | 06/01/29 | 89,771 | |||||||||||
26,312 | 8.000 | 10/01/29 | 31,651 | |||||||||||
7,252 | 7.000 | 12/01/29 | 8,562 | |||||||||||
37,565 | 5.000 | 01/01/30 | 41,316 | |||||||||||
1,353 | 8.500 | 04/01/30 | 1,656 | |||||||||||
2,518 | 8.000 | 05/01/30 | 2,884 | |||||||||||
282 | 8.500 | 06/01/30 | 314 | |||||||||||
8,323 | 7.000 | 05/01/32 | 9,922 | |||||||||||
64,603 | 7.000 | 06/01/32 | 75,324 | |||||||||||
82,150 | 7.000 | 08/01/32 | 95,958 | |||||||||||
17,715 | 8.000 | 08/01/32 | 19,846 | |||||||||||
3,808 | 5.000 | 08/01/33 | 4,189 | |||||||||||
941 | 5.500 | 09/01/33 | 1,055 | |||||||||||
1,354 | 5.500 | 02/01/34 | 1,518 | |||||||||||
226 | 5.500 | 04/01/34 | 255 | |||||||||||
8,370 | 5.500 | 12/01/34 | 9,427 | |||||||||||
37,374 | 5.000 | 04/01/35 | 41,508 | |||||||||||
65,870 | 6.000 | 04/01/35 | 75,337 | |||||||||||
1,524 | 5.500 | 09/01/35 | 1,722 | |||||||||||
144,895 | 6.000 | 10/01/35 | 163,998 | |||||||||||
341,573 | 6.000 | 09/01/36 | 386,606 | |||||||||||
108 | 5.500 | 02/01/37 | 121 | |||||||||||
203 | 5.500 | 04/01/37 | 228 | |||||||||||
63 | 5.500 | 05/01/37 | 71 | |||||||||||
221,323 | 5.500 | 08/01/37 | 247,368 | |||||||||||
254 | 5.500 | 03/01/38 | 284 | |||||||||||
225 | 5.500 | 06/01/38 | 252 | |||||||||||
235 | 5.500 | 07/01/38 | 264 | |||||||||||
252 | 5.500 | 08/01/38 | 283 | |||||||||||
254 | 5.500 | 09/01/38 | 285 | |||||||||||
2,938 | 5.500 | 10/01/38 | 3,297 | |||||||||||
68 | 5.500 | 12/01/38 | 77 | |||||||||||
150,390 | 5.000 | 01/01/39 | 167,403 | |||||||||||
97,375 | 7.000 | 03/01/39 | 112,778 | |||||||||||
357,138 | 6.000 | 05/01/39 | 403,120 | |||||||||||
22,758 | 4.500 | 08/01/39 | 24,861 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| FNMA – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 106,363 | 3.000 | % | 08/01/42 | $ | 106,725 | ||||||||
27,151 | 3.000 | 11/01/42 | 27,248 | |||||||||||
386,354 | 3.000 | 12/01/42 | 387,727 | |||||||||||
101,204 | 3.000 | 01/01/43 | 101,680 | |||||||||||
258,497 | 3.000 | 03/01/43 | 259,860 | |||||||||||
357,486 | 3.000 | 04/01/43 | 359,371 | |||||||||||
270,428 | 3.000 | 05/01/43 | 271,854 | |||||||||||
993,004 | 3.500 | 07/01/43 | 1,025,247 | |||||||||||
562,362 | 3.500 | 10/01/45 | 580,709 | |||||||||||
437,638 | 3.500 | 11/01/45 | 451,916 | |||||||||||
1,000,000 | 3.500 | 12/01/45 | 1,032,497 | |||||||||||
2,000,000 | 3.500 | TBA-30yr | (e) | 2,062,969 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
9,504,161 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| GNMA – 13.7% |
| ||||||||||||
2,400 | 7.000 | 10/15/25 | 2,457 | |||||||||||
10,055 | 7.000 | 11/15/25 | 10,998 | |||||||||||
1,404 | 7.000 | 02/15/26 | 1,453 | |||||||||||
6,897 | 7.000 | 04/15/26 | 7,754 | |||||||||||
3,493 | 7.000 | 03/15/27 | 4,063 | |||||||||||
61,367 | 7.000 | 11/15/27 | 70,565 | |||||||||||
1,856 | 7.000 | 01/15/28 | 2,145 | |||||||||||
21,209 | 7.000 | 02/15/28 | 23,184 | |||||||||||
3,293 | 7.000 | 03/15/28 | 3,751 | |||||||||||
1,102 | 7.000 | 04/15/28 | 1,288 | |||||||||||
360 | 7.000 | 05/15/28 | 415 | |||||||||||
4,895 | 7.000 | 06/15/28 | 5,706 | |||||||||||
10,468 | 7.000 | 07/15/28 | 12,186 | |||||||||||
14,550 | 7.000 | 09/15/28 | 17,041 | |||||||||||
2,452 | 7.000 | 11/15/28 | 2,868 | |||||||||||
3,430 | 7.500 | 11/15/30 | 3,442 | |||||||||||
203,293 | 6.000 | 08/20/34 | 231,731 | |||||||||||
232,940 | 5.000 | 06/15/40 | 258,459 | |||||||||||
1,950,246 | 4.000 | 09/20/44 | 2,072,060 | |||||||||||
346,817 | 4.000 | 08/20/45 | 368,913 | |||||||||||
49,523 | 3.500 | 09/20/45 | 51,678 | |||||||||||
1,268,844 | 4.000 | 09/20/45 | 1,349,683 | |||||||||||
1,358,532 | 4.000 | 10/20/45 | 1,446,359 | |||||||||||
1,000,000 | 3.500 | TBA-30yr | (e) | 1,042,500 | ||||||||||
7,000,000 | 4.000 | TBA-30yr | (e) | 7,432,032 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
14,422,731 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL FEDERAL AGENCIES | $ | 28,477,300 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL MORTGAGE-BACKED OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $38,396,684) | $ | 38,603,600 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Agency Debentures – 2.3% | ||||||||||||||
| FHLB |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 600,000 | 2.125 | % | 06/09/23 | $ | 589,050 | ||||||||
100,000 | 3.375 | 12/08/23 | 106,267 | |||||||||||
| FNMA |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 6.250 | 05/15/29 | 543,628 | |||||||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 33 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Agency Debentures – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Tennessee Valley Authority |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 500,000 | 3.875 | % | 02/15/21 | $ | 544,354 | ||||||||
500,000 | 5.375 | 04/01/56 | 600,968 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL AGENCY DEBENTURES | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $2,276,225) | $ | 2,384,267 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities(a) – 9.2% | ||||||||||||||
| Collateralized Loan Obligations – 4.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| Aberdeen Loan Funding Ltd. Series 2008-1A, Class A(c) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 384,564 | 0.979 | % | 11/01/18 | $ | 381,251 | ||||||||
| Acis CLO Ltd. Series 2013-1A, Class ACOM(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
1,500,000 | 0.000 | 04/18/24 | 1,440,150 | |||||||||||
| Acis CLO Ltd. Series 2013-2A, Class A(c) |
| ||||||||||||
112,677 | 0.821 | 10/14/22 | 111,239 | |||||||||||
| Acis CLO Ltd. Series 2013-2A, Class ACOM(c) |
| ||||||||||||
770,167 | 0.820 | 10/14/22 | 756,304 | |||||||||||
| Black Diamond CLO Ltd. Series 2006-1A, Class AD(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
179,259 | 0.574 | 04/29/19 | 175,478 | |||||||||||
| Ocean Trails CLO I Series 2006-1X, Class A1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
673,099 | 0.571 | 10/12/20 | 663,349 | |||||||||||
| OFSI Fund V Ltd. Series 2013-5A(c) |
| ||||||||||||
950,000 | 0.000 | 04/17/25 | 921,595 | |||||||||||
| Red River CLO Ltd. Series 1A, Class A(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
130,386 | 0.599 | 07/27/18 | 129,847 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
4,579,213 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Home Equity(b) – 2.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| GMAC Mortgage Corp. Loan Trust Series 2007-HE3, Class 1A1 |
| ||||||||||||
54,231 | 7.000 | 09/25/37 | 53,798 | |||||||||||
| GMAC Mortgage Corp. Loan Trust Series 2007-HE3, Class 2A1 |
| ||||||||||||
100,568 | 6.656 | 09/25/37 | 100,691 | |||||||||||
| Sound Point CLO VI Ltd. Series 2014-2A, Class ACOM(c) |
| ||||||||||||
900,000 | 0.000 | 10/20/26 | 879,840 | |||||||||||
| Sound Point CLO VIII Ltd. Series 2015-1A, Class A(c) |
| ||||||||||||
900,000 | 1.851 | 04/15/27 | 886,239 | |||||||||||
| Sound Point CLO VIII Ltd. Series 2015-1A, Class B(c) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 2.370 | 04/15/27 | 236,472 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
2,157,040 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Student Loans – 2.7% |
| ||||||||||||
| Access Group, Inc. Series 2005-2, Class A3(b) |
| ||||||||||||
272,634 | 0.558 | 11/22/24 | 270,380 | |||||||||||
| Chase Education Loan Trust Series 2007-A, Class A3 |
| ||||||||||||
84,539 | 0.673 | 12/28/23 | 82,776 | |||||||||||
| Edsouth Indenture No 10 LLC Series 2015-2, Class A(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
600,000 | 1.243 | 12/25/56 | 597,140 | |||||||||||
| Nelnet Student Loan Trust Series 2006-2, Class A5(b) |
| ||||||||||||
500,000 | 0.420 | 01/25/30 | 490,229 | |||||||||||
| Northstar Education Finance, Inc. Series 2004-2, Class A3 |
| ||||||||||||
73,853 | 0.493 | 07/30/18 | 73,398 | |||||||||||
| Scholar Funding Trust Series 2010-A, Class A(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
189,411 | 1.073 | 10/28/41 | 183,827 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities(a) – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Student Loans – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| SLC Student Loan Trust Series 2006-1, Class A5(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 500,000 | 0.622 | % | 03/15/27 | $ | 478,264 | ||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2005-3, Class A5(b) |
| ||||||||||||
261,558 | 0.410 | 10/25/24 | 255,478 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2006-2, Class A5(b) |
| ||||||||||||
446,029 | 0.430 | 07/25/25 | 439,769 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
2,871,261 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $9,619,555) | $ | 9,607,514 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Foreign Debt Obligations – 3.6% | ||||||||||||||
| Sovereign – 3.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| Chile Government International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 450,000 | 3.125 | % | 03/27/25 | $ | 450,675 | ||||||||
| Colombia Government International Bond(b) |
| ||||||||||||
640,000 | 4.000 | 02/26/24 | 609,600 | |||||||||||
210,000 | 5.000 | 06/15/45 | 175,350 | |||||||||||
| Indonesia Government International Bond(c) |
| ||||||||||||
230,000 | 4.750 | 01/08/26 | 226,550 | |||||||||||
| Italy Buoni Poliennali Del Tesoro |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 232,722 | 2.350 | 09/15/19 | 276,861 | ||||||||||
170,000 | 3.750 | 05/01/21 | 213,994 | |||||||||||
| Mexico Government International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 470,000 | 3.600 | 01/30/25 | 457,780 | ||||||||||
160,000 | 4.750 | 03/08/44 | 145,760 | |||||||||||
200,000 | 4.600 | 01/23/46 | 177,500 | |||||||||||
10,000 | 5.750 | 10/12/10 | 9,325 | |||||||||||
| Peruvian Government International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
110,000 | 6.550 | 03/14/37 | 127,325 | |||||||||||
| Spain Government Bond(c) |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 270,000 | 5.500 | 04/30/21 | 364,774 | ||||||||||
| Spain Government Inflation Linked Bond(c) |
| ||||||||||||
100,244 | 0.550 | 11/30/19 | 111,697 | |||||||||||
| Turkey Government International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 260,000 | 4.250 | 04/14/26 | 243,750 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
3,590,941 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Supranational – 0.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| Inter-American Development Bank |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 1.000 | 02/27/18 | 197,147 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL FOREIGN DEBT OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $3,951,226) | $ | 3,788,088 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Municipal Debt Obligations – 1.3% | ||||||||||||||
| California – 0.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| California State Various Purpose GO Bonds Series 2010 |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 140,000 | 7.950 | % | 03/01/36 | $ | 167,484 | ||||||||
105,000 | 7.625 | 03/01/40 | 152,908 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
320,392 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
34 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Municipal Debt Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Illinois – 0.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| Illinois State GO Bonds for Build America Bonds Series 2010-5 |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 250,000 | 7.350 | % | 07/01/35 | $ | 274,010 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| New York – 0.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Taxable Bonds Series 2010 |
| ||||||||||||
475,000 | 5.600 | 09/01/20 | 531,408 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Ohio – 0.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| American Municipal Power, Inc. RB Build America Bond | | ||||||||||||
250,000 | 6.270 | 02/15/50 | 290,733 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL MUNICIPAL DEBT OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $1,224,927) | $ | 1,416,543 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Government Guarantee Obligations – 2.4% | ||||||||||||||
| Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Government AID Bond(f) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 700,000 | 2.503 | % | 10/30/20 | $ | 714,575 | ||||||||
| Israel Government AID Bond(f) |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 5.500 | 09/18/23 | 482,729 | |||||||||||
200,000 | 5.500 | 12/04/23 | 241,887 | |||||||||||
100,000 | 5.500 | 04/26/24 | 121,248 | |||||||||||
| KFW(g) |
| ||||||||||||
1,000,000 | 1.125 | 08/06/18 | 992,174 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL GOVERNMENT GUARANTEE OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $2,558,361) | $ | 2,552,613 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Commercial Paper – 0.7% | ||||||||||||||
| Barclays Bank PLC(a)(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 750,000 | 0.920 | % | 04/13/16 | $ | 749,897 | ||||||||
(Cost $750,000) | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations – 16.6% | ||||||||||||||
| United States Treasury Bonds |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 4,400,000 | 3.625 | %(h) | 08/15/43 | $ | 4,958,668 | ||||||||
960,000 | 3.750 | 11/15/43 | 1,106,400 | |||||||||||
700,000 | 3.625 | 02/15/44 | 787,780 | |||||||||||
1,300,000 | 3.375 | 05/15/44 | 1,395,927 | |||||||||||
1,300,000 | 3.000 | 11/15/44 | 1,295,957 | |||||||||||
300,000 | 3.000 | 05/15/45 | 298,767 | |||||||||||
| United States Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities |
| ||||||||||||
942,426 | 0.125 | 04/15/17 | 940,513 | |||||||||||
1,131,779 | 0.125 | 04/15/18 | 1,130,013 | |||||||||||
315,246 | 0.125 | 01/15/22 | 306,085 | |||||||||||
255,500 | 0.375 | 07/15/23 | 250,030 | |||||||||||
519,853 | 0.625 | 01/15/24 | 514,655 | |||||||||||
150,248 | 0.125 | 07/15/24 | 142,947 | |||||||||||
387,720 | 2.500 | 01/15/29 | 460,235 | |||||||||||
397,999 | 1.375 | 02/15/44 | 406,456 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| United States Treasury Notes |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 600,000 | 1.750 | % | 12/31/20 | $ | 599,508 | ||||||||
1,400,000 | 2.125 | 12/31/22 | 1,402,632 | |||||||||||
| United States Treasury Principal-Only STRIPS(i) |
| ||||||||||||
1,900,000 | 0.000 | 11/15/27 | 1,420,934 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL U.S. TREASURY OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $16,531,581) | $ | 17,417,507 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 107.7% | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $112,138,491) | $ | 113,012,481 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| LIABILITIES IN EXCESS OF | | (8,062,386 | ) | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 104,950,095 | ||||||||||||
|
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
(a) | Variable rate security. Interest rate or distribution rate disclosed is that which is in effect on December 31, 2015. | |
(b) | Securities with “Call” features. Maturity dates disclosed are the final maturity dates. | |
(c) | Exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. Under procedures approved by the Board of Trustees, such securities may be deemed liquid by the Investment Adviser and may be resold, normally to qualified institutional buyers in transactions exempt from registration. Total market value of Rule 144A securities amounts to $17,656,873, which represents approximately 16.8% of net assets as of December 31, 2015. | |
(d) | Interest is based on the weighted net interest rate of the collateral. | |
(e) | TBA (To Be Announced) Securities are purchased on a forward commitment basis with an approximate principal amount and no defined maturity date. The actual principal and maturity date will be determined upon settlement when the specific mortgage pools are assigned. Total market value of TBA securities (excluding forward sales contracts, if any) amounts to $10,537,501 which represents approximately 10.0% of net assets as of December 31, 2015. | |
(f) | Guaranteed by the United States Government. Total market value of these securities amounts to 1,560,439, which represents 1.5% of net assets as of December 31, 2015. | |
(g) | Guaranteed by a foreign government under maturity. Total market value of these securities amounts to $992,174, which represents 0.9% of net assets as of December 31, 2015. | |
(h) | All or a portion of security is segregated as collateral for initial margin requirements on futures transactions. | |
(i) | Issued with a zero coupon. Income is recognized through the accretion of discount. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 35 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
BA | —Banker Acceptance Rate | |
BBR | —Bank Bill Reference Rate | |
EURIBOR | —EURO Interbank Offered Rate | |
FHLB | —Federal Home Loan Bank | |
FHLMC | —Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. | |
FNMA | —Federal National Mortgage Association | |
GNMA | —Government National Mortgage Association | |
GO | —General Obligation | |
LIBOR | —London Interbank Offered Rate | |
RB | —Revenue Bond | |
REMIC | —Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit | |
RMKT | —Remarketed | |
STIBOR | —Stockholm Interbank Offered Rate | |
STRIPS | —Separate Trading of Registered Interest and Principal of Securities | |
UK | —United Kingdom | |
Currency Abbreviations: | ||
AUD | —Australian Dollar | |
CAD | —Canadian Dollar | |
EUR | —Euro | |
GBP | —British Pound | |
JPY | —Japanese Yen | |
NOK | —Norwegian Krone | |
NZD | —New Zealand Dollar | |
SEK | —Swedish Krona | |
USD | —United States Dollar |
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following forward foreign currency exchange contracts:
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED GAIN
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain | |||||||||||||||
Bank of America NA | AUD | 50,606 | EUR | 33,104 | 03/16/16 | $ | 36,745 | $ | 703 | |||||||||||
EUR | 58,424 | GBP | 41,271 | 03/16/16 | 63,609 | 2,760 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 1,938,775 | EUR | 209,054 | 03/16/16 | 230,152 | 2,546 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 199,261 | USD | 23,460 | 03/16/16 | 23,654 | 194 | ||||||||||||||
Barclays Bank PLC | CAD | 69,393 | EUR | 45,930 | 03/16/16 | 50,160 | 155 | |||||||||||||
SEK | 544,762 | EUR | 59,033 | 03/16/16 | 64,669 | 397 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 82,000 | CAD | 110,575 | 03/16/16 | 79,928 | 2,072 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 42,468 | EUR | 38,939 | 03/16/16 | 42,394 | 74 | ||||||||||||||
BNP Paribas SA | AUD | 69,009 | USD | 49,286 | 03/16/16 | 50,107 | 821 | |||||||||||||
CAD | 59,722 | USD | 43,027 | 03/16/16 | 43,169 | 142 | ||||||||||||||
EUR | 34,113 | USD | 36,145 | 03/16/16 | 37,141 | 996 | ||||||||||||||
JPY | 30,136,245 | USD | 246,000 | 03/16/16 | 251,159 | 5,159 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 1,434,601 | EUR | 154,722 | 03/16/16 | 170,302 | 1,848 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 46,033 | AUD | 63,140 | 03/16/16 | 45,846 | 187 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 157,706 | EUR | 144,287 | 03/16/16 | 157,092 | 614 | ||||||||||||||
Citibank NA | GBP | 56,208 | EUR | 76,000 | 03/16/16 | 82,872 | 127 | |||||||||||||
SEK | 1,395,570 | EUR | 150,000 | 03/16/16 | 165,668 | 2,356 |
36 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION (continued)
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED GAIN (continued)
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain | |||||||||||||||
Citibank NA (continued) | USD | 49,289 | AUD | 67,658 | 03/16/16 | $ | 49,127 | $ | 162 | |||||||||||
USD | 200,743 | EUR | 181,947 | 03/16/16 | 198,094 | 2,649 | ||||||||||||||
JPMorgan Chase Bank NA | SEK | 1,622,953 | EUR | 174,720 | 03/16/16 | 192,661 | 2,435 | |||||||||||||
SEK | 465,625 | USD | 55,184 | 03/16/16 | 55,275 | 91 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 46,312 | AUD | 63,517 | 03/16/16 | 46,119 | 193 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 61,922 | CAD | 83,962 | 03/16/16 | 60,692 | 1,230 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 113,228 | GBP | 75,433 | 03/16/16 | 111,217 | 2,011 | ||||||||||||||
Standard Chartered Bank | AUD | 115,000 | USD | 81,461 | 03/16/16 | 83,501 | 2,040 | |||||||||||||
CAD | 55,176 | USD | 39,651 | 03/16/16 | 39,883 | 232 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 39,797 | SEK | 331,278 | 03/16/16 | 39,326 | 471 | ||||||||||||||
State Street Bank | AUD | 100,889 | USD | 72,340 | 03/16/16 | 73,255 | 915 | |||||||||||||
EUR | 311,543 | USD | 339,023 | 03/16/16 | 339,192 | 169 | ||||||||||||||
NZD | 60,046 | USD | 39,429 | 03/16/16 | 40,887 | 1,458 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 1,948,540 | EUR | 210,542 | 03/16/16 | 231,312 | 2,084 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 212,746 | USD | 25,191 | 03/16/16 | 25,255 | 64 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 163,744 | AUD | 225,000 | 03/16/16 | 163,372 | 372 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 39,687 | NZD | 58,195 | 03/16/16 | 39,627 | 60 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 32,940 | SEK | 276,388 | 03/16/16 | 32,810 | 130 | ||||||||||||||
Westpac Banking Corp. | AUD | 228,000 | USD | 164,116 | 03/16/16 | 165,550 | 1,434 | |||||||||||||
USD | 140,187 | EUR | 127,792 | 02/10/16 | 139,005 | 1,182 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 449,849 | GBP | 297,325 | 01/13/16 | 438,327 | 11,522 | ||||||||||||||
TOTAL | $ | 52,055 |
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED LOSS
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Loss | |||||||||||||||
Bank of America NA | CAD | 107,300 | USD | 78,899 | 03/16/16 | $77,561 | $ (1,338) | |||||||||||||
EUR | 52,722 | AUD | 80,445 | 03/16/16 | 57,401 | (1,010) | ||||||||||||||
GBP | 24,286 | JPY | 4,389,208 | 03/16/16 | 35,807 | (773) | ||||||||||||||
USD | 81,910 | AUD | 113,000 | 03/16/16 | 82,049 | (139) | ||||||||||||||
USD | 164,000 | CAD | 229,393 | 03/16/16 | 165,814 | (1,814) | ||||||||||||||
USD | 49,517 | NZD | 73,113 | 03/16/16 | 49,786 | (269) | ||||||||||||||
USD | 46,306 | SEK | 390,487 | 03/16/16 | 46,355 | (49) | ||||||||||||||
Barclays Bank PLC | CAD | 118,794 | USD | 87,650 | 03/16/16 | 85,869 | (1,781) | |||||||||||||
EUR | 52,722 | AUD | 80,776 | 03/16/16 | 57,400 | (1,251) | ||||||||||||||
GBP | 23,758 | USD | 35,934 | 03/16/16 | 35,028 | (906) | ||||||||||||||
USD | 278,781 | JPY | 34,292,839 | 03/16/16 | 285,801 | (7,020) | ||||||||||||||
USD | 65,432 | NZD | 98,074 | 03/16/16 | 66,782 | (1,350) | ||||||||||||||
BNP Paribas SA | CAD | 138,603 | EUR | 93,661 | 03/16/16 | 100,187 | (1,786) | |||||||||||||
GBP | 63,947 | USD | 95,603 | 03/16/16 | 94,282 | (1,321) | ||||||||||||||
NOK | 288,437 | USD | 33,038 | 03/16/16 | 32,563 | (475) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 37 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION (continued)
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED LOSS (continued)
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Loss | |||||||||||||||
BNP Paribas SA (continued) | USD | 75,628 | EUR | 69,487 | 03/16/16 | $ | 75,654 | $ | (26 | ) | ||||||||||
USD | 450,733 | JPY | 54,615,470 | 03/16/16 | 455,173 | (4,440 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 98,367 | NZD | 147,525 | 03/16/16 | 100,456 | (2,089 | ) | |||||||||||||
Citibank NA | AUD | 45,308 | USD | 33,037 | 03/16/16 | 32,898 | (139 | ) | ||||||||||||
CAD | 71,245 | USD | 52,628 | 03/16/16 | 51,499 | (1,129 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 81,658 | AUD | 114,000 | 03/16/16 | 82,775 | (1,117 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 82,000 | CAD | 114,175 | 03/16/16 | 82,530 | (530 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 1,546,496 | EUR | 1,423,885 | 02/10/16 | 1,548,821 | (2,325 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 195,862 | JPY | 23,672,173 | 03/16/16 | 197,287 | (1,425 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 46,033 | NZD | 69,536 | 03/16/16 | 47,350 | (1,317 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 52,769 | SEK | 445,453 | 03/16/16 | 52,880 | (111 | ) | |||||||||||||
Deutsche Bank AG (London) | USD | 77,829 | SEK | 676,000 | 01/15/16 | 80,104 | (2,275 | ) | ||||||||||||
JPMorgan Chase Bank NA | CAD | 101,910 | USD | 75,354 | 03/16/16 | 73,665 | (1,689 | ) | ||||||||||||
NOK | 663,036 | USD | 75,848 | 03/16/16 | 74,853 | (995 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 36,229 | JPY | 4,435,090 | 03/16/16 | 36,962 | (733 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 52,790 | SEK | 448,511 | 03/16/16 | 53,243 | (453 | ) | |||||||||||||
Morgan Stanley Co., Inc. | NOK | 342,835 | USD | 39,322 | 03/16/16 | 38,704 | (618 | ) | ||||||||||||
USD | 82,016 | AUD | 115,205 | 03/16/16 | 83,650 | (1,634 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 124,907 | NZD | 187,591 | 03/16/16 | 127,738 | (2,831 | ) | |||||||||||||
Standard Chartered Bank | CAD | 106,270 | USD | 78,871 | 03/16/16 | 76,816 | (2,055 | ) | ||||||||||||
GBP | 90,692 | USD | 135,166 | 03/16/16 | 133,715 | (1,451 | ) | |||||||||||||
NOK | 370,878 | USD | 42,655 | 03/16/16 | 41,870 | (785 | ) | |||||||||||||
State Street Bank | CAD | 449,608 | USD | 329,000 | 03/16/16 | 324,994 | (4,006 | ) | ||||||||||||
GBP | 66,094 | USD | 98,867 | 03/16/16 | 97,448 | (1,419 | ) | |||||||||||||
NOK | 1,440,144 | USD | 168,389 | 03/16/16 | 162,584 | (5,805 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 281,643 | AUD | 391,088 | 03/16/16 | 283,968 | (2,325 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 36,252 | JPY | 4,451,415 | 03/16/16 | 37,098 | (846 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 245,873 | NZD | 367,601 | 03/16/16 | 250,314 | (4,441 | ) | |||||||||||||
Westpac Banking Corp. | GBP | 152,000 | USD | 229,974 | 01/13/16 | 224,084 | (5,890 | ) | ||||||||||||
USD | 84,756 | JPY | 10,391,270 | 01/28/16 | 86,497 | (1,741 | ) | |||||||||||||
TOTAL | $ | (77,922 | ) |
FORWARD SALES CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following forward sales contracts:
Description | Interest Rate | Maturity Date(a) | Settlement Date | Principal Amount | Value | |||||||||||||||
FNMA (Proceeds Received: $999,531) | 3.000 | % | TBA-30yr | 01/25/46 | $ | (1,000,000 | ) | $ | (999,766 | ) |
(a) | TBA (To Be Announced) Securities are sold on a forward commitment basis with an approximate principal amount and no defined maturity date. The actual principal and maturity date will be determined upon settlement when the specific mortgage pools are assigned. |
38 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION (continued)
FUTURES CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following futures contracts:
Type | Number of Contracts Long (Short) | Expiration Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||||||||
Euro-Bobl | 5 | March 2016 | $ | 710,028 | $ | 1,120 | ||||||||
Euro-BTP | 4 | March 2016 | 599,538 | 3,972 | ||||||||||
Euro-Bund | (3 | ) | March 2016 | (514,859 | ) | (1,787 | ) | |||||||
U.S. Long Bond | 19 | March 2016 | 2,921,250 | (3,068 | ) | |||||||||
U.S. Ultra Long Treasury Bonds | (42 | ) | March 2016 | (6,664,875 | ) | (31,144 | ) | |||||||
2 Year U.S. Treasury Notes | 23 | March 2016 | 4,996,391 | (8,268 | ) | |||||||||
3 Year Australian Government Bonds | 34 | March 2016 | 2,761,688 | 8,264 | ||||||||||
5 Year U.S. Treasury Notes | 75 | March 2016 | 8,874,023 | (21,391 | ) | |||||||||
10 Year Australian Government Bonds | 3 | March 2016 | 277,399 | 562 | ||||||||||
10 Year U.S. Treasury Notes | (11 | ) | March 2016 | (1,384,969 | ) | 12,355 | ||||||||
TOTAL | $ | (39,385 | ) |
SWAP CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following swap contracts:
CENTRALLY CLEARED INTEREST RATE SWAP CONTRACTS
Rates Exchanged | Market Value | |||||||||||||||||
Notional (000’s)(a) | Termination Date | Payments Received | Payments Made | Upfront Payments Made (Received) | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | |||||||||||||
GBP | 290 | 01/04/18 | 3 Month LIBOR | 0.845% | $ | 450 | $ | 656 | ||||||||||
CAD | 920 | 03/16/18 | 1.250% | 3 Month BA | 4,171 | 1,116 | ||||||||||||
GBP | 1,270 | 03/16/18 | 6 Month LIBOR | 1.500 | (15,303 | ) | 3,584 | |||||||||||
SEK | 19,010 | 03/16/18 | 0.050 | 3 Month STIBOR | 8,414 | (3,629 | ) | |||||||||||
$ | 590 | 03/16/18 | 1.500 | 3 Month LIBOR | 3,561 | (1,046 | ) | |||||||||||
EUR | 940 | 03/16/19 | 0.250 | 6 Month EURIBOR | 5,734 | (675 | ) | |||||||||||
AUD | 510 | 03/16/21 | 2.500 | 6 Month BBR | (1,902 | ) | (641 | ) | ||||||||||
CAD | 1,130 | 03/16/21 | 1.750 | 3 Month BA | 17,002 | 4,052 | ||||||||||||
EUR | 1,050 | 03/16/21 | 6 Month EURIBOR | 0.500 | (9,845 | ) | 2,644 | |||||||||||
SEK | 6,040 | 03/16/21 | 3 Month STIBOR | 0.750 | (2,350 | ) | 4,620 | |||||||||||
EUR | 1,050 | 09/16/25 | 2.000 | 6 Month LIBOR | 9,496 | 11,140 | ||||||||||||
GBP | 800 | 09/16/25 | 6 Month LIBOR | 2.750 | (12,701 | ) | (3,998 | ) | ||||||||||
AUD | 520 | 03/16/26 | 3.000 | 6 Month BBR | (639 | ) | (3,088 | ) | ||||||||||
CAD | 170 | 03/16/26 | 3 Month BA | 2.500 | (7,282 | ) | 637 | |||||||||||
EUR | 3,330 | 03/16/26 | 1.000 | 6 Month EURIBOR | 15,937 | (28,845 | ) | |||||||||||
GBP | 70 | 03/16/26 | 6 Month LIBOR | 2.250 | (3,348 | ) | 1,342 | |||||||||||
SEK | 4,690 | 03/16/26 | 3 Month STIBOR | 1.500 | 4,813 | 5,326 | ||||||||||||
$ | 1,180 | 03/16/26 | 3 Month LIBOR | 2.500 | (33,038 | ) | 4,043 | |||||||||||
EUR | 1,000 | 03/17/26 | 1.500 | 6 Month EURIBOR | (11,755 | ) | (306 | ) | ||||||||||
$ | 1,000 | 03/17/26 | 3 Month LIBOR | 2.500 | 12,110 | (2,726 | ) | |||||||||||
GBP | 530 | 03/16/46 | 6 Month LIBOR | 2.250 | (38,813 | ) | 24,451 | |||||||||||
TOTAL | $ | (55,288 | ) | $ | 18,657 |
(a) | Represents forward starting interest rate swaps whose effective dates of commencement of accruals and cash flows occur subsequent to December 31, 2015. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 39 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – 99.4% | ||||||||
| Automobiles & Components – 1.0% |
| ||||||
2,145 | BorgWarner, Inc. | $ | 92,728 | |||||
2,659 | Delphi Automotive PLC | 227,956 | ||||||
36,544 | Ford Motor Co. | 514,905 | ||||||
13,234 | General Motors Co. | 450,088 | ||||||
1,761 | Harley-Davidson, Inc. | 79,932 | ||||||
6,149 | Johnson Controls, Inc. | 242,824 | ||||||
2,525 | The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. | 82,492 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
1,690,925 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Banks – 6.0% |
| ||||||
97,697 | Bank of America Corp. | 1,644,240 | ||||||
7,100 | BB&T Corp. | 268,451 | ||||||
27,945 | Citigroup, Inc. | 1,446,154 | ||||||
1,626 | Comerica, Inc. | 68,016 | ||||||
7,458 | Fifth Third Bancorp | 149,906 | ||||||
7,808 | Huntington Bancshares, Inc. | 86,356 | ||||||
34,553 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 2,281,535 | ||||||
7,808 | KeyCorp | 102,987 | ||||||
1,496 | M&T Bank Corp. | 181,285 | ||||||
2,938 | People’s United Financial, Inc. | 47,449 | ||||||
12,386 | Regions Financial Corp. | 118,906 | ||||||
4,855 | SunTrust Banks, Inc. | 207,988 | ||||||
4,745 | The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. | 452,246 | ||||||
15,392 | U.S. Bancorp | 656,777 | ||||||
43,632 | Wells Fargo & Co. | 2,371,835 | ||||||
1,886 | Zions Bancorporation | 51,488 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
10,135,619 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Capital Goods – 7.2% |
| ||||||
5,810 | 3M Co. | 875,218 | ||||||
908 | Allegion PLC | 59,855 | ||||||
2,330 | AMETEK, Inc. | 124,865 | ||||||
5,494 | Caterpillar, Inc. | 373,372 | ||||||
1,552 | Cummins, Inc. | 136,591 | ||||||
5,564 | Danaher Corp. | 516,784 | ||||||
2,912 | Deere & Co. | 222,098 | ||||||
1,512 | Dover Corp. | 92,701 | ||||||
4,301 | Eaton Corp. PLC | 223,824 | ||||||
6,184 | Emerson Electric Co. | 295,781 | ||||||
2,645 | Fastenal Co. | 107,969 | ||||||
1,290 | Flowserve Corp. | 54,283 | ||||||
1,322 | Fluor Corp. | 62,425 | ||||||
2,774 | General Dynamics Corp. | 381,037 | ||||||
88,605 | General Electric Co. | 2,760,046 | ||||||
7,272 | Honeywell International, Inc. | 753,161 | ||||||
3,099 | Illinois Tool Works, Inc. | 287,215 | ||||||
2,503 | Ingersoll-Rand PLC | 138,391 | ||||||
1,109 | Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.* | 46,523 | ||||||
746 | L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. | 89,154 | ||||||
2,505 | Lockheed Martin Corp. | 543,961 | ||||||
3,272 | Masco Corp. | 92,598 | ||||||
1,721 | Northrop Grumman Corp. | 324,942 | ||||||
3,285 | PACCAR, Inc. | 155,709 | ||||||
1,327 | Parker-Hannifin Corp. | 128,692 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Capital Goods – (continued) |
| ||||||
1,680 | Pentair PLC | $ | 83,210 | |||||
1,289 | Precision Castparts Corp. | 299,061 | ||||||
1,424 | Quanta Services, Inc.* | 28,836 | ||||||
2,859 | Raytheon Co. | 356,031 | ||||||
1,236 | Rockwell Automation, Inc. | 126,826 | ||||||
1,259 | Rockwell Collins, Inc. | 116,206 | ||||||
936 | Roper Technologies, Inc. | 177,643 | ||||||
560 | Snap-on, Inc. | 96,001 | ||||||
1,424 | Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. | 151,984 | ||||||
2,573 | Textron, Inc. | 108,092 | ||||||
5,943 | The Boeing Co. | 859,298 | ||||||
933 | United Rentals, Inc.* | 67,680 | ||||||
7,803 | United Technologies Corp. | 749,634 | ||||||
530 | W.W. Grainger, Inc. | 107,373 | ||||||
1,690 | Xylem, Inc. | 61,685 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
12,236,755 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Commercial & Professional Services – 0.7% |
| ||||||
816 | Cintas Corp. | 74,297 | ||||||
1,107 | Equifax, Inc. | 123,287 | ||||||
3,512 | Nielsen Holdings PLC | 163,659 | ||||||
1,965 | Pitney Bowes, Inc. | 40,577 | ||||||
2,270 | Republic Services, Inc. | 99,857 | ||||||
1,283 | Robert Half International, Inc. | 60,481 | ||||||
790 | Stericycle, Inc.* | 95,274 | ||||||
1,529 | The ADT Corp. | 50,426 | ||||||
341 | The Dun & Bradstreet Corp. | 35,440 | ||||||
3,941 | Tyco International PLC | 125,679 | ||||||
1,483 | Verisk Analytics, Inc.* | 114,013 | ||||||
3,955 | Waste Management, Inc. | 211,078 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
1,194,068 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Durables & Apparel – 1.4% |
| ||||||
2,614 | Coach, Inc. | 85,556 | ||||||
3,005 | D.R. Horton, Inc. | 96,250 | ||||||
339 | Fossil Group, Inc.* | 12,394 | ||||||
1,050 | Garmin Ltd. | 39,028 | ||||||
3,594 | Hanesbrands, Inc. | 105,771 | ||||||
676 | Harman International Industries, Inc. | 63,686 | ||||||
1,067 | Hasbro, Inc. | 71,873 | ||||||
1,351 | Leggett & Platt, Inc. | 56,769 | ||||||
1,593 | Lennar Corp. Class A | 77,914 | ||||||
3,224 | Mattel, Inc. | 87,596 | ||||||
1,794 | Michael Kors Holdings Ltd.* | 71,868 | ||||||
585 | Mohawk Industries, Inc.* | 110,793 | ||||||
2,545 | Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. | 112,184 | ||||||
12,708 | NIKE, Inc. Class B | 794,250 | ||||||
3,126 | PulteGroup, Inc. | 55,705 | ||||||
784 | PVH Corp. | 57,742 | ||||||
549 | Ralph Lauren Corp. | 61,203 | ||||||
1,605 | Under Armour, Inc. Class A* | 129,379 | ||||||
3,179 | VF Corp. | 197,893 | ||||||
746 | Whirlpool Corp. | 109,565 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
2,397,419 | ||||||||
|
|
40 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Consumer Services – 1.9% |
| ||||||
4,379 | Carnival Corp. | $ | 238,568 | |||||
290 | Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc.* | 139,157 | ||||||
1,097 | Darden Restaurants, Inc. | 69,813 | ||||||
2,181 | H&R Block, Inc. | 72,649 | ||||||
1,873 | Marriott International, Inc. Class A | 125,566 | ||||||
8,669 | McDonald’s Corp. | 1,024,156 | ||||||
1,601 | Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. | 162,037 | ||||||
13,944 | Starbucks Corp. | 837,058 | ||||||
1,617 | Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. | 112,026 | ||||||
1,087 | Wyndham Worldwide Corp. | 78,971 | ||||||
807 | Wynn Resorts Ltd. | 55,836 | ||||||
4,027 | Yum! Brands, Inc. | 294,172 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,210,009 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Diversified Financials – 4.9% |
| ||||||
502 | Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.* | 80,200 | ||||||
7,825 | American Express Co. | 544,229 | ||||||
1,613 | Ameriprise Financial, Inc. | 171,655 | ||||||
17,581 | Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. Class B* | 2,321,395 | ||||||
1,200 | BlackRock, Inc. | 408,624 | ||||||
4,965 | Capital One Financial Corp. | 358,374 | ||||||
3,184 | CME Group, Inc. | 288,470 | ||||||
4,073 | Discover Financial Services | 218,394 | ||||||
2,668 | E*TRADE Financial Corp.* | 79,080 | ||||||
3,592 | Franklin Resources, Inc. | 132,257 | ||||||
1,039 | Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. | 266,254 | ||||||
3,963 | Invesco Ltd. | 132,681 | ||||||
979 | Legg Mason, Inc. | 38,406 | ||||||
2,947 | Leucadia National Corp. | 51,248 | ||||||
2,549 | McGraw Hill Financial, Inc. | 251,280 | ||||||
1,643 | Moody’s Corp. | 164,859 | ||||||
14,326 | Morgan Stanley | 455,710 | ||||||
1,091 | Nasdaq, Inc. | 63,464 | ||||||
3,681 | Navient Corp. | 42,147 | ||||||
2,072 | Northern Trust Corp. | 149,371 | ||||||
3,853 | State Street Corp. | 255,685 | ||||||
7,872 | Synchrony Financial* | 239,388 | ||||||
2,380 | T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. | 170,146 | ||||||
10,368 | The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. | 427,369 | ||||||
11,091 | The Charles Schwab Corp. | 365,227 | ||||||
3,714 | The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.(a) | 669,374 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
8,345,287 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Energy – 6.5% |
| ||||||
4,744 | Anadarko Petroleum Corp. | 230,463 | ||||||
3,537 | Apache Corp. | 157,290 | ||||||
4,110 | Baker Hughes, Inc. | 189,676 | ||||||
3,946 | Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. | 69,805 | ||||||
1,761 | Cameron International Corp.* | 111,295 | ||||||
5,166 | Chesapeake Energy Corp. | 23,247 | ||||||
17,704 | Chevron Corp. | 1,592,652 | ||||||
867 | Cimarex Energy Co. | 77,492 | ||||||
3,150 | Columbia Pipeline Group, Inc. | 63,000 | ||||||
11,611 | ConocoPhillips | 542,118 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Energy – (continued) |
| ||||||
2,339 | CONSOL Energy, Inc. | $ | 18,478 | |||||
3,650 | Devon Energy Corp. | 116,800 | ||||||
746 | Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. | 15,741 | ||||||
2,294 | Ensco PLC Class A | 35,305 | ||||||
5,190 | EOG Resources, Inc. | 367,400 | ||||||
1,437 | EQT Corp. | 74,911 | ||||||
39,167 | Exxon Mobil Corp. | 3,053,068 | ||||||
2,257 | FMC Technologies, Inc.* | 65,476 | ||||||
8,047 | Halliburton Co. | 273,920 | ||||||
979 | Helmerich & Payne, Inc. | 52,425 | ||||||
2,310 | Hess Corp. | 111,989 | ||||||
16,779 | Kinder Morgan, Inc. | 250,343 | ||||||
6,535 | Marathon Oil Corp. | 82,276 | ||||||
5,080 | Marathon Petroleum Corp. | 263,347 | ||||||
1,464 | Murphy Oil Corp. | 32,867 | ||||||
3,609 | National Oilwell Varco, Inc. | 120,865 | ||||||
1,404 | Newfield Exploration Co.* | 45,714 | ||||||
3,761 | Noble Energy, Inc. | 123,850 | ||||||
7,165 | Occidental Petroleum Corp. | 484,426 | ||||||
2,070 | ONEOK, Inc. | 51,046 | ||||||
4,525 | Phillips 66 | 370,145 | ||||||
1,405 | Pioneer Natural Resources Co. | 176,159 | ||||||
1,645 | Range Resources Corp. | 40,483 | ||||||
11,861 | Schlumberger Ltd. | 827,305 | ||||||
3,798 | Southwestern Energy Co.* | 27,004 | ||||||
6,383 | Spectra Energy Corp. | 152,809 | ||||||
1,146 | Tesoro Corp. | 120,754 | ||||||
6,446 | The Williams Companies, Inc. | 165,662 | ||||||
3,110 | Transocean Ltd. | 38,502 | ||||||
4,544 | Valero Energy Corp. | 321,306 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
10,937,414 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing – 2.3% |
| ||||||
4,142 | Costco Wholesale Corp. | 668,933 | ||||||
10,380 | CVS Health Corp. | 1,014,853 | ||||||
4,904 | Sysco Corp. | 201,064 | ||||||
9,086 | The Kroger Co. | 380,067 | ||||||
8,185 | Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. | 696,994 | ||||||
14,793 | Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. | 906,811 | ||||||
3,133 | Whole Foods Market, Inc. | 104,955 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,973,677 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco – 5.6% |
| ||||||
18,390 | Altria Group, Inc. | 1,070,482 | ||||||
5,538 | Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. | 203,134 | ||||||
930 | Brown-Forman Corp. Class B | 92,330 | ||||||
1,729 | Campbell Soup Co. | 90,859 | ||||||
2,015 | Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. | 99,218 | ||||||
4,098 | ConAgra Foods, Inc. | 172,772 | ||||||
1,627 | Constellation Brands, Inc. Class A | 231,750 | ||||||
1,824 | Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. | 169,997 | ||||||
5,654 | General Mills, Inc. | 326,009 | ||||||
1,261 | Hormel Foods Corp. | 99,720 | ||||||
2,370 | Kellogg Co. | 171,280 | ||||||
1,139 | Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. | 102,487 | ||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 41 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco – (continued) |
| ||||||
1,116 | McCormick & Co., Inc. | $ | 95,485 | |||||
1,885 | Mead Johnson Nutrition Co. | 148,821 | ||||||
1,484 | Molson Coors Brewing Co. Class B | 139,377 | ||||||
14,877 | Mondelez International, Inc. Class A | 667,085 | ||||||
1,431 | Monster Beverage Corp.* | 213,162 | ||||||
13,665 | PepsiCo, Inc. | 1,365,407 | ||||||
14,536 | Philip Morris International, Inc. | 1,277,860 | ||||||
7,835 | Reynolds American, Inc. | 361,585 | ||||||
36,832 | The Coca-Cola Co. | 1,582,303 | ||||||
1,393 | The Hershey Co. | 124,353 | ||||||
1,130 | The J.M. Smucker Co. | 139,374 | ||||||
5,587 | The Kraft Heinz Co. | 406,510 | ||||||
2,845 | Tyson Foods, Inc. Class A | 151,724 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
9,503,084 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – 5.0% |
| ||||||
13,955 | Abbott Laboratories | 626,719 | ||||||
3,301 | Aetna, Inc. | 356,904 | ||||||
1,843 | AmerisourceBergen Corp. | 191,138 | ||||||
2,440 | Anthem, Inc. | 340,234 | ||||||
5,172 | Baxter International, Inc. | 197,312 | ||||||
1,970 | Becton, Dickinson and Co. | 303,557 | ||||||
703 | C. R. Bard, Inc. | 133,176 | ||||||
12,635 | Boston Scientific Corp.* | 232,989 | ||||||
3,048 | Cardinal Health, Inc. | 272,095 | ||||||
2,851 | Cerner Corp.* | 171,545 | ||||||
2,437 | Cigna Corp. | 356,606 | ||||||
1,629 | DaVita HealthCare Partners, Inc.* | 113,558 | ||||||
1,280 | DENTSPLY International, Inc. | 77,888 | ||||||
2,016 | Edwards Lifesciences Corp.* | 159,224 | ||||||
6,323 | Express Scripts Holding Co.* | 552,693 | ||||||
2,984 | HCA Holdings, Inc.* | 201,808 | ||||||
772 | Henry Schein, Inc.* | 122,123 | ||||||
1,399 | Humana, Inc. | 249,735 | ||||||
345 | Intuitive Surgical, Inc.* | 188,425 | ||||||
931 | Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings* | 115,109 | ||||||
2,183 | McKesson Corp. | 430,553 | ||||||
13,263 | Medtronic PLC | 1,020,190 | ||||||
779 | Patterson Companies, Inc. | 35,219 | ||||||
1,352 | Quest Diagnostics, Inc. | 96,181 | ||||||
2,618 | St. Jude Medical, Inc. | 161,714 | ||||||
2,975 | Stryker Corp. | 276,497 | ||||||
934 | Tenet Healthcare Corp.* | 28,300 | ||||||
8,964 | UnitedHealth Group, Inc. | 1,054,525 | ||||||
882 | Universal Health Services, Inc. Class B | 105,390 | ||||||
928 | Varian Medical Systems, Inc.* | 74,982 | ||||||
1,592 | Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. | 163,323 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
8,409,712 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Household & Personal Products – 2.0% |
| ||||||
1,236 | Church & Dwight Co., Inc. | 104,912 | ||||||
8,470 | Colgate-Palmolive Co. | 564,271 | ||||||
3,407 | Kimberly-Clark Corp. | 433,711 | ||||||
1,189 | The Clorox Co. | 150,801 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Household & Personal Products – (continued) |
| ||||||
2,117 | The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. Class A | $ | 186,423 | |||||
25,533 | The Procter & Gamble Co. | 2,027,576 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,467,694 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Insurance – 2.7% |
| ||||||
3,022 | ACE Ltd. | 353,121 | ||||||
4,074 | Aflac, Inc. | 244,033 | ||||||
11,678 | American International Group, Inc. | 723,686 | ||||||
2,546 | Aon PLC | 234,767 | ||||||
623 | Assurant, Inc. | 50,176 | ||||||
1,394 | Cincinnati Financial Corp. | 82,483 | ||||||
2,347 | Lincoln National Corp. | 117,960 | ||||||
2,656 | Loews Corp. | 101,990 | ||||||
4,856 | Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. | 269,265 | ||||||
10,474 | MetLife, Inc. | 504,951 | ||||||
2,611 | Principal Financial Group, Inc. | 117,443 | ||||||
4,210 | Prudential Financial, Inc. | 342,736 | ||||||
3,599 | The Allstate Corp. | 223,462 | ||||||
2,114 | The Chubb Corp. | 280,401 | ||||||
3,900 | The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. | 169,494 | ||||||
5,426 | The Progressive Corp. | 172,547 | ||||||
2,836 | The Travelers Companies, Inc. | 320,071 | ||||||
1,088 | Torchmark Corp. | 62,190 | ||||||
2,254 | Unum Group | 75,036 | ||||||
2,856 | XL Group PLC | 111,898 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
4,557,710 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Materials – 2.8% |
| ||||||
1,810 | Air Products & Chemicals, Inc. | 235,499 | ||||||
617 | Airgas, Inc. | 85,343 | ||||||
11,842 | Alcoa, Inc. | 116,881 | ||||||
832 | Avery Dennison Corp. | 52,133 | ||||||
1,339 | Ball Corp. | 97,385 | ||||||
2,254 | CF Industries Holdings, Inc. | 91,986 | ||||||
8,274 | E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. | 551,048 | ||||||
1,372 | Eastman Chemical Co. | 92,624 | ||||||
2,516 | Ecolab, Inc. | 287,780 | ||||||
1,278 | FMC Corp. | 50,008 | ||||||
10,104 | Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. | 68,404 | ||||||
766 | International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. | 91,644 | ||||||
3,967 | International Paper Co. | 149,556 | ||||||
3,393 | LyondellBasell Industries NV Class A | 294,852 | ||||||
611 | Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. | 83,450 | ||||||
4,146 | Monsanto Co. | 408,464 | ||||||
5,034 | Newmont Mining Corp. | 90,562 | ||||||
3,043 | Nucor Corp. | 122,633 | ||||||
1,570 | Owens-Illinois, Inc.* | 27,349 | ||||||
2,521 | PPG Industries, Inc. | 249,125 | ||||||
2,714 | Praxair, Inc. | 277,914 | ||||||
1,911 | Sealed Air Corp. | 85,231 | ||||||
10,603 | The Dow Chemical Co. | 545,842 | ||||||
|
|
42 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Materials – (continued) |
| ||||||
3,030 | The Mosaic Co. | $ | 83,598 | |||||
738 | The Sherwin-Williams Co. | 191,585 | ||||||
1,233 | Vulcan Materials Co. | 117,098 | ||||||
2,484 | WestRock Co. | 113,320 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
4,661,314 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Media – 3.0% |
| ||||||
2,057 | Cablevision Systems Corp. Class A | 65,618 | ||||||
4,021 | CBS Corp. Class B | 189,510 | ||||||
22,901 | Comcast Corp. Class A | 1,292,303 | ||||||
1,393 | Discovery Communications, Inc. Class A* | 37,165 | ||||||
2,499 | Discovery Communications, Inc. Class C* | 63,025 | ||||||
1,017 | News Corp. | 14,197 | ||||||
3,602 | News Corp. Class A | 48,123 | ||||||
2,259 | Omnicom Group, Inc. | 170,916 | ||||||
918 | Scripps Networks Interactive, Inc. Class A | 50,683 | ||||||
2,048 | TEGNA, Inc. | 52,265 | ||||||
3,864 | The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. | 89,954 | ||||||
14,268 | The Walt Disney Co. | 1,499,281 | ||||||
2,648 | Time Warner Cable, Inc. | 491,442 | ||||||
7,473 | Time Warner, Inc. | 483,279 | ||||||
12,147 | Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. Class A | 329,913 | ||||||
4,073 | Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. Class B | 110,908 | ||||||
3,225 | Viacom, Inc. Class B | 132,741 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,121,323 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – 10.1% |
| ||||||
15,318 | AbbVie, Inc. | 907,438 | ||||||
3,186 | Agilent Technologies, Inc. | 133,207 | ||||||
2,136 | Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 407,442 | ||||||
3,693 | Allergan PLC* | 1,154,062 | ||||||
7,113 | Amgen, Inc. | 1,154,653 | ||||||
5,156 | Baxalta, Inc. | 201,239 | ||||||
2,087 | Biogen, Inc.* | 639,352 | ||||||
15,640 | Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. | 1,075,876 | ||||||
7,361 | Celgene Corp.* | 881,553 | ||||||
9,191 | Eli Lilly & Co. | 774,434 | ||||||
1,928 | Endo International PLC* | 118,032 | ||||||
13,518 | Gilead Sciences, Inc. | 1,367,886 | ||||||
1,371 | Illumina, Inc.* | 263,157 | ||||||
25,989 | Johnson & Johnson | 2,669,590 | ||||||
1,078 | Mallinckrodt PLC* | 80,451 | ||||||
26,203 | Merck & Co., Inc. | 1,384,042 | ||||||
3,842 | Mylan NV* | 207,737 | ||||||
1,091 | PerkinElmer, Inc. | 58,445 | ||||||
1,378 | Perrigo Co. PLC | 199,397 | ||||||
57,905 | Pfizer, Inc. | 1,869,173 | ||||||
724 | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 393,038 | ||||||
3,730 | Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. | 529,101 | ||||||
2,284 | Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 287,396 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – (continued) |
| ||||||
781 | Waters Corp.* | $ | 105,107 | |||||
4,284 | Zoetis, Inc. | 205,289 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
17,067,097 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Real Estate – 2.7% |
| ||||||
3,998 | American Tower Corp. (REIT) | 387,606 | ||||||
1,402 | Apartment Investment & Management Co. Class A (REIT) | 56,122 | ||||||
1,235 | AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (REIT) | 227,401 | ||||||
1,432 | Boston Properties, Inc. (REIT) | 182,637 | ||||||
2,716 | CBRE Group, Inc. Class A* | 93,919 | ||||||
3,146 | Crown Castle International Corp. (REIT) | 271,972 | ||||||
552 | Equinix, Inc. (REIT) | 166,925 | ||||||
3,409 | Equity Residential (REIT) | 278,140 | ||||||
612 | Essex Property Trust, Inc. (REIT) | 146,296 | ||||||
5,425 | General Growth Properties, Inc. (REIT) | 147,614 | ||||||
4,297 | HCP, Inc. (REIT) | 164,317 | ||||||
6,947 | Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (REIT) | 106,567 | ||||||
1,891 | Iron Mountain, Inc. (REIT) | 51,076 | ||||||
3,948 | Kimco Realty Corp. (REIT) | 104,464 | ||||||
1,633 | Plum Creek Timber Co., Inc. (REIT) | 77,927 | ||||||
4,966 | Prologis, Inc. (REIT) | 213,141 | ||||||
1,372 | Public Storage (REIT) | 339,844 | ||||||
2,269 | Realty Income Corp. (REIT) | 117,149 | ||||||
2,902 | Simon Property Group, Inc. (REIT) | 564,265 | ||||||
942 | SL Green Realty Corp. (REIT) | 106,427 | ||||||
1,257 | The Macerich Co. (REIT) | 101,427 | ||||||
3,094 | Ventas, Inc. (REIT) | 174,595 | ||||||
1,647 | Vornado Realty Trust (REIT) | 164,634 | ||||||
3,345 | Welltower, Inc. (REIT) | 227,560 | ||||||
4,795 | Weyerhaeuser Co. (REIT) | 143,754 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
4,615,779 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Retailing – 5.5% |
| ||||||
684 | Advance Auto Parts, Inc. | 102,949 | ||||||
3,608 | Amazon.com, Inc.* | 2,438,611 | ||||||
696 | AutoNation, Inc.* | 41,523 | ||||||
289 | AutoZone, Inc.* | 214,412 | ||||||
1,570 | Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc.* | 75,752 | ||||||
2,821 | Best Buy Co., Inc. | 85,899 | ||||||
1,945 | CarMax, Inc.* | 104,972 | ||||||
2,787 | Dollar General Corp. | 200,302 | ||||||
2,160 | Dollar Tree, Inc.* | 166,795 | ||||||
1,111 | Expedia, Inc. | 138,097 | ||||||
981 | GameStop Corp. Class A | 27,507 | ||||||
1,404 | Genuine Parts Co. | 120,590 | ||||||
1,730 | Kohl’s Corp. | 82,400 | ||||||
2,332 | L Brands, Inc. | 223,452 | ||||||
8,566 | Lowe’s Companies, Inc. | 651,359 | ||||||
2,907 | Macy’s, Inc. | 101,687 | ||||||
3,994 | Netflix, Inc.* | 456,834 | ||||||
1,352 | Nordstrom, Inc. | 67,343 | ||||||
927 | O’Reilly Automotive, Inc.* | 234,920 | ||||||
3,855 | Ross Stores, Inc. | 207,438 | ||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 43 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Retailing – (continued) |
| ||||||
734 | Signet Jewelers Ltd. | $ | 90,788 | |||||
6,320 | Staples, Inc. | 59,850 | ||||||
5,754 | Target Corp. | 417,798 | ||||||
2,290 | The Gap, Inc. | 56,563 | ||||||
11,895 | The Home Depot, Inc. | 1,573,114 | ||||||
470 | The Priceline Group, Inc.* | 599,226 | ||||||
6,343 | The TJX Companies, Inc. | 449,782 | ||||||
1,026 | Tiffany & Co. | 78,274 | ||||||
1,269 | Tractor Supply Co. | 108,500 | ||||||
1,075 | TripAdvisor, Inc.* | 91,644 | ||||||
944 | Urban Outfitters, Inc.* | 21,476 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
9,289,857 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment – 2.5% |
| ||||||
2,949 | Analog Devices, Inc. | 163,139 | ||||||
10,665 | Applied Materials, Inc. | 199,116 | ||||||
2,456 | Avago Technologies Ltd. | 356,489 | ||||||
5,193 | Broadcom Corp. Class A | 300,259 | ||||||
668 | First Solar, Inc.* | 44,081 | ||||||
44,272 | Intel Corp. | 1,525,170 | ||||||
1,512 | KLA-Tencor Corp. | 104,857 | ||||||
1,502 | Lam Research Corp. | 119,289 | ||||||
2,325 | Linear Technology Corp. | 98,743 | ||||||
1,948 | Microchip Technology, Inc. | 90,660 | ||||||
9,991 | Micron Technology, Inc.* | 141,473 | ||||||
4,826 | NVIDIA Corp. | 159,065 | ||||||
1,287 | Qorvo, Inc.* | 65,508 | ||||||
1,786 | Skyworks Solutions, Inc. | 137,218 | ||||||
9,609 | Texas Instruments, Inc. | 526,669 | ||||||
2,490 | Xilinx, Inc. | 116,955 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
4,148,691 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Software & Services – 12.3% |
| ||||||
5,844 | Accenture PLC Class A | 610,698 | ||||||
4,672 | Activision Blizzard, Inc. | 180,853 | ||||||
4,707 | Adobe Systems, Inc.* | 442,176 | ||||||
1,695 | Akamai Technologies, Inc.* | 89,208 | ||||||
577 | Alliance Data Systems Corp.* | 159,581 | ||||||
2,734 | Alphabet, Inc. Class A* | 2,127,079 | ||||||
2,789 | Alphabet, Inc. Class C* | 2,116,516 | ||||||
2,108 | Autodesk, Inc.* | 128,441 | ||||||
4,355 | Automatic Data Processing, Inc. | 368,956 | ||||||
2,881 | CA, Inc. | 82,281 | ||||||
1,412 | Citrix Systems, Inc.* | 106,818 | ||||||
5,762 | Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. Class A* | 345,835 | ||||||
1,321 | CSRA, Inc. | 39,630 | ||||||
10,563 | eBay, Inc.* | 290,271 | ||||||
2,902 | Electronic Arts, Inc.* | 199,426 | ||||||
21,311 | Facebook, Inc. Class A* | 2,230,409 | ||||||
2,687 | Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. | 162,832 | ||||||
2,120 | Fiserv, Inc.* | 193,895 | ||||||
8,368 | International Business Machines Corp. | 1,151,604 | ||||||
2,491 | Intuit, Inc. | 240,382 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Software & Services – (continued) |
| ||||||
9,279 | Mastercard, Inc. Class A | $ | 903,404 | |||||
75,017 | Microsoft Corp. | 4,161,943 | ||||||
30,210 | Oracle Corp. | 1,103,571 | ||||||
3,009 | Paychex, Inc. | 159,146 | ||||||
10,423 | PayPal Holdings, Inc.* | 377,313 | ||||||
1,704 | Red Hat, Inc.* | 141,108 | ||||||
5,801 | salesforce.com inc* | 454,798 | ||||||
6,457 | Symantec Corp. | 135,597 | ||||||
1,169 | Teradata Corp.* | 30,885 | ||||||
4,898 | The Western Union Co. | 87,723 | ||||||
1,614 | Total System Services, Inc. | 80,377 | ||||||
911 | VeriSign, Inc.* | 79,585 | ||||||
18,356 | Visa, Inc. Class A | 1,423,508 | ||||||
8,761 | Xerox Corp. | 93,130 | ||||||
8,117 | Yahoo!, Inc.* | 269,971 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
20,768,950 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – 5.8% |
| ||||||
2,859 | Amphenol Corp. Class A | 149,326 | ||||||
52,367 | Apple, Inc. | 5,512,149 | ||||||
47,722 | Cisco Systems, Inc. | 1,295,891 | ||||||
10,977 | Corning, Inc. | 200,660 | ||||||
18,110 | EMC Corp. | 465,065 | ||||||
689 | F5 Networks, Inc.* | 66,805 | ||||||
1,314 | FLIR Systems, Inc. | 36,884 | ||||||
1,069 | Harris Corp. | 92,896 | ||||||
17,137 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. | 260,482 | ||||||
17,137 | HP, Inc. | 202,902 | ||||||
3,371 | Juniper Networks, Inc. | 93,040 | ||||||
1,547 | Motorola Solutions, Inc. | 105,892 | ||||||
2,738 | NetApp, Inc. | 72,639 | ||||||
14,190 | QUALCOMM, Inc. | 709,287 | ||||||
1,913 | SanDisk Corp. | 145,369 | ||||||
2,861 | Seagate Technology PLC | 104,884 | ||||||
3,591 | TE Connectivity Ltd. | 232,015 | ||||||
2,073 | Western Digital Corp. | 124,484 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
9,870,670 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Telecommunication Services – 2.4% |
| ||||||
57,754 | AT&T, Inc. | 1,987,315 | ||||||
5,061 | CenturyLink, Inc. | 127,335 | ||||||
10,443 | Frontier Communications Corp. | 48,769 | ||||||
2,675 | Level 3 Communications, Inc.* | 145,413 | ||||||
38,145 | Verizon Communications, Inc. | 1,763,062 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
4,071,894 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Transportation – 2.1% |
| ||||||
5,923 | American Airlines Group, Inc. | 250,839 | ||||||
1,336 | C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. | 82,859 | ||||||
9,210 | CSX Corp. | 239,000 | ||||||
7,342 | Delta Air Lines, Inc. | 372,166 | ||||||
1,797 | Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. | 81,045 | ||||||
2,453 | FedEx Corp. | 365,473 | ||||||
904 | J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Inc. | 66,317 | ||||||
|
|
44 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Transportation – (continued) |
| ||||||
1,037 | Kansas City Southern | $ | 77,433 | |||||
2,836 | Norfolk Southern Corp. | 239,897 | ||||||
527 | Ryder System, Inc. | 29,949 | ||||||
6,146 | Southwest Airlines Co. | 264,647 | ||||||
8,060 | Union Pacific Corp. | 630,292 | ||||||
3,558 | United Continental Holdings, Inc.* | 203,873 | ||||||
6,541 | United Parcel Service, Inc. Class B | 629,440 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,533,230 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Utilities – 3.0% |
| ||||||
6,546 | AES Corp. | 62,645 | ||||||
1,111 | AGL Resources, Inc. | 70,893 | ||||||
2,247 | Ameren Corp. | 97,138 | ||||||
4,660 | American Electric Power Co., Inc. | 271,538 | ||||||
4,108 | CenterPoint Energy, Inc. | 75,423 | ||||||
2,575 | CMS Energy Corp. | 92,906 | ||||||
2,740 | Consolidated Edison, Inc. | 176,100 | ||||||
5,586 | Dominion Resources, Inc. | 377,837 | ||||||
1,690 | DTE Energy Co. | 135,521 | ||||||
6,448 | Duke Energy Corp. | 460,323 | ||||||
3,031 | Edison International | 179,466 | ||||||
1,711 | Entergy Corp. | 116,964 | ||||||
3,035 | Eversource Energy | 154,997 | ||||||
8,190 | Exelon Corp. | 227,436 | ||||||
4,014 | FirstEnergy Corp. | 127,364 | ||||||
4,305 | NextEra Energy, Inc. | 447,246 | ||||||
3,150 | NiSource, Inc. | 61,457 | ||||||
3,185 | NRG Energy, Inc. | 37,487 | ||||||
2,478 | Pepco Holdings, Inc. | 64,453 | ||||||
4,561 | PG&E Corp. | 242,600 | ||||||
1,006 | Pinnacle West Capital Corp. | 64,867 | ||||||
6,350 | PPL Corp. | 216,726 | ||||||
4,706 | Public Service Enterprise Group, Inc. | 182,075 | ||||||
1,337 | SCANA Corp. | 80,875 | ||||||
2,233 | Sempra Energy | 209,924 | ||||||
2,312 | TECO Energy, Inc. | 61,615 | ||||||
8,591 | The Southern Co. | 401,973 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Utilities – (continued) |
| ||||||
2,975 | WEC Energy Group, Inc. | $ | 152,647 | |||||
4,722 | Xcel Energy, Inc. | 169,567 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,020,063 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS | ||||||||
(Cost $82,539,518) | $ | 168,228,241 | ||||||
|
|
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligation – 0.0%(b)(c) | ||||||||||||||
| United States Treasury Bills |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 100,000 | 0.000 | % | 03/10/16 | $ | 99,978 | ||||||||
(Cost $99,996) | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 99.4% | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $82,639,514) | $ | 168,328,219 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF | | 966,858 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 169,295,077 | ||||||||||||
|
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
* | Non-income producing security. | |
(a) | Represents an affiliated issuer. | |
(b) | Issued with a zero coupon. Income is recognized through the accretion of discount. | |
(c) | All or a portion of security is segregated as collateral for initial margin requirements on futures transactions. |
Investment Abbreviation: | ||||
REIT | —Real Estate Investment Trust |
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION
FUTURES CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following futures contracts:
Type | Number of Contracts Long (Short) | Expiration Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||||||||
S&P 500 E-Mini Index | 10 | March 2016 | $ | 1,017,700 | $ | (894 | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 45 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – 97.5% | ||||||||
| Automobiles & Components – 1.6% |
| ||||||
62,954 | BorgWarner, Inc. | $ | 2,721,501 | |||||
|
| |||||||
| Banks – 3.0% |
| ||||||
29,348 | Eagle Bancorp, Inc.* | 1,481,194 | ||||||
53,203 | First Republic Bank | 3,514,590 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
4,995,784 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Capital Goods – 12.5% |
| ||||||
50,984 | AMETEK, Inc. | 2,732,233 | ||||||
49,029 | Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. | 2,721,109 | ||||||
39,800 | Graco, Inc. | 2,868,386 | ||||||
19,895 | Hubbell, Inc. | 2,010,191 | ||||||
31,400 | Middleby Corp.* | 3,387,118 | ||||||
73,476 | Sensata Technologies Holding NV* | 3,384,305 | ||||||
12,761 | W.W. Grainger, Inc. | 2,585,251 | ||||||
36,859 | Xylem, Inc. | 1,345,353 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
21,033,946 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Durables & Apparel – 4.8% |
| ||||||
147,956 | Kate Spade & Co.* | 2,629,178 | ||||||
29,448 | PVH Corp. | 2,168,845 | ||||||
30,768 | Under Armour, Inc. Class A* | 2,480,209 | ||||||
13,653 | VF Corp. | 849,899 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
8,128,131 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Services – 3.5% |
| ||||||
91,740 | Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc. | 1,963,236 | ||||||
20,501 | Panera Bread Co. Class A* | 3,993,185 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,956,421 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Diversified Financials – 3.5% |
| ||||||
4,701 | Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.* | 751,032 | ||||||
15,090 | Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. | 3,866,963 | ||||||
191,374 | SLM Corp.* | 1,247,759 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,865,754 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Energy – 0.6% |
| ||||||
17,231 | Dril-Quip, Inc.* | 1,020,592 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing – 1.6% |
| ||||||
81,209 | Whole Foods Market, Inc. | 2,720,502 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco – 6.2% |
| ||||||
83,533 | Blue Buffalo Pet Products, Inc.* | 1,562,903 | ||||||
24,962 | Brown-Forman Corp. Class B | 2,478,227 | ||||||
44,698 | McCormick & Co., Inc. | 3,824,361 | ||||||
26,619 | The Hain Celestial Group, Inc.* | 1,075,141 | ||||||
19,368 | TreeHouse Foods, Inc.* | 1,519,613 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
10,460,245 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – 7.9% |
| ||||||
34,422 | Adeptus Health, Inc. Class A* | 1,876,688 | ||||||
21,881 | Cardinal Health, Inc. | 1,953,317 | ||||||
43,849 | Cerner Corp.* | 2,638,394 | ||||||
20,971 | DexCom, Inc.* | 1,717,525 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – (continued) |
| ||||||
20,881 | Henry Schein, Inc.* | $ | 3,303,165 | |||||
13,382 | Teleflex, Inc. | 1,759,064 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
13,248,153 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Materials – 3.0% |
| ||||||
20,110 | Ashland, Inc. | 2,065,297 | ||||||
84,570 | Axalta Coating Systems Ltd.* | 2,253,790 | ||||||
18,192 | RPM International, Inc. | 801,540 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,120,627 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – 8.6% |
| ||||||
49,616 | Agilent Technologies, Inc. | 2,074,445 | ||||||
20,962 | Alkermes PLC* | 1,663,964 | ||||||
14,083 | BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Inc.* | 1,475,335 | ||||||
67,148 | Cepheid, Inc.* | 2,452,917 | ||||||
12,507 | Medivation, Inc.* | 604,588 | ||||||
5,556 | Mettler-Toledo International, Inc.* | 1,884,206 | ||||||
9,735 | Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 1,224,955 | ||||||
66,432 | Zoetis, Inc. | 3,183,421 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
14,563,831 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Real Estate – 2.8% |
| ||||||
15,846 | Equinix, Inc. (REIT) | 4,791,830 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Retailing – 13.3% |
| ||||||
18,812 | Advance Auto Parts, Inc. | 2,831,394 | ||||||
21,857 | Expedia, Inc. | 2,716,825 | ||||||
55,006 | Five Below, Inc.* | 1,765,692 | ||||||
18,996 | L Brands, Inc. | 1,820,197 | ||||||
90,338 | LKQ Corp.* | 2,676,715 | ||||||
3,292 | O’Reilly Automotive, Inc.* | 834,259 | ||||||
25,295 | Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc.* | 2,009,688 | ||||||
43,561 | Tractor Supply Co. | 3,724,465 | ||||||
22,094 | Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance, Inc.* | 4,087,390 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
22,466,625 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment – 1.9% |
| ||||||
62,098 | Qorvo, Inc.* | 3,160,788 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Software & Services – 15.7% |
| ||||||
88,775 | Black Knight Financial Services, Inc. Class A* | 2,934,901 | ||||||
42,766 | Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. | 2,591,620 | ||||||
19,329 | FleetCor Technologies, Inc.* | 2,762,694 | ||||||
21,637 | Global Payments, Inc. | 1,395,803 | ||||||
40,489 | Intuit, Inc. | 3,907,188 | ||||||
16,544 | LinkedIn Corp. Class A* | 3,723,724 | ||||||
59,520 | Match Group, Inc.* | 806,496 | ||||||
102,456 | Sabre Corp. | 2,865,694 | ||||||
34,285 | ServiceNow, Inc.* | 2,967,710 | ||||||
31,489 | Splunk, Inc.* | 1,851,868 | ||||||
26,473 | Twitter, Inc.* | 612,585 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
26,420,283 | ||||||||
|
|
46 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – 2.4% |
| ||||||
67,994 | Amphenol Corp. Class A | $ | 3,551,327 | |||||
25,951 | Pure Storage, Inc. Class A* | 404,057 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,955,384 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Telecommunication Services – 3.1% |
| ||||||
29,814 | Level 3 Communications, Inc.* | 1,620,689 | ||||||
34,566 | SBA Communications Corp. Class A* | 3,631,850 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,252,539 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Transportation – 1.5% |
| ||||||
34,175 | Kansas City Southern | 2,551,847 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 97.5% | ||||||||
(Cost $138,613,595) | $ | 164,434,783 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF | 4,250,332 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 168,685,115 | ||||||
|
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
* | Non-income producing security. |
Investment Abbreviation: | ||
REIT | —Real Estate Investment Trust |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 47 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST HIGH QUALITY FLOATING RATE FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – 48.6% | ||||||||||||||
| Collateralized Mortgage Obligations – 35.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| Agency Multi-Family(a) – 7.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| FHLMC Multifamily Structured Pass-Through Certificates | | ||||||||||||
$ | 720,852 | 0.802 | % | 07/25/20 | $ | 721,258 | ||||||||
| FHLMC Multifamily Structured Pass-Through Certificates | | ||||||||||||
484,813 | 0.762 | 01/25/21 | 484,382 | |||||||||||
| FHLMC Multifamily Structured Pass-Through Certificates | | ||||||||||||
1,465,784 | 0.572 | 08/25/23 | 1,464,208 | |||||||||||
| FNMA |
| ||||||||||||
180,688 | 2.800 | 03/01/18 | 184,220 | |||||||||||
466,436 | 3.740 | 05/01/18 | 485,841 | |||||||||||
110,000 | 3.840 | 05/01/18 | 114,905 | |||||||||||
400,000 | 4.506 | 06/01/19 | 417,403 | |||||||||||
88,417 | 3.414 | 10/01/20 | 93,304 | |||||||||||
85,147 | 3.619 | 12/01/20 | 90,159 | |||||||||||
355,189 | 3.765 | 12/01/20 | 378,493 | |||||||||||
183,531 | 4.381 | 06/01/21 | 201,179 | |||||||||||
| FNMA ACES Series 2013-M11, Class FA |
| ||||||||||||
360,351 | 0.752 | 01/25/18 | 360,595 | |||||||||||
| FNMA ACES Series 2014-M5, Class FA |
| ||||||||||||
70,485 | 0.544 | 01/25/17 | 70,484 | |||||||||||
| GNMA |
| ||||||||||||
62,398 | 3.950 | 07/15/25 | 66,969 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
5,133,400 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Regular Floater(a) – 28.0% |
| ||||||||||||
| Aire Valley Mortgages PLC Series 2006-1A, Class 1A(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
1,598,898 | 0.790 | 09/20/66 | 1,527,856 | |||||||||||
| FHLMC REMIC Series 3208, Class FD(c) |
| ||||||||||||
322,362 | 0.731 | 08/15/36 | 323,411 | |||||||||||
| FHLMC REMIC Series 3208, Class FG(c) |
| ||||||||||||
1,298,102 | 0.731 | 08/15/36 | 1,302,324 | |||||||||||
| FHLMC REMIC Series 3307, Class FT |
| ||||||||||||
1,960,489 | 0.571 | 07/15/34 | 1,966,505 | |||||||||||
| FHLMC REMIC Series 3311, Class KF |
| ||||||||||||
3,163,680 | 0.671 | 05/15/37 | 3,170,561 | |||||||||||
| FHLMC REMIC Series 3371, Class FA(c) |
| ||||||||||||
815,989 | 0.930 | 09/15/37 | 825,434 | |||||||||||
| FHLMC REMIC Series 4174, Class FB |
| ||||||||||||
1,528,363 | 0.630 | 05/15/39 | 1,523,844 | |||||||||||
| FNMA REMIC Series 2006-82, Class F |
| ||||||||||||
750,433 | 0.992 | 09/25/36 | 756,392 | |||||||||||
| FNMA REMIC Series 2006-96, Class FA |
| ||||||||||||
1,041,548 | 0.722 | 10/25/36 | 1,044,773 | |||||||||||
| FNMA REMIC Series 2007-85, Class FC |
| ||||||||||||
776,692 | 0.962 | 09/25/37 | 785,125 | |||||||||||
| FNMA REMIC Series 2008-8, Class FB |
| ||||||||||||
1,058,351 | 1.242 | 02/25/38 | 1,071,488 | |||||||||||
| FNMA REMIC Series 2012-35, Class QF |
| ||||||||||||
1,962,496 | 0.822 | 04/25/42 | 1,972,435 | |||||||||||
| GNMA Series 2005-48, Class AF |
| ||||||||||||
1,001,244 | 0.602 | 06/20/35 | 998,330 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Regular Floater(a) – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Leek Finance Number Eighteen PLC Series 18X, Class A2B(c) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 127,965 | 0.830 | % | 09/21/38 | $ | 133,943 | ||||||||
| Leek Finance Number Seventeen PLC Series 17A, Class A2B(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
54,118 | 0.850 | 12/21/37 | 57,599 | |||||||||||
| National Credit Union Administration Guaranteed Notes Trust | | ||||||||||||
2,410,563 | 0.726 | 01/08/20 | 2,416,778 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
19,876,798 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL COLLATERALIZED MORTGAGE OBLIGATIONS | | $ | 25,010,198 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities – 3.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Regular Floater(a)(b) – 3.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Banc of America Commercial Mortgage Trust Series 2006-3, | | ||||||||||||
$ | 178,258 | 5.889 | % | 07/10/44 | $ | 179,199 | ||||||||
| Commercial Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates | | ||||||||||||
900,000 | 1.201 | 06/11/27 | 889,557 | |||||||||||
| JP Morgan Chase Commercial Mortgage Securities Trust | | ||||||||||||
1,100,000 | 1.280 | 12/15/28 | 1,099,952 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL COMMERCIAL MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES | | $ | 2,168,708 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Federal Agencies(a) – 10.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| Adjustable Rate FHLMC – 5.4% |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 323,965 | 2.412 | % | 05/01/35 | $ | 342,244 | ||||||||
137,004 | 2.500 | 09/01/35 | 145,386 | |||||||||||
497,008 | 2.577 | 12/01/36 | 525,995 | |||||||||||
979,666 | 2.805 | 04/01/37 | 1,039,676 | |||||||||||
757,998 | 2.467 | 01/01/38 | 804,429 | |||||||||||
887,963 | 2.530 | 01/01/38 | 942,834 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
3,800,564 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Adjustable Rate FNMA – 4.3% |
| ||||||||||||
95,898 | 2.104 | 05/01/33 | 99,634 | |||||||||||
256,365 | 2.458 | 05/01/35 | 272,003 | |||||||||||
577,795 | 2.384 | 06/01/35 | 610,658 | |||||||||||
798,055 | 2.383 | 11/01/35 | 836,709 | |||||||||||
128,815 | 2.408 | 12/01/35 | 135,974 | |||||||||||
507,131 | 2.613 | 03/01/37 | 538,195 | |||||||||||
561,720 | 2.387 | 12/01/37 | 595,135 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
3,088,308 | ||||||||||||||
|
|
48 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST HIGH QUALITY FLOATING RATE FUND
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Adjustable Rate GNMA – 0.6% |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 409,938 | 1.750 | % | 04/20/33 | $ | 423,170 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL FEDERAL AGENCIES | $ | 7,312,042 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL MORTGAGE-BACKED OBLIGATIONS | | ||||||||||||
(Cost $34,464,193) | $ | 34,490,948 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities – 31.8% | ||||||||||||||
| Auto – 1.7% |
| ||||||||||||
| Ally Master Owner Trust Series 2013-1, Class A1(a) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 1,250,000 | 0.781 | % | 02/15/18 | $ | 1,250,188 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Collateralized Loan Obligations(a) – 7.8% |
| ||||||||||||
| Acis CLO Ltd. Series 2013-2A, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
694,842 | 0.821 | 10/14/22 | 685,977 | |||||||||||
| ARES XII CLO Ltd. Series 2007-12A, Class A(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
259,047 | 1.023 | 11/25/20 | 256,284 | |||||||||||
| Black Diamond CLO Ltd. Series 2006-1A, Class AD(b) |
| ||||||||||||
322,666 | 0.574 | 04/29/19 | 315,861 | |||||||||||
| Brentwood CLO Corp. Series 2006-1A, Class A1A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
638,711 | 0.599 | 02/01/22 | 627,913 | |||||||||||
| Brentwood CLO Corp. Series 2006-1A, Class A1B(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,922 | 0.599 | 02/01/22 | 246,680 | |||||||||||
| Callidus Debt Partners CLO Fund VI Ltd. Series 6A, | | ||||||||||||
356,309 | 0.576 | 10/23/21 | 348,982 | |||||||||||
| KKR Financial CLO Ltd. Series 2007-1A, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
446,017 | 0.712 | 05/15/21 | 442,816 | |||||||||||
| OZLM Funding III Ltd. Series 2013-3A, Class A1(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
500,000 | 1.650 | 01/22/25 | 495,441 | |||||||||||
| Parallel 2015-1 Ltd. Series 2015-1A, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
300,000 | 1.733 | 07/20/27 | 293,895 | |||||||||||
| Westbrook CLO Ltd. Series 2006-1X, Class A1 |
| ||||||||||||
186,216 | 0.810 | 12/20/20 | 184,691 | |||||||||||
| Westchester CLO Ltd. Series 2007-1X, Class A1A |
| ||||||||||||
1,262,331 | 0.554 | 08/01/22 | 1,245,180 | |||||||||||
| Z Capital Credit Partners CLO Ltd. Series 2015-1A, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
400,000 | 1.618 | 07/16/27 | 390,372 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
5,534,092 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Credit Card – 1.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| Bank of America Credit Card Trust Series 2014-A1, Class A(a) |
| ||||||||||||
1,000,000 | 0.711 | 06/15/21 | 997,881 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Student Loans(a) – 20.9% |
| ||||||||||||
| Academic Loan Funding Trust Series 2013-1A, Class A(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
677,157 | 1.222 | 12/26/44 | 657,461 | |||||||||||
| Access Group, Inc. Series 2006-1, Class A2 |
| ||||||||||||
154,780 | 0.503 | 08/25/23 | 153,278 | |||||||||||
| Access Group, Inc. Series 2015-1, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
137,888 | 1.122 | 07/25/56 | 133,868 | |||||||||||
| Access to Loans for Learning Student Loan Corp. Series 2013-I, | | ||||||||||||
606,140 | 1.222 | 02/25/41 | 591,724 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Student Loans(a) – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Brazos Higher Education Authority, Inc. Series 2005-1, | | ||||||||||||
$ | 94,395 | 0.713 | % | 09/26/22 | $ | 93,983 | ||||||||
| Brazos Higher Education Authority, Inc. Series 2005-2, | | ||||||||||||
348,246 | 0.723 | 12/26/19 | 347,185 | |||||||||||
| Education Loan Asset-Backed Trust I Series 2013-1, Class A1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
477,146 | 1.222 | 06/25/26 | 471,807 | |||||||||||
| Educational Funding of the South, Inc. Series 2011-1, Class A2(c) |
| ||||||||||||
832,281 | 0.970 | 04/25/35 | 808,560 | |||||||||||
| Educational Services of America, Inc. Series 2010-1, Class A1(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
1,306,307 | 1.170 | 07/25/23 | 1,304,600 | |||||||||||
| Educational Services of America, Inc. Series 2014-1, Class A(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
403,078 | 1.122 | 02/25/39 | 394,943 | |||||||||||
| EFS Volunteer No. 3 LLC Series 2012-1, Class A2(b) |
| ||||||||||||
1,750,000 | 1.422 | 02/25/25 | 1,748,433 | |||||||||||
| GCO Education Loan Funding Trust Series 2006-1, Class A8L |
| ||||||||||||
619,773 | 0.523 | 05/25/25 | 609,015 | |||||||||||
| Goal Capital Funding Trust Series 2006-1, Class A3 |
| ||||||||||||
35,316 | 0.513 | 11/25/26 | 35,190 | |||||||||||
| Goal Capital Funding Trust Series 2007-1, Class A3(c) |
| ||||||||||||
151,007 | 0.693 | 09/25/28 | 149,041 | |||||||||||
| Higher Education Funding I Series 2005-1, Class A4 |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 0.533 | 02/25/30 | 98,420 | |||||||||||
| Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corp. Series 2015-1, | | ||||||||||||
964,466 | 1.178 | 12/01/31 | 936,188 | |||||||||||
| Montana Higher Education Student Assistance Corp. | | ||||||||||||
1,054,663 | 1.402 | 05/20/30 | 1,048,868 | |||||||||||
| Nelnet Student Loan Trust Series 2005-4, Class A3(c) |
| ||||||||||||
139,241 | 0.716 | 06/22/26 | 137,072 | |||||||||||
| Nelnet Student Loan Trust Series 2006-2, Class A5(c) |
| ||||||||||||
650,000 | 0.420 | 01/25/30 | 637,298 | |||||||||||
| Nelnet Student Loan Trust Series 2013-5A, Class A(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
131,003 | 1.052 | 01/25/37 | 127,583 | |||||||||||
| Panhandle-Plains Higher Education Authority, Inc. Series 2011-1, | | ||||||||||||
729,674 | 1.562 | 07/01/24 | 729,954 | |||||||||||
| Scholar Funding Trust Series 2010-A, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
336,731 | 1.073 | 10/28/41 | 326,803 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2003-12, Class A5(b) |
| ||||||||||||
194,424 | 0.792 | 09/15/22 | 193,188 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2003-14, Class A5 |
| ||||||||||||
65,196 | 0.550 | 01/25/23 | 64,478 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2005-9, Class A6 |
| ||||||||||||
650,000 | 0.870 | 10/26/26 | 645,548 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2006-2, Class A5(c) |
| ||||||||||||
624,441 | 0.430 | 07/25/25 | 615,677 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2006-4, Class A5(c) |
| ||||||||||||
624,915 | 0.420 | 10/27/25 | 623,029 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2006-9, Class A4 |
| ||||||||||||
29,298 | 0.390 | 10/25/22 | 29,217 | |||||||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 49 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST HIGH QUALITY FLOATING RATE FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Student Loans(a) – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2008-5, Class A4(c) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 200,000 | 2.020 | % | 07/25/23 | $ | 200,777 | ||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2013-3, Class A2(c) |
| ||||||||||||
77,784 | 0.722 | 05/26/20 | 77,362 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2014-1, Class A2(c) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 0.802 | 07/26/21 | 99,345 | |||||||||||
| Utah State Board of Regents Series 2015-1, Class A(c) |
| ||||||||||||
666,247 | 1.022 | 02/25/43 | 652,402 | |||||||||||
| Wachovia Student Loan Trust Series 2005-1, Class A5 |
| ||||||||||||
70,139 | 0.450 | 01/26/26 | 68,885 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
14,811,182 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $22,768,933) | $ | 22,593,343 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations – 4.5% | ||||||||||||||
| United States Treasury Floating Rate Note(a) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 1,500,000 | 0.330 | % | 07/31/16 | $ | 1,500,180 | ||||||||
300,000 | 0.428 | 10/31/17 | 299,739 | |||||||||||
| United States Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities |
| ||||||||||||
1,151,854 | 0.125 | 04/15/17 | 1,149,516 | |||||||||||
205,778 | 0.125 | 04/15/18 | 205,457 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL U.S. TREASURY OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $3,155,539) | $ | 3,154,892 | ||||||||||||
|
|
Shares | Distribution Rate | Value | ||||||
Investment Company(a)(d) – 14.6% | ||||||||
Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund – FST Shares |
| |||||||
$10,347,519 | 0.185 | % | $ | 10,347,519 | ||||
(Cost $10,347,519) | ||||||||
| ||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 99.5% | ||||||||
(Cost $70,736,184) | $ | 70,586,702 | ||||||
| ||||||||
OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF LIABILITIES – 0.5% | 378,591 | |||||||
| ||||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 70,965,293 | ||||||
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
(a) | Variable rate security. Interest rate or distribution rate disclosed is that which is in effect on December 31, 2015. | |
(b) | Exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. Under procedures approved by the Board of Trustees, such securities may be deemed liquid by the Investment Adviser and may be resold, normally to qualified institutional buyers in transactions exempt from registration. Total market value of Rule 144A securities amounts to $13,037,871, which represents approximately 18.4% of net assets as of December 31, 2015. | |
(c) | Securities with “Call” features. Maturity dates disclosed are the final maturity dates. | |
(d) | Represents an affiliated issuer. |
Investment Abbreviations: | ||
FHLMC | —Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. | |
FNMA | —Federal National Mortgage Association | |
GNMA | —Government National Mortgage Association | |
REMIC | —Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit |
50 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST HIGH QUALITY FLOATING RATE FUND
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION
FUTURES CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following futures contracts:
Type | Number of Contracts Long (Short) | Expiration Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||||||||
U.S. Long Bond | (15 | ) | March 2016 | $ | (2,306,250 | ) | $ | (2,408 | ) | |||||
U.S. Ultra Long Treasury Bonds | 12 | March 2016 | 1,904,250 | 9,634 | ||||||||||
2 Year U.S. Treasury Notes | (3 | ) | March 2016 | (651,703 | ) | 904 | ||||||||
5 Year U.S. Treasury Notes | (23 | ) | March 2016 | (2,721,367 | ) | 4,993 | ||||||||
10 Year U.S. Treasury Notes | 6 | March 2016 | 755,438 | (1,868 | ) | |||||||||
TOTAL | $ | 11,255 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 51 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Statements of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Core Fixed Income Fund | Equity Index Fund | Growth Fund | High Quality Fund | |||||||||||||
Assets: | ||||||||||||||||
Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (cost $112,138,491, $82,222,753, $138,613,595 and $60,388,665) | $ | 113,012,481 | $ | 167,658,845 | $ | 164,434,783 | $ | 60,239,183 | ||||||||
Investments in affiliated issuers, at value (cost $0, $416,761, $0 and $10,347,519) | — | 669,374 | — | 10,347,519 | ||||||||||||
Cash | 1,360,593 | 216,166 | 4,410,802 | 48,918 | ||||||||||||
Foreign currencies, at value (cost $85,277, $0, $0 and $0) | 86,180 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Receivables: | ||||||||||||||||
Investments sold on an extended-settlement basis | 2,072,134 | — | — | 41,097 | ||||||||||||
Interest and dividends | 710,944 | 226,230 | 55,320 | 63,512 | ||||||||||||
Investments sold | 219,659 | 684,380 | — | — | ||||||||||||
Collateral on certain derivative contracts(a) | 124,154 | — | — | 346,000 | ||||||||||||
Fund shares sold | 93,350 | 26,193 | 901 | 3,683 | ||||||||||||
Reimbursement from investment adviser | 63,760 | 28,766 | 40,959 | — | ||||||||||||
Foreign tax reclaims | 91 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Unrealized gain on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 52,055 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | — | — | — | 2,899 | ||||||||||||
Total assets | 117,795,401 | 169,509,954 | 168,942,765 | 71,092,811 | ||||||||||||
Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||
Unrealized loss on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 77,922 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | 32,997 | 9,604 | — | — | ||||||||||||
Payables: | ||||||||||||||||
Investments purchased on an extended-settlement basis | 11,550,547 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Forward sale contracts, at value (proceeds received $999,531, $0, $0, $0) | 999,766 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Management fees | 35,340 | 30,445 | 125,177 | 22,560 | ||||||||||||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 23,853 | 39,144 | 25,894 | 16,462 | ||||||||||||
Fund shares redeemed | 2,801 | 28,083 | 36,977 | 16,350 | ||||||||||||
Investments purchased | — | 59,868 | — | — | ||||||||||||
Accrued expenses | 122,080 | 47,733 | 69,602 | 72,146 | ||||||||||||
Total liabilities | 12,845,306 | 214,877 | 257,650 | 127,518 | ||||||||||||
Net Assets: | ||||||||||||||||
Paid-in capital | 109,672,339 | 92,372,623 | 142,832,060 | 71,937,424 | ||||||||||||
Undistributed net investment income | 420,445 | 995,608 | 16,914 | 61,441 | ||||||||||||
Accumulated net realized gain (loss) | (5,970,241 | ) | (9,760,965 | ) | 14,953 | (895,345 | ) | |||||||||
Net unrealized gain (loss) | 827,552 | 85,687,811 | 25,821,188 | (138,227 | ) | |||||||||||
NET ASSETS | $ | 104,950,095 | $ | 169,295,077 | $ | 168,685,115 | $ | 70,965,293 | ||||||||
Net Assets: | ||||||||||||||||
Institutional | $ | 26,030 | $ | — | $ | 31,618 | $ | 25,135 | ||||||||
Service | 104,924,065 | 169,295,077 | 168,653,497 | 69,624,883 | ||||||||||||
Advisor | — | — | — | 1,315,275 | ||||||||||||
Total Net Assets | $ | 104,950,095 | $ | 169,295,077 | $ | 168,685,115 | $ | 70,965,293 | ||||||||
Shares of beneficial interest outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||||||||||||||
Institutional | 2,471 | — | 4,709 | 2,416 | ||||||||||||
Service | 9,960,470 | 12,168,998 | 25,260,275 | 6,708,042 | ||||||||||||
Advisor | — | — | — | 126,529 | ||||||||||||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||||||||||||||
Institutional | $10.53 | $— | $6.71 | $10.40 | ||||||||||||
Service | 10.53 | 13.91 | 6.68 | 10.38 | ||||||||||||
Advisor | — | — | — | 10.40 |
(a) Includes amounts segregated for initial margin and/or collateral on futures transactions and swap transactions as follows:
Futures | Swaps | |||||||
Core Fixed Income | $ | — | $ | 124,154 | ||||
High Quality Floating Rate | 346,000 | — |
52 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Statements of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Core Fixed Income Fund | Equity Index Fund | Growth Fund | High Quality Fund | |||||||||||||
Investment income: | ||||||||||||||||
Interest | $ | 3,023,586 | $ | 7 | $ | — | $ | 668,915 | ||||||||
Dividends — unaffiliated issuer (net of foreign taxes withheld of $0, $257, $0 and $0) | — | 4,743,692 | 1,384,344 | — | ||||||||||||
Dividends — affiliated issuers | 21 | 10,084 | — | 1,986 | ||||||||||||
Total investment income | 3,023,607 | 4,753,783 | 1,384,344 | 670,901 | ||||||||||||
Expenses: | ||||||||||||||||
Management fees | 411,187 | 540,731 | 1,900,091 | 292,893 | ||||||||||||
Distribution and Service fees(a) | 256,926 | 450,607 | 474,938 | 184,222 | ||||||||||||
Professional fees | 129,100 | 85,134 | 80,787 | 143,531 | ||||||||||||
Printing and mailing costs | 82,906 | 33,602 | 56,122 | 60,217 | ||||||||||||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 76,092 | 55,763 | 55,234 | 42,769 | ||||||||||||
Trustee fees | 23,961 | 25,946 | 25,753 | 23,845 | ||||||||||||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 20,556 | 36,046 | 37,999 | 14,642 | ||||||||||||
Other | 14,955 | 41,867 | 20,244 | 10,932 | ||||||||||||
Total expenses | 1,015,683 | 1,269,696 | 2,651,168 | 773,051 | ||||||||||||
Less — expense reductions | (325,926 | ) | (398,106 | ) | (584,682 | ) | (305,017 | ) | ||||||||
Net expenses | 689,757 | 871,590 | 2,066,486 | 468,034 | ||||||||||||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME (LOSS) | 2,333,850 | 3,882,193 | (682,142 | ) | 202,867 | |||||||||||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||||||||||||||
Net realized gain (loss) from: | ||||||||||||||||
Investments — unaffiliated issuers (including commissions recaptured of $0, $0, $7,122 and $0) | 368,007 | 9,797,131 | 13,086,912 | (45,975 | ) | |||||||||||
Investments — affiliated issuer | — | 28,094 | — | — | ||||||||||||
Futures contracts | 86,459 | 43,687 | — | (45,512 | ) | |||||||||||
Swap contracts | 31,964 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 338,720 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Foreign currency transactions | (365 | ) | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on: | ||||||||||||||||
Investments — unaffiliated issuers | (2,872,250 | ) | (11,765,187 | ) | (22,032,924 | ) | (439,536 | ) | ||||||||
Investments — affiliated issuer | — | (78,501 | ) | — | — | |||||||||||
Futures contracts | 181,756 | (41,230 | ) | — | 14,728 | |||||||||||
Swap contracts | 27,189 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts | (140,071 | ) | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Foreign currency translation | 3,475 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Net realized and unrealized loss | (1,975,116 | ) | (2,016,006 | ) | (8,946,012 | ) | (516,295 | ) | ||||||||
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | 358,734 | $ | 1,866,187 | $ | (9,628,154 | ) | $ | (313,428 | ) |
(a) Class specific Distribution and Service, and Transfer Agency fees were as follows:
Distribution and Service Fees | Transfer Agency Fees | |||||||||||||||||||
Fund | Service | Advisor | Institutional | Service | Advisor | |||||||||||||||
Core Fixed Income | $ | 256,926 | N/A | $ | 4 | $ | 20,552 | N/A | ||||||||||||
Equity Index | 450,607 | N/A | N/A | 36,046 | N/A | |||||||||||||||
Growth Opportunities | 474,938 | N/A | 7 | 37,992 | N/A | |||||||||||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | 180,950 | $ | 3,272 | 3 | 14,475 | $ | 164 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 53 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
Core Fixed Income Fund | Equity Index Fund | |||||||||||||||
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||
From operations: | ||||||||||||||||
Net investment income (loss) | $ | 2,333,850 | $ | 2,314,205 | $ | 3,882,193 | $ | 2,939,853 | ||||||||
Net realized gain (loss) | 824,785 | 924,121 | 9,868,912 | 8,865,526 | ||||||||||||
Net change in unrealized gain (loss) | (2,799,901 | ) | 2,845,757 | (11,884,918 | ) | 11,634,845 | ||||||||||
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations | 358,734 | 6,084,083 | 1,866,187 | 23,440,224 | ||||||||||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | (693 | ) | (758 | ) | — | — | ||||||||||
Service Shares | (2,475,317 | ) | (3,005,705 | ) | (3,127,567 | ) | (3,027,833 | ) | ||||||||
Advisor Shares | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
From net realized gains | ||||||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Service Shares | — | — | (9,730,333 | ) | (3,936,430 | ) | ||||||||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (2,476,010 | ) | (3,006,463 | ) | (12,857,900 | ) | (6,964,263 | ) | ||||||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 17,192,161 | 4,700,540 | 3,490,618 | 2,039,103 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 2,476,010 | 3,006,463 | 12,857,900 | 6,964,263 | ||||||||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (19,689,934 | ) | (20,249,586 | ) | (26,070,660 | ) | (29,369,734 | ) | ||||||||
Net decrease in net assets resulting from share transactions | (21,763 | ) | (12,542,583 | ) | (9,722,142 | ) | (20,366,368 | ) | ||||||||
TOTAL DECREASE | (2,139,039 | ) | (9,464,963 | ) | (20,713,855 | ) | (3,890,407 | ) | ||||||||
Net assets: | ||||||||||||||||
Beginning of year | 107,089,134 | 116,554,097 | 190,008,932 | 193,899,339 | ||||||||||||
End of year | $ | 104,950,095 | $ | 107,089,134 | $ | 169,295,077 | $ | 190,008,932 | ||||||||
Undistributed (distributions in excess of) net investment income (loss) | $ | 420,445 | $ | 174,914 | $ | 995,608 | $ | 251,773 |
54 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Growth Opportunities Fund | High Quality Floating Rate Fund | |||||||||||||
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||
$ | (682,142 | ) | $ | (782,314 | ) | $ | 202,867 | $ | 191,209 | |||||
13,086,912 | 35,749,537 | (91,487 | ) | (366,693 | ) | |||||||||
(22,032,924 | ) | (13,891,246 | ) | (424,808 | ) | 116,935 | ||||||||
(9,628,154 | ) | 21,075,977 | (313,428 | ) | (58,549 | ) | ||||||||
— | — | (176 | ) | (90 | ) | |||||||||
— | — | (316,783 | ) | (229,445 | ) | |||||||||
— | — | (3,093 | ) | — | ||||||||||
(2,613 | ) | (6,255 | ) | — | — | |||||||||
(14,040,255 | ) | (38,065,653 | ) | — | — | |||||||||
(14,042,868 | ) | (38,071,908 | ) | (320,052 | ) | (229,535 | ) | |||||||
9,813,897 | 10,066,903 | 8,890,822 | 9,127,538 | |||||||||||
14,042,868 | 38,071,908 | 320,052 | 229,535 | |||||||||||
(33,053,396 | ) | (31,492,267 | ) | (12,538,797 | ) | (12,308,954 | ) | |||||||
| (9,196,631 | ) | 16,646,544 | (3,327,923 | ) | (2,951,881 | ) | |||||||
(32,867,653 | ) | (349,387 | ) | (3,961,403 | ) | (3,239,965 | ) | |||||||
201,552,768 | 201,902,155 | 74,926,696 | 78,166,661 | |||||||||||
$ | 168,685,115 | $ | 201,552,768 | $ | 70,965,293 | $ | 74,926,696 | |||||||
$ | 16,914 |
| $ | (1 | ) | $ | 61,441 | $ | 69,758 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 55 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST CORE FIXED INCOME FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | Distributions to from net | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 10.75 | $ | 0.27 | $ | (0.20 | ) | $ | 0.07 | $ | (0.29 | ) | $ | 10.53 | 0.60 | % | $ | 26 | 0.42 | % | 0.74 | % | 2.53 | % | 376 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 10.76 | 0.24 | (0.21 | ) | 0.03 | (0.26 | ) | 10.53 | 0.27 | 104,924 | 0.67 | 0.99 | 2.27 | 376 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 10.48 | 0.25 | 0.34 | 0.59 | (0.32 | ) | 10.75 | 5.68 | 26 | 0.44 | 0.65 | 2.31 | 353 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 10.47 | 0.22 | 0.36 | 0.58 | (0.29 | ) | 10.76 | 5.61 | 107,063 | 0.68 | 0.91 | 2.06 | 353 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional (Commenced April 30, 2013) | 10.91 | 0.15 | (0.38 | ) | (0.23 | ) | (0.20 | ) | 10.48 | (2.13 | ) | 24 | 0.43 | (d) | 0.69 | (d) | 2.10 | (d) | 557 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 10.88 | 0.20 | (0.35 | ) | (0.15 | ) | (0.26 | ) | 10.47 | (1.35 | ) | 116,530 | 0.67 | 0.89 | 1.88 | 557 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 10.43 | 0.17 | 0.52 | 0.69 | (0.24 | ) | 10.88 | 6.70 | 135,436 | 0.67 | 0.83 | 1.57 | 727 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 10.00 | 0.23 | 0.46 | 0.69 | (0.26 | ) | 10.43 | 6.96 | 148,114 | 0.67 | 0.83 | 2.22 | 644 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. Total returns for periods less than one full year are not annualized. |
(c) | The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments and certain derivatives. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Annualized. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 56 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST EQUITY INDEX FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | From net investment income | From net realized gains | Total distributions | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 | $ | 14.91 | $ | 0.32 | $ | (0.18 | ) | $ | 0.14 | $ | (0.28 | ) | $ | (0.86 | ) | $ | (1.14 | ) | $ | 13.91 | 0.94 | % | $ | 169,295 | 0.48 | % | 0.70 | % | 2.15 | % | 4 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | 13.68 | 0.22 | 1.58 | 1.80 | (0.25 | ) | (0.32 | ) | (0.57 | ) | 14.91 | 13.22 | 190,009 | 0.49 | 0.71 | 1.55 | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 | 10.54 | 0.20 | 3.15 | 3.35 | (0.21 | ) | — | (0.21 | ) | 13.68 | 31.83 | 193,899 | 0.49 | 0.73 | 1.61 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 | 9.29 | 0.19 | 1.26 | 1.45 | (0.20 | ) | — | (0.20 | ) | 10.54 | 15.50 | 167,811 | 0.48 | 0.72 | 1.82 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 | 9.29 | 0.15 | 0.01 | 0.16 | (0.16 | ) | — | (0.16 | ) | 9.29 | 1.75 | 169,711 | 0.48 | 0.70 | 1.59 | 3 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. |
(c) | The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments and certain derivatives. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 57 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment loss(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders from net realized gains | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment loss to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 7.72 | $ | (0.01 | ) | $ | (0.39 | ) | $ | (0.40 | ) | $ | (0.61 | ) | $ | 6.71 | (5.20 | )% | $ | 32 | 0.93 | % | 1.14 | % | (0.19 | )% | 57 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 7.69 | (0.03 | ) | (0.37 | ) | (0.40 | ) | (0.61 | ) | 6.68 | (5.20 | ) | 168,653 | 1.09 | 1.40 | (0.36 | ) | 57 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 8.59 | (0.02 | ) | 0.94 | 0.92 | (1.79 | ) | 7.72 | 11.32 | 33 | 1.01 | 1.15 | (0.24 | ) | 62 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 8.58 | (0.03 | ) | 0.93 | 0.90 | (1.79 | ) | 7.69 | 11.10 | 201,519 | 1.17 | 1.39 | (0.39 | ) | 62 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional (Commenced April 30, 2013) | 7.66 | (0.02 | ) | 1.52 | 1.50 | (0.57 | ) | 8.59 | 19.73 | 30 | 1.00 | (d) | 1.16 | (d) | (0.27 | )(d) | 42 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 6.93 | (0.04 | ) | 2.26 | 2.22 | (0.57 | ) | 8.58 | 32.20 | 201,872 | 1.16 | 1.39 | (0.47 | ) | 42 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 6.34 | (0.02 | )(e) | 1.25 | 1.23 | (0.64 | ) | 6.93 | 19.37 | 171,870 | 1.15 | 1.39 | (0.26 | )(e) | 46 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 6.72 | (0.03 | ) | (0.24 | ) | (0.27 | ) | (0.11 | ) | 6.34 | (3.97 | ) | 159,324 | 1.17 | 1.41 | (0.46 | ) | 53 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. Total returns for periods less than one full year are not annualized. |
(c) | The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Annualized. |
(e) | Reflects income recognized from special dividends which amounted to $0.01 per share and 0.18% of average net assets. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 58 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST HIGH QUALITY FLOATING RATE FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | From net investment income | From net realized gains | Total distributions | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 10.49 | $ | 0.06 | $ | (0.08 | ) | $ | (0.02 | ) | $ | (0.07 | ) | $ | — | $ | (0.07 | ) | $ | 10.40 | (0.16 | )% | $ | 25 | 0.38 | % | 0.81 | % | 0.54 | % | 14 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 10.47 | 0.03 | (0.07 | ) | (0.04 | ) | (0.05 | ) | — | (0.05 | ) | 10.38 | (0.42 | ) | 69,625 | 0.64 | 1.05 | 0.28 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Advisor | 10.49 | 0.01 | (0.06 | ) | (0.05 | ) | (0.04 | ) | — | (0.04 | ) | 10.40 | (0.57 | ) | 1,315 | 0.78 | 1.25 | 0.12 | 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 10.51 | 0.05 | (0.03 | ) | 0.02 | (0.04 | ) | — | (0.04 | ) | 10.49 | 0.17 | 25 | 0.40 | 0.70 | 0.51 | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 10.51 | 0.03 | (0.04 | ) | (0.01 | ) | (0.03 | ) | — | (0.03 | ) | 10.47 | (0.09 | ) | 74,892 | 0.66 | 0.96 | 0.25 | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Advisor (Commenced October 15, 2014) | 10.51 | — | (d) | (0.02 | ) | (0.02 | ) | — | — | — | 10.49 | (0.10 | )* | 10 | 0.77 | (e) | 1.13 | (e) | 0.15 | (e) | 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional (Commenced April 30, 2013) | 10.56 | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.05 | (0.04 | ) | (0.06 | ) | (0.10 | )(f) | 10.51 | 0.50 | 25 | 0.40 | (e) | 0.86 | (e) | 0.25 | (e) | 467 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 10.58 | 0.01 | 0.03 | 0.04 | (0.05 | ) | (0.06 | ) | (0.11 | )(f) | 10.51 | 0.40 | 78,142 | 0.70 | 1.10 | 0.08 | 467 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 10.70 | 0.04 | 0.25 | 0.29 | (0.08 | ) | (0.33 | ) | (0.41 | ) | 10.58 | 2.78 | 68,893 | 0.79 | 1.06 | 0.36 | 1045 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 10.56 | 0.09 | 0.57 | 0.66 | (0.10 | ) | (0.42 | ) | (0.52 | ) | 10.70 | 6.35 | 67,327 | 0.81 | 1.13 | 0.81 | 960 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. Total returns for periods less than one full year are not annualized. |
(c) | The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments and certain derivatives. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Amount is less than $0.005 per share. |
(e) | Annualized. |
(f) | Included a distribution from capital of less than $0.01 per share. |
* | Represents cumulative total returns. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 59 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The following table lists those series of the Trust that are included in this report (collectively, the “Funds” or individually a “Fund”), along with their corresponding share classes and respective diversification status under the Act:
Fund | Share Classes Offered | Diversified/ Non-diversified | ||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | Institutional, Service and Advisor | Diversified | ||||||
Core Fixed Income and Growth Opportunities | Institutional and Service | Diversified | ||||||
Equity Index | Service | Diversified |
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Funds pursuant to management agreements (the “Agreements”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Funds’ valuation policy is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments. Distributions received from the Funds’ investments in United States (“U.S.”) real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) may be characterized as ordinary income, net capital gain or a return of capital. A return of capital is recorded by the Funds as a reduction to the cost basis of the REIT.
For derivative contracts, realized gains and losses are recorded upon settlement of the contract. Upfront payments, if any, are made or received upon entering into a swap agreement and are reflected in the Statements of Assets and Liabilities. Upfront payments are recognized over the contract’s term/event as realized gains or losses, with the exception of forward starting interest rate swaps whose realized gains or losses are recognized from the effective start date. For securities with paydown provisions, principal payments received are treated as a proportionate reduction to the cost basis of the securities, and excess or shortfall amounts are recorded as income. For treasury inflation protected securities (“TIPS”), adjustments to principal due to inflation/deflation are reflected as increases/decreases to interest income with a corresponding adjustment to cost.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of each Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Fund are charged to that Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
D. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is each Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to
60
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Funds are not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid according to the following schedule:
Fund | Income Distributions Declared/Paid | Capital Gains Distributions Declared/Paid | ||||||
Core Fixed Income and High Quality Floating Rate | Quarterly | Annually | ||||||
Equity Index and Growth Opportunities | Annually | Annually |
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
Under the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act of 2010, the Funds are permitted to carry forward capital losses incurred in taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010 for an unlimited period. However, any losses incurred during those future taxable years will be required to be utilized prior to the losses incurred in pre-enactment taxable years. As a result of this ordering rule, pre-enactment capital loss carryforwards may be more likely to expire unused. Additionally, post-enactment capital losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses rather than being considered all short-term as under previous law.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of each Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Funds’ net assets on the Statements of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
E. Foreign Currency Translation — The accounting records and reporting currency of the Funds are maintained in U.S. dollars. Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars using the current exchange rates at the close of each business day. The effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on investments is included within net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments. Changes in the value of other assets and liabilities as a result of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates are included in the Statements of Operations within net change in unrealized gain (loss) on foreign currency translations. Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars on the date the transaction occurred, the effects of which are included within net realized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions.
F. Commission Recapture — GSAM, on behalf of certain Funds, may direct portfolio trades, subject to seeking best execution, to various brokers who have agreed to rebate a portion of the commissions generated. Such rebates are made directly to a Fund as cash payments and are included in net realized gain (loss) from investments on the Statements of Operations.
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
61
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Funds’ policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Funds, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Funds’ portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Equity Securities — Equity securities traded on a U.S. securities exchange or the NASDAQ system, or those located on certain foreign exchanges, including but not limited to the Americas, are valued daily at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded. If there is no sale or official closing price or such price is believed by GSAM to not represent fair value, equity securities are valued at the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2.
Unlisted equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last sale price on the valuation date, or if no sale occurs, at the last bid price. These investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
Money Market Funds — Investments in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund (“Underlying Fund”) are valued at the NAV of the FST Share class on the day of valuation. These investments are generally classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. For information regarding an Underlying Fund’s accounting policies and investment holdings, please see the Underlying Fund’s shareholder report.
Debt Securities — Debt securities for which market quotations are readily available are valued daily on the basis of quotations supplied by dealers or an independent pricing service approved by the Trustees. The pricing services may use valuation models or matrix pricing, which consider: (i) yield or price with respect to bonds that are considered comparable in characteristics such as rating, interest rate and maturity date or (ii) quotations from securities dealers to determine current value. Short-term debt obligations that mature in sixty days or less and that do not exhibit signs of credit deterioration are valued at amortized cost, which approximates fair value. With the exception of treasury securities of G8 countries (not held in money market funds), which are generally classified as Level 1, these investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
i. Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities — Mortgage-backed securities represent direct or indirect participations in, or are collateralized by and payable from, mortgage loans secured by residential and/or commercial real estate property. Asset-backed securities include securities whose principal and interest payments are collateralized by pools of other assets or receivables. The value of certain mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities (including adjustable rate mortgage loans) may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates. The value of these securities may also fluctuate in response to the market’s perception of the creditworthiness of the issuers.
62
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
Asset-backed securities may present credit risks that are not presented by mortgage-backed securities because they generally do not have the benefit of a security interest in collateral that is comparable to mortgage assets. Some asset-backed securities may only have a subordinated claim on collateral.
Stripped mortgage-backed securities are usually structured with two different classes: one that receives substantially all interest payments (interest-only, or “IO” and/or high coupon rate with relatively low principal amount, or “IOette”), and the other that receives substantially all principal payments (principal-only, or “PO”) from a pool of mortgage loans. Little to no principal will be received at the maturity of an IO; as a result, periodic adjustments are recorded to reduce the cost of the security until maturity. These adjustments are included in interest income.
ii. Mortgage Dollar Rolls — Mortgage dollar rolls are transactions whereby a Fund sells mortgage-backed-securities and simultaneously contracts with the same counterparty to repurchase similar securities on a specified future date. During the settlement period, a Fund will not be entitled to accrue interest and receive principal payments on the securities sold. The Funds account for mortgage dollar roll transactions as purchases and sales and realize gains and losses on these transactions.
iii. Structured Notes — The values of structured notes are based on the price movements of a reference security or index. Upon termination, a Fund will receive a payment from the issuer based on the value of the referenced instrument (notional amount multiplied by price of the referenced instrument) and record a realized gain or loss.
iv. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities — TIPS are treasury securities in which the principal amount is adjusted daily to keep pace with inflation, as measured by the U.S. Consumer Pricing Index for Urban Consumers. The repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity is guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
v. When-Issued Securities and Forward Commitments — When-issued securities, including TBA (“To Be Announced”) securities, are securities that are authorized but not yet issued in the market and purchased in order to secure what is considered to be an advantageous price or yield to a Fund. A forward commitment involves entering into a contract to purchase or sell securities, typically on an extended settlement basis, for a fixed price at a future date. The purchase of securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis involves a risk of loss if the value of the security to be purchased declines before the settlement date. Conversely, the sale of securities on a forward commitment basis involves the risk that the value of the securities sold may increase before the settlement date. Although a Fund will generally purchase securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis with the intention of acquiring the securities for its portfolio, the Fund may dispose of when-issued securities or forward commitments prior to settlement which may result in a realized gain or loss.
Derivative Contracts — A derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from underlying assets, indices, reference rates or a combination of these factors. The Funds enter into derivative transactions to hedge against changes in interest rates, securities prices, and/or currency exchange rates, to increase total return, or to gain access to certain markets or attain exposure to other underliers.
Exchange-traded derivatives, including futures and options contracts, are valued at the last sale or settlement price and typically fall within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Over-the-counter (“OTC”) and centrally cleared derivatives are valued using market transactions and other market evidence, including market-based inputs to models, calibration to market-clearing transactions, broker or dealer quotations, or other alternative pricing sources. Where models are used, the selection of a particular model to value OTC and centrally cleared derivatives depends upon the contractual terms of, and specific risks inherent in, the instrument, as well as the availability of pricing information in the market. Valuation models require a variety of inputs, including contractual terms, market prices, yield curves, credit curves, measures of volatility, voluntary and involuntary prepayment rates, loss severity rates and correlations of such inputs. For OTC and centrally cleared derivatives that trade in liquid markets, model inputs can generally be verified and model selection does not involve significant management judgment. OTC and centrally cleared derivatives are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy when significant inputs are corroborated by market evidence.
i. Forward Contracts — A forward contract is a contract between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specified price on a future date. A forward contract settlement can occur on a cash or delivery basis. Forward contracts are marked-to-market daily
63
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
using independent vendor prices, and the change in value, if any, is recorded as an unrealized gain or loss. Cash and certain investments may be used to collateralize forward contracts.
A forward foreign currency contract is a forward contract in which a Fund agrees to receive or deliver a fixed quantity of one currency for another, at a pre-determined price at a future date. All forward foreign currency exchange contracts are marked-to-market daily at the applicable forward rate. Non-deliverable forward foreign currency exchange contracts are settled with the counterparty in cash without the delivery of foreign currency.
ii. Futures Contracts — Futures contracts are contracts to buy or sell a standardized quantity of a specified commodity or security and are valued based on exchanged settlement prices or independent market quotes. Futures contracts are valued at the last settlement price, or in the absence of a sale, the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions, at the end of each day on the board of trade or exchange upon which they are traded. Upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund deposits cash or securities in an account on behalf of the broker in an amount sufficient to meet the initial margin requirement. Subsequent payments are made or received by a Fund equal to the daily change in the contract value and are recorded as variation margin receivable or payable with a corresponding offset to unrealized gains or losses.
iii. Swap Contracts — Bilateral swap contracts are agreements in which a Fund and a counterparty agree to exchange periodic payments on a specified notional amount or make a net payment upon termination. Bilateral swap transactions are privately negotiated in the OTC market and payments are settled through direct payments between a Fund and the counterparty. By contrast, certain swap transactions are subject to mandatory central clearing. These swaps are executed through a derivatives clearing member (“DCM”), acting in an agency capacity, and submitted to a central counterparty (“CCP”) (“centrally cleared swaps”), in which case all payments are settled with the CCP through the DCM. Swaps are marked-to-market daily using pricing vendor quotations, counterparty or clearinghouse prices or model prices, and the change in value, if any, is recorded as an unrealized gain or loss. Upon entering into a swap contract, a Fund is required to satisfy an initial margin requirement by delivering cash or securities to the counterparty (or in some cases, segregated in a triparty account on behalf of the counterparty), which can be adjusted by any mark-to-market gains or losses pursuant to bilateral or centrally cleared arrangements. For centrally cleared swaps the daily change in valuation, if any, is recorded as a receivable or payable for variation margin.
An interest rate swap is an agreement that obligates two parties to exchange a series of cash flows at specified intervals, based upon or calculated by reference to changes in interest rates on a specified notional principal amount. The payment flows are usually netted against each other, with the difference being paid by one party to the other.
Short Term Investments — Short-term investments having a maturity of 60 days or less are generally valued at amortized cost which approximates fair market value. These investments are classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAM believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Funds’ investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAM, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
64
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Funds’ investments and derivatives classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
CORE FIXED INCOME | ||||||||||||
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Fixed Income | ||||||||||||
Corporate Obligations | $ | — | $ | 36,492,452 | $ | — | ||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations | — | 38,603,600 | — | |||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations and/or Other U.S. Government Agencies | 17,417,507 | — | — | |||||||||
Agency Debentures | — | 2,384,267 | — | |||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities | — | 9,607,514 | — | |||||||||
Foreign Debt Obligations | — | 3,788,088 | — | |||||||||
Municipal Debt Obligations | — | 1,416,543 | — | |||||||||
Government Guarantee Obligations | — | 2,552,613 | — | |||||||||
Commercial Paper | — | 749,897 | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 17,417,507 | $ | 95,594,974 | $ | — | ||||||
Liabilities | ||||||||||||
Fixed Income | ||||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations — Forward Sales Contracts | $ | — | $ | (999,766 | ) | $ | — | |||||
Derivative Type | ||||||||||||
Assets(a) | ||||||||||||
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | $ | — | $ | 52,055 | $ | — | ||||||
Futures Contracts | 26,273 | — | — | |||||||||
Interest Rate Swap Contracts | — | 63,611 | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 26,273 | $ | 115,666 | $ | — | ||||||
Liabilities(a) | ||||||||||||
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | $ | — | $ | (77,922 | ) | $ | — | |||||
Futures Contracts | (65,658 | ) | — | — | ||||||||
Interest Rate Swap Contracts | — | (44,954 | ) | — | ||||||||
Total | $ | (65,658 | ) | $ | (122,876 | ) | $ | — |
65
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
EQUITY INDEX | ||||||||||||
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Common Stock and/or Other Equity Investments(b) | ||||||||||||
North America | $ | 168,228,241 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations and/or Other U.S. Government Agencies | 99,978 | — | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 168,328,219 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Derivative Type | ||||||||||||
Liabilities(a) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | (894 | ) | $ | — | $ | — | |||||
GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES | ||||||||||||
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Common Stock and/or Other Equity Investments(b) | ||||||||||||
North America | $ | 164,434,783 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
HIGH QUALITY FLOATING RATE | ||||||||||||
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Fixed Income | ||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations and/or Other U.S. Government Agencies | $ | 3,154,892 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations | — | 34,490,948 | — | |||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities | — | 22,593,343 | — | |||||||||
Investment Company | 10,347,519 | — | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 13,502,411 | $ | 57,084,291 | $ | — | ||||||
Derivative Type | ||||||||||||
Assets(a) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | 15,531 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Liabilities(a) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | (4,276 | ) | $ | — | $ | — |
(a) | Amount shown represents unrealized gain (loss) at fiscal year end. |
(b) | Amounts are disclosed by continent to highlight the impact of time zone differences between local market close and the calculation of NAV. Security valuations are based on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, which may differ from country of domicile. |
For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Schedules of Investments.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
4. INVESTMENTS IN DERIVATIVES
The following tables set forth, by certain risk types, the gross value of derivative contracts as of December 31, 2015. These instruments were used as part of the Funds’ investment strategies and to obtain and/or manage exposure related to the risks below. The values in the tables below exclude the effects of cash collateral received or posted pursuant to these derivative contracts, and therefore are not representative of the Funds’ net exposure.
Core Fixed Income
Risk | Statements of Assets and Liabilities | Assets | Statements of Assets and Liabilities | Liabilities | ||||||||||
Interest Rate | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | $ | 89,884 | (a) | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | $ | (110,612 | )(a) | ||||||
Currency | Receivables for unrealized gain on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 52,055 | Payable for unrealized loss on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | (77,922 | ) | |||||||||
Total | $ | 141,939 | $ | (188,534 | ) |
Fund | Risk | Statements of Assets and Liabilities | Assets(a) | Statements of Assets and Liabilities | Liabilities(a) | |||||||||
Equity Index | Equity | — | $ | — | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | $ | (894 | ) | ||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | Interest Rate | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | 15,531 | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | (4,276 | ) |
(a) | Includes unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts and swap contracts described in the Additional Investment Information sections of the Schedules of Investments. Only current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statements of Assets and Liabilities. |
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the Fund’s gains (losses) related to these derivatives and their indicative volumes for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. These gains (losses) should be considered in the context that these derivative contracts may have been executed to create investment opportunities and/or economically hedge certain investments, and accordingly, certain gains (losses) on such derivative contracts may offset certain (losses) gains attributable to investments. These gains (losses) are included in “Net realized gain (loss)” or “Net change in unrealized gain (loss)” on the Statements of Operations:
Core Fixed Income
Risk | Statements of Operations | Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Net Change in Unrealized Gain (Loss) | Average Number of Contracts(a) | ||||||||||
Interest Rate | Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts and swap contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts and swap contracts | $ | 118,423 | $ | 208,945 | 215 | ||||||||
Currency | Net realized gain (loss) from forward foreign currency exchange contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 338,720 | (140,071 | ) | 150 | |||||||||
Total | $ | 457,143 | $ | 68,874 | 365 |
(a) | Average number of contracts is based on the average of month end balances for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. |
67
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
4. INVESTMENTS IN DERIVATIVES (continued)
The following table represents gains (losses) which are included in “Net realized gain (loss) from future transactions” and “Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on futures” in the Statements of Operations:
Fund | Risk | Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Net Change in Unrealized Gain (Loss) | Average Number of Contracts(a) | ||||||||||
Equity Index | Equity | $ | 43,687 | $ | (41,230 | ) | 12 | |||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | Interest Rate | (45,512 | ) | 14,728 | 61 |
(a) | Average number of contracts is based on the average of month end balances for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. |
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Funds, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Funds’ business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of each Fund’s average daily net assets.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, contractual and effective net management fees with GSAM were at the following rates:
Contractual Management Rate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fund | First $1 billion | Next $1 billion | Next $3 billion | Next $3 billion | Over $8 billion | Effective Rate | Effective Net Management Rate^ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Core Fixed Income | 0.40 | % | 0.36 | % | 0.34 | % | 0.33 | % | 0.32 | % | 0.40 | % | 0.40 | % | ||||||||||||||||
Growth Opportunities | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.90 | 0.86 | 0.84 | 1.00 | 0.90 | * | ||||||||||||||||||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | 0.40 | 0.36 | 0.34 | 0.33 | 0.32 | 0.40 | 0.30 | * |
^ | Effective Net Management Rate includes the impact of management fee waivers of affiliated underlying funds, if any. |
* | GSAM agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in order to achieve net management rates, as defined in the Funds’ most recent prospectuses. These waivers will be effective through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangements without approval of the Trustees. |
The Core Fixed Income and High Quality Floating Rate Funds invest in FST Shares of the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund, which is an affiliated Underlying Fund. GSAM has agreed to waive a portion of its management fee payable by the Funds in an amount equal to the management fee it earns as an investment adviser to any of the affiliated Underlying Funds in which the Funds invest. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM waived $334 and $10,102 of the Core Fixed Income and High Quality Floating Rate Funds’ management fees, respectively.
The Agreement for the Equity Index Fund provides for a contractual management fee at an annual rate equal to 0.30% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in order to achieve the following effective annual rates which will remain in effect through April 30, 2016 and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees:
Management Rate | ||||||
Fund | $0-$400 million | Over $400 million | Effective Rate | |||
Equity Index | 0.21% | 0.20% | 0.21% |
68
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
As authorized by the Agreement, GSAM has entered into a Sub-advisory Agreement with SSgA Funds Management, Inc. (“SSgA”) which serves as the sub-adviser to the Equity Index Fund and provides the day-to-day advice regarding the Fund’s portfolio transactions. As compensation for its services, SSgA is entitled to a fee, accrued daily and paid monthly by GSAM, at the following annual rates of the Fund’s average daily net assets: 0.03% on the first $50 million, 0.02% on the next $200 million, 0.01% on the next $750 million and 0.008% over $1 billion. The effective Sub-advisory fee was 0.02% for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.
B. Distribution and Service Plans — The Trust, on behalf of each Fund, has adopted Distribution and Service Plans (the “Plans”). Under the Plans, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (the “Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% and 0.40% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service and Advisor Shares, respectively. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 for the Growth Opportunities Fund, Goldman Sachs agreed to waive distribution and services fees so as not to exceed an annual rate of 0.16% of average daily net assets of the Fund. This distribution and service fee waiver will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date Goldman Sachs may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Funds for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets for Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Funds (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a percentage rate of the average daily net assets of each Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Funds are not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitations as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for Core Fixed Income, Equity Index, Growth Opportunities and High Quality Floating Rate Funds are 0.004%, 0.004%, 0.004% and 0.074%, respectively. These Other Expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Trustees. In addition, the Funds have entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Funds’ expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitations described above.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, these expense reductions, including any fee waivers and Other Expense reimbursements, were as follows:
Fund | Management Fee Waiver | Distribution and Service Fee Waiver | Custody Fee Credits | Other Expense Reimbursement | Total Expense Reductions | |||||||||||||||||
Core Fixed Income | $ | 334 | $ | — | $ | 2,690 | $ | 322,902 | $ | 325,926 | ||||||||||||
Equity Index | 162,222 | — | 781 | 235,103 | 398,106 | |||||||||||||||||
Growth Opportunities | 181,362 | 170,981 | 1,796 | 230,543 | 584,682 | |||||||||||||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | 76,004 | — | 1,903 | 227,110 | 305,017 |
E. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Funds participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Funds and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000.
69
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Funds based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Funds did not have any borrowings under the facility.
F. Other Transactions with Affiliates — For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs earned $235 in brokerage commissions from portfolio transactions on behalf of the Growth Opportunities Fund.
The following table provides information about the investment in shares of issuers of which a Fund is an affiliate as of and for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015:
Fund | Name of Affiliated Issuer | Market Value 12/31/2014 | Purchases at Cost | Proceeds from Sales | Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Change in Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) | Market Value 12/31/2015 | Dividend Income | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Equity Index | The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. | $ | 809,046 | $ | — | $ | (89,265 | ) | $ | 28,094 | $ | (78,501 | ) | $ | 669,374 | $ | 10,084 |
The following table provides information about the Funds’ investment in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund as of and for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015:
Fund | Market Value 12/31/2014 | Purchases at Cost | Proceeds from Sales | Market Value 12/31/2015 | Dividend Income | |||||||||||||||||
Core Fixed Income | — | 7,738,761 | (7,738,761 | ) | $ | — | $ | 21 | ||||||||||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | — | 22,096,514 | (11,748,995 | ) | 10,347,519 | 1,986 |
As of December 31, 2015, the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. was the beneficial owner of approximately 100% of the Institutional Class Shares of the Core Fixed Income, Growth Opportunities and High Quality Floating Rate Funds.
6. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were as follows:
Fund | Purchases of U.S. Government and Agency Obligations | Purchases (Excluding U.S. Government and Agency Obligations) | Sales and Maturities of U.S. Government and Agency Obligations | Sales and Maturities (Excluding U.S. Government and Agency Obligations) | ||||||||||||||
Core Fixed Income | $ | 383,227,196 | $ | 30,122,206 | $ | 384,958,148 | $ | 26,056,467 | ||||||||||
Equity Index | — | 6,494,924 | — | 25,127,991 | ||||||||||||||
Growth Opportunities | — | 107,002,890 | — | 133,608,633 | ||||||||||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | 1,778,339 | 7,291,687 | 1,400,511 | 18,283,291 |
70
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
7. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, was as follows:
Core Fixed Income | Equity Index | Growth Opportunities | High Quality Floating Rate | |||||||||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 2,476,010 | $ | 3,239,306 | $ | 80,573 | $ | 320,052 | ||||||||
Net long-term capital gains | — | 9,618,594 | 13,962,295 | — | ||||||||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 2,476,010 | $ | 12,857,900 | $ | 14,042,868 | $ | 320,052 |
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, was as follows:
Core Fixed Income | Equity Index | Growth Opportunities | High Quality Floating Rate | |||||||||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 3,006,463 | $ | 3,027,833 | $ | 5,164,234 | $ | 299,535 | ||||||||
Net long-term capital gains | — | 3,936,430 | 32,907,674 | — | ||||||||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 3,006,463 | $ | 6,964,263 | $ | 38,071,908 | $ | 299,535 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Core Fixed Income | Equity Index | Growth Opportunities | High Quality Floating Rate | |||||||||||||
Undistributed ordinary income — net | $ | 403,601 | $ | 964,935 | $ | — | $ | 63,314 | ||||||||
Undistributed long-term capital gains | — | 833,692 | 1,072,086 | — | ||||||||||||
Total undistributed earnings | $ | 403,601 | $ | 1,798,627 | $ | 1,072,086 | $ | 63,314 | ||||||||
Capital loss carryforwards:(1) | ||||||||||||||||
Expiring 2017 | $ | (264,763 | ) | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | |||||||
Expiring 2018 | (4,488,774 | ) | — | — | — | |||||||||||
Perpetual short-term | — | — | — | (275,908 | ) | |||||||||||
Perpetual long-term | — | — | — | (595,824 | ) | |||||||||||
Total capital loss carryforwards | $ | (4,753,537 | ) | $ | — | $ | — | $ | (871,732 | ) | ||||||
Timing differences (Qualified late year loss and straddle loss deferrals and certain REIT dividends) | (1,266,922 | ) | 4,012 | (336,485 | ) | (12,359 | ) | |||||||||
Unrealized gains (losses) — net | 894,614 | 75,879,904 | 25,117,454 | (151,354 | ) | |||||||||||
Total accumulated gains (losses) — net | (4,722,244 | ) | 77,682,543 | 25,853,055 | (972,131 | ) |
(1) | Expiration occurs on December 31 of the year indicated. The Core Fixed Income Fund utilized $700,775 of capital losses in the current fiscal year. |
71
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
7. TAX INFORMATION (continued)
As of December 31, 2015, the Funds’ aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
�� | Core Fixed Income | Equity Index | Growth Opportunities | High Quality Floating Rate | ||||||||||||
Tax cost | $ | 112,145,507 | $ | 92,448,315 | $ | 139,317,329 | $ | 70,738,056 | ||||||||
Gross unrealized gain | 2,577,001 | 89,561,317 | 34,034,566 | 241,647 | ||||||||||||
Gross unrealized loss | (1,710,027 | ) | (13,681,413 | ) | (8,917,112 | ) | (393,001 | ) | ||||||||
Net unrealized security gain (loss) | $ | 866,974 | $ | 75,879,904 | $ | 25,117,454 | $ | (151,354 | ) | |||||||
Net unrealized gain on other investments | 27,640 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||
Net unrealized gain (loss) | $ | 894,614 | $ | 75,879,904 | $ | 25,117,454 | $ | (151,354 | ) |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales, net mark to market gains (losses) on regulated futures and foreign currency contracts, and differences in the tax treatment of underlying fund investments, foreign currency transactions, real estate investment trust investments and inflation protected securities.
In order to present certain components of the Funds’ capital accounts on a tax-basis, certain reclassifications have been recorded to the Funds’ accounts. These reclassifications have no impact on the net asset value of the Funds and result primarily from net operating losses, underlying fund investments, and differences in the tax treatment of foreign currency transactions, inflation protected securities, paydown gains and losses and real estate investment trust investments.
Fund | Paid-in Capital | Accumulated Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Undistributed Net Investment Income (Loss) | |||||||||||
Core Fixed Income | $ | — | $ | (387,691 | ) | $ | 387,691 | |||||||
Equity Index | — | 10,791 | (10,791 | ) | ||||||||||
Growth Opportunities | (385,787 | ) | (313,270 | ) | 699,057 | |||||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | — | (108,868 | ) | 108,868 |
GSAM has reviewed the Funds’ tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Funds’ financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
8. OTHER RISKS
The Funds’ risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Foreign Custody Risk — A Fund that invests in foreign securities may hold such securities and cash with foreign banks, agents, and securities depositories appointed by the Fund’s custodian (each a “Foreign Custodian”). Some foreign custodians may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business. In some countries, Foreign Custodians may be subject to little or no regulatory oversight over, or independent evaluation of, their operations. Further, the laws of certain countries may place limitations on a Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a Foreign Custodian enters bankruptcy.
72
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
8. OTHER RISKS (continued)
Interest Rate Risk — When interest rates increase, fixed income securities or instruments held by the Funds will generally decline in value. Long-term fixed income securities or instruments will normally have more price volatility because of this risk than short-term fixed income securities or instruments.
Investments in Other Investment Companies — As a shareholder of another investment company, including an exchange traded fund (“ETF”), a Fund will directly bear its proportionate share of any net management fees and other expenses paid by such other investment companies, in addition to the fees and expenses regularly borne by the Fund. ETFs are subject to risks that do not apply to conventional mutual funds, including but not limited to the following: (i) the market price of the ETF’s shares may trade at a premium or a discount to their NAV; and (ii) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained.
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — A Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of a Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact a Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in a Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect a Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Funds may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that a Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, a Fund may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions. Liquidity risk may be the result of, among other things, the reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed income securities or the lack of an active market. The potential for liquidity risk may be magnified by a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where investor redemptions from fixed income mutual funds may be higher than normal, potentially causing increased supply in the market due to selling activity.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Funds trade financial instruments and enter into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Funds may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Funds have unsettled or open transactions defaults.
Investing in foreign markets may involve special risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation, less public information and less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Funds invest. Loss may also result from the imposition of exchange controls, confiscations and other government restrictions by the U.S. or other governments, or from problems in registration, settlement or custody. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Funds have exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. To the extent that the Funds also invest in securities of issuers located in emerging markets, these risks may be more pronounced.
Short Position Risk — A Fund may enter into a short position through a futures contract, an option or swap agreement or through short sales of any instrument that a Fund may purchase for investment. Taking short positions involves leverage of a Fund’s assets and presents various risks. If the value of the underlying instrument or market in which a Fund has taken a short position increases, then the Fund will incur a loss equal to the increase in value from the time that the short position was entered into plus any related interest payments or other fees. Taking short positions involves the risk that losses may be disproportionate, may exceed the amount invested, and may be unlimited.
73
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
9. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Funds. Additionally, in the course of business, the Funds enter into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Funds’ maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Funds that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statements of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
11. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
Core Fixed Income Fund | ||||||||||||||||
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 65 | $ | 693 | 71 | $ | 758 | ||||||||||
65 | 693 | 71 | 758 | |||||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 1,613,636 | 17,192,161 | 438,205 | 4,700,540 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 232,121 | 2,475,317 | 280,874 | 3,005,705 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (1,839,915 | ) | (19,689,934 | ) | (1,889,001 | ) | (20,249,586 | ) | ||||||||
5,842 | (22,456 | ) | (1,169,922 | ) | (12,543,341 | ) | ||||||||||
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) | 5,907 | $ | (21,763 | ) | (1,169,851 | ) | $ | (12,542,583 | ) | |||||||
Equity Index Fund | ||||||||||||||||
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 231,558 | $ | 3,490,618 | 142,493 | $ | 2,039,103 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 925,695 | 12,857,900 | 477,986 | 6,964,263 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (1,733,704 | ) | (26,070,660 | ) | (2,049,644 | ) | (29,369,734 | ) | ||||||||
NET DECREASE | (576,451 | ) | $ | (9,722,142 | ) | (1,429,165 | ) | $ | (20,366,368 | ) |
74
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
11. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS (continued)
Growth Opportunities Fund | ||||||||||||||||
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 392 | $ | 2,613 | 832 | $ | 6,255 | ||||||||||
392 | 2,613 | 832 | 6,255 | |||||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 1,275,515 | 9,813,897 | 1,141,458 | 10,066,903 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 2,117,685 | 14,040,255 | 5,082,196 | 38,065,653 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (4,322,894 | ) | (33,053,396 | ) | (3,572,070 | ) | (31,492,267 | ) | ||||||||
(929,694 | ) | (9,199,244 | ) | 2,651,584 | 16,640,289 | |||||||||||
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) | (929,302 | ) | $ | (9,196,631 | ) | 2,652,416 | $ | 16,646,544 | ||||||||
High Quality Floating Rate Fund | ||||||||||||||||
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Period Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 17 | $ | 176 | 8 | $ | 90 | ||||||||||
17 | 176 | 8 | 90 | |||||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 591,898 | 6,176,818 | 869,494 | 9,117,538 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 30,398 | 316,783 | 21,888 | 229,445 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (1,067,471 | ) | (11,135,815 | ) | (1,174,122 | ) | (12,308,954 | ) | ||||||||
(445,175 | ) | (4,642,214 | ) | (282,740 | ) | (2,961,971 | ) | |||||||||
Advisor Shares(a) | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 259,411 | 2,714,004 | 952 | 10,000 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 296 | 3,093 | — | — | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (134,130 | ) | (1,402,982 | ) | — | — | ||||||||||
125,577 | 1,314,115 | 952 | 10,000 | |||||||||||||
NET DECREASE | (319,581 | ) | (3,327,923 | ) | (281,780 | ) | (2,951,881 | ) |
(a) | Commenced operations on October 15, 2014. |
75
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust:
In our opinion, the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities, including the schedules of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Core Fixed Income Fund, the Goldman Sachs Equity Index Fund, the Goldman Sachs Growth Opportunities Fund and the Goldman Sachs High Quality Floating Rate Fund (collectively the “Funds”), funds of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015, and the results of each of their operations, the changes in each of their net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Funds’ management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian, brokers, and transfer agent and the application of alternative auditing procedures where confirmation of securities purchased had not been received, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Fund Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional, Service or Advisor Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service and Advisor Shares) and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional Shares, Service Shares and Advisor Shares of the Funds and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Funds' actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Funds' actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Funds and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Fund you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Core Fixed Income Fund | Equity Index Fund | Growth Opportunities Fund | High Quality Floating Rate Fund | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 1,006.00 | $ | 2.12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | $ | 1,000 | $ | 930.00 | $ | 4.38 | $ | 1,000 | $ | 996.70 | $ | 1.86 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,023.09 | + | 2.14 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1,000 | 1,020.67 | + | 4.58 | 1,000 | 1,023.34 | + | 1.89 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 1,004.80 | 3.39 | $ | 1,000 | $ | 1,000.10 | $ | 2.42 | 1,000 | 931.00 | 5.11 | 1,000 | 995.40 | 3.17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,021.83 | + | 3.41 | 1,000 | 1,022.79 | + | 2.45 | 1,000 | 1,019.91 | + | 5.35 | 1,000 | 1,022.03 | + | 3.21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Advisor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Actual | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1,000 | 994.70 | 3.92 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1,000 | 1,021.27 | + | 3.97 |
* | Expenses are calculated using each Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were as follows: |
Fund | Institutional | Service | Advisor | |||||||||
Core Fixed Income | 0.42 | % | 0.67 | % | N/A | |||||||
Equity Index | N/A | 0.48 | N/A | |||||||||
Growth Opportunities | 0.90 | 1.05 | N/A | |||||||||
High Quality Floating Rate | 0.37 | 0.63 | 0.78 | % |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on each Fund’s actual annualized net expense ratios and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
77
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
79
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Funds’ Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
80
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST FUNDS
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Funds’ Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31, 2015, 100% and 35.45% of the dividends paid, respectively, from net investment company taxable income by the Equity Index and Growth Opportunities Fund qualify for the dividends received deduction available to corporations.
Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Equity Index and Growth Opportunities Funds designate $9,618,594 and $13,962,295 respectively, or, if different, the maximum amount allowable, as capital gain dividends paid during the year ended December 31, 2015.
81
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President, and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York, New York 10282
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Funds included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Funds in the future. These statements are based on Fund management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Funds, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Funds. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Funds use to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Funds voted proxies relating to portfolio securities for the 12-month period ended December 31 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Funds file their complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Funds’ Form N-Qs are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Funds’ first and third fiscal quarters. The Funds’ Form N-Qs may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Form N-Qs may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Fund holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Fund holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (“MSCI”) and Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) and is licensed for use by Goldman Sachs. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any other party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any of such standard or classification. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust Funds.
© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITMLTIAR-16/30197-TEMPL-02/2016
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
Small Cap Equity Insights Fund
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of risks that may affect the Fund. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Fund, please see the Fund’s Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Small Cap Equity Insights Fund are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
The Goldman Sachs Small Cap Equity Insights Fund invests primarily in a broadly diversified portfolio of equity investments in small-capitalization U.S. issuers, including foreign issuers traded in the United States. The Fund’s equity investments will be subject to market risk, which means that the value of the securities in which it invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors and/or general economic conditions. The securities of mid- and small-capitalization companies involve greater risks than those associated with larger, more established companies and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements. The Investment Adviser’s use of quantitative models to execute the Fund’s investment strategy may fail to produce the intended result. Different investment styles (e.g., “quantitative”) tend to shift in and out of favor, and at times the Fund may underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes. The Fund may have a high rate of portfolio turnover, which involves correspondingly greater expenses which must be borne by the Fund, and is also likely to result in short-term capital gains taxable to shareholders.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Quantitative Investment Strategies Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Small Cap Equity Insights Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of -2.13% and -2.49%, respectively. These returns compare to the -4.41% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell 2000® Index (with dividends reinvested) (the “Russell Index”) during the same time period.
What economic and market factors most influenced the equity markets as a whole during the Reporting Period?
Representing the U.S. equity market, the S&P 500® Index gained 1.38% during the Reporting Period. Central bank policy, a commodity price sell-off, geopolitical tensions, and China and global economic growth concerns were the key themes impacting U.S. equities throughout 2015.
As evidence of a U.S. economic and labor market recovery mounted, market expectations of a Federal Reserve (“Fed”) interest rate hike increased. The monetary policy divergence with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, which each eased policy during the calendar year, resulted in relative U.S. dollar strength. This paradoxically hurt U.S. equity performance despite improving domestic economic fundamentals. Also, geopolitical tensions intensified in the summer of 2015, as negotiations between Greece and its creditors unraveled, and the probability of a Greek exit, popularly known in the media as “Grexit,” from the euro increased. “Grexit” risk subsequently declined with an agreement in July 2015. However, concerns then escalated around China’s economic weakness, exacerbated by a surprise devaluation of its renminbi in August 2015, which further shook market confidence. U.S. equities sold off in the ensuing sharp global equity correction.
After holding the targeted federal funds rate steady in September and October 2015 in light of these external macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, the Fed voted unanimously for a 25 basis point hike in December 2015, a move largely expected by markets. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.) The fairly dovish language in the Fed’s announcement, which emphasized “gradual” adjustments to policy going forward, helped to somewhat assuage the markets.
Oil and commodity prices were “lower for longer” in 2015, as the supply glut took longer than expected to correct and demand concerns arose. Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude oil prices began 2015 at $57 and $53 per barrel, respectively, already well below 2014 highs of more than $100 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI crude oil prices ended 2015 still lower at approximately $37 per barrel. The U.S. consumer benefited from savings at the gas pump and consumer spending rose, particularly in areas typically associated with lower gas prices, such as autos and restaurants. However, this did not fully offset the negative impact on the U.S. energy industry and industrials companies. As a result, energy was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 Index by a wide margin during the Reporting Period, followed by materials, utilities and industrials. Conversely, more consumer-oriented sectors, including consumer discretionary, health care, information technology and consumer staples were the best performing sectors in the S&P 500 Index during the Reporting Period.
Within the U.S. equity market, there was significant disparity in performance not only among sectors but also among the various capitalization and style segments. Large-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell 1000® Index, posted modestly positive returns, while mid-cap stocks and small-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell Midcap® Index and Russell 2000® Index, respectively, generated negative returns. Large-cap stocks were most successful relative to small-cap stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. From a style perspective, growth-oriented stocks significantly outpaced value-oriented stocks across the capitalization spectrum. Growth outperformed relative to value during the Reporting Period primarily due to stronger performance of the growth-oriented information technology sector. (All as measured by the Russell Investments indices.)
2
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
While the Fund’s absolute returns disappointed, the Fund outperformed the Russell Index on a relative basis during the Reporting Period. During the Reporting Period, stock selection driven by our quantitative model and four of its six investment themes contributed positively to relative returns.
What impact did the Fund’s investment themes have on performance during the Reporting Period?
As expected, and in keeping with our investment approach, our quantitative model and its six investment themes — Valuation, Profitability, Quality, Management, Momentum and Sentiment—had the greatest impact on relative performance. We use these themes to take a long-term view of market patterns and look for inefficiencies, selecting stocks for the Fund and overweighting or underweighting the ones chosen by the model. Over time and by design, the performance of any one of the model’s investment themes tends to have a low correlation with the model’s other themes, demonstrating the diversification benefit of the Fund’s theme-driven quantitative model. The variance in performance supports our research indicating that the diversification provided by the Fund’s different investment themes is a significant investment advantage over the long term, even though the Fund may experience underperformance in the short term. Of course, diversification does not protect an investor from market risk nor does it ensure a profit.
During the Reporting Period, four of our six investment themes contributed positively to the Fund’s relative performance. The Sentiment theme contributed most positively to relative performance, followed by Momentum, Quality and Profitability. The Sentiment theme reflects selected investment views and decisions of individuals and financial intermediaries. The Momentum theme seeks to predict drifts in stock prices caused by delayed investor reaction to company-specific information and information about related companies. The Quality theme assesses both firm and financial quality. The Profitability theme assesses whether a company is earning more than its cost of capital.
The Fund’s Valuation theme detracted from the Fund’s relative performance. Valuation attempts to capture potential mispricings of securities, typically by comparing a measure of the company’s intrinsic value to its market value.
The Management theme had a rather neutral effect on the Fund’s relative performance during the Reporting Period. The Management theme assesses the characteristics, policies and strategic decisions of company management.
How did the Fund’s sector and industry allocations affect relative performance?
In constructing the Fund’s portfolio, we focus on picking stocks rather than making industry or sector bets. Consequently, the Fund is similar to its benchmark, the Russell Index, in terms of its sector allocation and style. We manage the Fund’s industry and sector exposure by including industry factors in our risk model and by explicitly penalizing industry and sector deviations from the benchmark index in optimization. Sector weights or changes in weights generally do not have a meaningful impact on relative performance.
Did stock selection help or hurt Fund performance during the Reporting Period?
We seek to outpace the Russell Index by overweighting stocks that we expect to outperform and underweighting those that we think may lag. We also build positions based on our thematic views. For example, the Fund aims to hold a basket of stocks with more favorable Momentum characteristics than the benchmark index. During the Reporting Period, stock selection overall contributed positively to the Fund’s relative performance.
Security selection in the industrials, energy and health care sectors contributed most positively to the Fund’s relative returns. Stock selection in utilities was the only sector to detract from the Fund’s results relative to the Russell Index during the Reporting Period.
Which individual stock positions contributed the most to the Fund’s relative returns during the Reporting Period?
The Fund benefited most from overweight positions in biopharmaceutical company Dyax and biotechnology companies Ligand Pharmaceuticals and Repligen. We chose to overweight Dyax because of our positive views on Sentiment and Profitability. Our positive views on Value and Profitability led us to overweight Ligand Pharmaceuticals. The Fund was overweight Repligen due to our positive views on Quality and Sentiment.
Which individual positions detracted from the Fund’s results during the Reporting Period?
Detracting most from the Fund’s results relative to its benchmark index were overweight positions in utilities company Talen Energy, biopharmaceuticals company AMAG Pharmaceuticals and commercial printer Quad/Graphics. The Fund was overweight Talen Energy due to our positive views on Momentum and Quality. Our positive views on Value and Sentiment led us to
3
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
overweight AMAG Pharmaceuticals. We chose to overweight Quad/Graphics because of our positive views on Value and Management.
How did the Fund use derivatives during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we did not use derivatives as part of an active management strategy to add value to the Fund’s results. However, we used equity index futures contracts, on an opportunistic basis, to equitize the Fund’s excess cash holdings. In other words, we put the Fund’s excess cash holdings to work by using them as collateral for the purchase of stock futures.
Did you make any enhancements to your quantitative models during the Reporting Period?
We continuously look for ways to improve our investment process. We made no significant changes to our quantitative models during the first quarter of 2015. In the second quarter of 2015, we made a number of enhancements across a variety of investment themes. First, we made two enhancements to our Sentiment theme. The first enhancement was in the U.S., Europe and Japan investment regions, where we introduced a signal that uses the credit default swap (“CDS”) spread of a company as an early indicator of potential stock price swings. We use data on single-name CDS spreads for more than 300 companies on a daily basis to arrive at our views. The second enhancement was in the U.S. investment region, where we introduced a signal that uses stock options data of a company as a potential indicator of stock mispricing. Due to fewer restrictions on leverage and short-selling, options markets typically incorporate information more efficiently than equity markets. Due to the broad availability of options data on U.S. equities, we can form views on the majority of stocks in our investment universe using this signal.
We also enhanced our Profitability theme in the U.S. by introducing a signal that analyzes web traffic data of companies to provide an insight into future revenues. We analyzed this information for more than 1,700 stocks in the U.S., spanning across various sectors.
Additionally, we expanded the scope of signals within our global linkages theme. We extended an economic linkage signal, which analyzes patent data, from the U.S. and Japan to Europe. We analyzed more than 3.5 million patents globally to establish the economic linkages between companies in various industries. We believe these linkages help predict price movements across similar companies more accurately.
We made no significant changes to our quantitative models during the third quarter of 2015. During the fourth quarter of 2015, we made a number of enhancements across a variety of investment themes. We enhanced our Management theme in the U.S., Europe and Emerging Markets investment regions by expanding the scope of an existing signal that looks at managements’ personal transactions in the stock of their respective company. Corporate executives purchasing or selling shares can potentially signal their conviction in the company’s stock when assessed under the right circumstances. We obtain and analyze this information through regulatory filings for more than 7,500 companies globally. We expanded the scope of two signals within our Global Linkages theme. We extended a signal, which analyzes patent data to identify economically linked companies, to all investment regions. We now analyze about 40 million patents from various patent offices for more than 3,000 companies globally to establish the economic linkages between stocks of various industries. We also extended a signal that establishes economic linkages between companies in the automotive supply chain from Japan to the U.S. and Europe investment regions. We take a differentiated, region-specific approach and analyze the potential relationships between the stock returns of suppliers and manufacturers multiple levels down the supply chain. Lastly, we extended a signal within our Profitability theme from the U.S. to the Emerging Markets and Japan investment regions. The signal analyzes web traffic data, which we believe can potentially forecast corporate revenue growth. We analyze this information for about 4,000 companies spanning across various sectors.
What was the Fund’s sector positioning relative to its benchmark index at the end of the Reporting Period?
As of December 31, 2015, the Fund was overweight the industrials, consumer discretionary, materials and energy sectors relative to the Russell Index. The Fund was underweight utilities, consumer staples, financials and information technology and was rather neutrally weighted in health care and telecommunication services compared to the benchmark index on the same date.
Were there any changes to the Fund’s portfolio management team during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, one Vice President left the Equity Alpha team. Quantitative Investment Strategies employs a globally integrated team of more than 90 professionals, with an additional 90-plus professionals dedicated to trading, information technology and development of analytical tools.
4
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
What is your strategy going forward for the Fund?
Looking ahead, we continue to believe that less expensive stocks should outpace more expensive stocks, and stocks with good momentum are likely to outperform those with poor momentum. We intend to maintain our focus on seeking companies about which fundamental research analysts are becoming more positive as well as profitable companies with sustainable earnings and a track record of using their capital to enhance shareholder value. As such, we anticipate remaining fully invested with long-term performance likely to be the result of stock selection rather than sector or capitalization allocations.
We stand behind our investment philosophy that sound economic investment principles, coupled with a disciplined quantitative approach, can provide strong, uncorrelated returns over the long term. Our research agenda is robust, and we continue to enhance our existing models, add new proprietary forecasting signals and improve our trading execution as we seek to provide the most value to our shareholders.
Changes to the Fund’s Portfolio Management Team after the Reporting Period
After the close of the Reporting Period, on February 5, 2016, Ron Hua, Chief Investment Officer of Equity Alpha Strategies for the Quantitative Investment Strategies (“QIS”) Team, announced his intention to retire from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”). As such, effective that date, Mr. Hua no longer had portfolio management responsibilities for the Fund. Effective February 5, 2016, joining Fund portfolio managers Len Ioffe, Osman Ali and Dennis Walsh is Armen Avanessians, the Chief Investment Officer of GSAM’s QIS Team, overseeing research, portfolio management and implementation for all QIS investment strategies globally. As always, the Quantitative Investment Strategies platform is organized into a series of specialist portfolio management teams that focus on generating and implementing investment ideas within their area of expertise. Investment decisions are made by these portfolio management teams, rather than by one portfolio manager or committee. Ultimate accountability for the Fund resides with the senior portfolio managers dedicated to each Team strategy, who oversee their respective research, portfolio management and implementation processes.
5
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Index Definitions
The Russell 2000® Index (with dividends reinvested) is an unmanaged index of common stock prices that measures the performance of the 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000® Index. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The S&P 500® Index (with dividends reinvested) is the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index of 500 stocks, an unmanaged index of common stock prices. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of the 800 smallest companies in the Russell 1000® Index, which represent approximately 25% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 1000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the 1,000 largest companies in the Russell 3000® Index, which represents approximately 92% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
6
FUND BASICS
Small Cap Equity Insights Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | |||||||||||||
Institutional | -2.13 | % | 10.02 | % | 5.18 | % | 6.09 | % | 2/13/98 | |||||||||
Service | -2.49 | 9.73 | N/A | 6.02 | 8/31/07 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional Shares and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.83 | % | 1.04 | % | ||||
Service | 1.08 | 1.29 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectus for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
TOP TEN HOLDINGS AS OF 12/31/153,4
Holding | % of Net Assets | Line of Business | ||||
CubeSmart. | 1.0% | Real Estate Investment Trust | ||||
Berry Plastics Group, Inc. | 0.9 | Materials | ||||
Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | 0.9 | Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences | ||||
CyrusOne, Inc. | 0.8 | Real Estate Investment Trust | ||||
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. | 0.8 | Health Care Equipment & Services | ||||
EMCOR Group, Inc. | 0.8 | Capital Goods | ||||
PS Business Parks, Inc. | 0.8 | Real Estate Investment Trust | ||||
Sonic Corp. | 0.8 | Consumer Services | ||||
Cepheid, Inc. | 0.8 | Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences | ||||
Mack-Cali Realty Corp. | 0.8 | Real Estate Investment Trust |
3 | The top 10 holdings may not be representative of the Fund’s future investments. |
4 | The Fund’s overall top ten holdings differ from the table above due to the exclusion of the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Money Market Fund (a securities lending reinvestment vehicle) which represents 2.4% of the Fund’s net assets as of 12/31/2015. |
7
FUND BASICS
FUND VS. BENCHMARK SECTOR ALLOCATIONS5
As of December 31, 2015
5 | The Fund is actively managed and, as such, its composition may differ over time. Consequently, the Fund’s overall sector allocations may differ from percentages contained in the graph above. The graph categorizes investments using Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”), however, the sector classifications used by the portfolio management team may differ from GICS. The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of total market value (excluding investments in the securities lending reinvestment vehicle, if any). Underlying sector allocations of Exchange Traded Funds and Investment Companies held by the Fund are not reflected in the graph above. Investments in the securities lending reinvestment vehicle represented 2.4% of the Fund’s net assets at December 31, 2015. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
8
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on January 1, 2006 in Institutional Shares at NAV. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell 2000® Index (with distributions reinvested), is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Service Shares will vary from Institutional Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Small Cap Equity Insights Fund’s 10 Year Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | ||||||
Institutional (Commenced February 13, 1998) | -2.13% | 10.02% | 5.18% | 6.09% | ||||||
Service (Commenced August 31, 2007) | -2.49% | 9.73% | N/A | 6.02% |
9
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – 97.5% | ||||||||
| Automobiles & Components – 1.5% |
| ||||||
16,841 | Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. | $ | 637,432 | |||||
35,658 | Modine Manufacturing Co.* | 322,705 | ||||||
13,506 | Tower International, Inc. | 385,866 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
1,346,003 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Banks – 7.3% |
| ||||||
1,437 | 1st Source Corp. | 44,360 | ||||||
1,335 | Banner Corp. | 61,223 | ||||||
11,098 | BofI Holding, Inc.*(a) | 233,613 | ||||||
57,299 | Brookline Bancorp, Inc.(b) | 658,938 | ||||||
24,226 | Central Pacific Financial Corp. | 533,457 | ||||||
3,717 | Columbia Banking System, Inc. | 120,840 | ||||||
41,315 | CVB Financial Corp. | 699,050 | ||||||
28,072 | Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. | 490,979 | ||||||
12,383 | FCB Financial Holdings, Inc. Class A* | 443,188 | ||||||
797 | First Citizens BancShares, Inc. Class A | 205,761 | ||||||
16,019 | First Interstate Bancsystem, Inc. Class A | 465,672 | ||||||
31,888 | First Midwest Bancorp, Inc. | 587,696 | ||||||
1,778 | Flagstar Bancorp, Inc.* | 41,090 | ||||||
6,808 | Hanmi Financial Corp. | 161,486 | ||||||
2,916 | Northfield Bancorp, Inc. | 46,423 | ||||||
41,915 | OFG Bancorp(a) | 306,818 | ||||||
15,609 | Oritani Financial Corp. | 257,548 | ||||||
13,648 | PrivateBancorp, Inc. | 559,841 | ||||||
40,767 | Umpqua Holdings Corp. | 648,195 | ||||||
8,204 | United Community Banks, Inc. | 159,896 | ||||||
3,107 | Washington Federal, Inc. | 74,040 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
6,800,114 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Capital Goods – 10.2% |
| ||||||
27,208 | Aegion Corp.* | 525,387 | ||||||
6,659 | Altra Industrial Motion Corp. | 167,008 | ||||||
1,872 | American Woodmark Corp.* | 149,723 | ||||||
5,291 | Apogee Enterprises, Inc. | 230,211 | ||||||
1,703 | Applied Industrial Technologies, Inc. | 68,954 | ||||||
16,792 | Barnes Group, Inc. | 594,269 | ||||||
3,271 | Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc.* | 134,700 | ||||||
17,032 | Comfort Systems USA, Inc. | 484,049 | ||||||
6,921 | Continental Building Products, Inc.* | 120,841 | ||||||
33,864 | DigitalGlobe, Inc.* | 530,310 | ||||||
6,629 | Ducommun, Inc.* | 107,522 | ||||||
15,747 | EMCOR Group, Inc. | 756,486 | ||||||
916 | ESCO Technologies, Inc. | 33,104 | ||||||
32,084 | Federal Signal Corp. | 508,531 | ||||||
35,793 | General Cable Corp. | 480,700 | ||||||
10,213 | Granite Construction, Inc. | 438,240 | ||||||
9,753 | Hillenbrand, Inc. | 288,981 | ||||||
7,299 | Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. | 382,833 | ||||||
11,891 | John Bean Technologies Corp. | 592,529 | ||||||
5,240 | Kadant, Inc. | 212,796 | ||||||
20,835 | LSI Industries, Inc. | 253,979 | ||||||
9,579 | Miller Industries, Inc. | 208,631 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Capital Goods – (continued) |
| ||||||
15,544 | Mueller Industries, Inc. | $ | 421,242 | |||||
763 | National Presto Industries, Inc. | 63,222 | ||||||
1,748 | Standex International Corp. | 145,346 | ||||||
22,864 | Univar, Inc.* | 388,917 | ||||||
9,579 | Universal Forest Products, Inc. | 654,916 | ||||||
45,911 | Wabash National Corp.* | 543,127 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
9,486,554 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Commercial & Professional Services – 4.1% |
| ||||||
19,214 | ABM Industries, Inc. | 547,023 | ||||||
11,013 | CDI Corp. | 74,448 | ||||||
4,759 | Essendant, Inc. | 154,715 | ||||||
7,470 | G&K Services, Inc. Class A | 469,863 | ||||||
8,302 | Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. | 225,980 | ||||||
1,018 | Herman Miller, Inc. | 29,217 | ||||||
13,204 | Insperity, Inc. | 635,773 | ||||||
34,994 | Kimball International, Inc. Class B | 341,891 | ||||||
5,023 | Knoll, Inc. | 94,432 | ||||||
14,714 | Korn/Ferry International | 488,211 | ||||||
35,826 | Quad/Graphics, Inc. | 333,182 | ||||||
8,478 | TrueBlue, Inc.* | 218,393 | ||||||
3,787 | WageWorks, Inc.* | 171,816 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,784,944 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Durables & Apparel – 2.9% |
| ||||||
18,573 | Callaway Golf Co. | 174,958 | ||||||
6,894 | Cavco Industries, Inc.* | 574,339 | ||||||
2,729 | CSS Industries, Inc. | 77,449 | ||||||
22,242 | Ethan Allen Interiors, Inc. | 618,772 | ||||||
6,162 | G-III Apparel Group Ltd.* | 272,730 | ||||||
1,074 | Helen of Troy Ltd.* | 101,225 | ||||||
2,075 | La-Z-Boy, Inc. | 50,672 | ||||||
4,749 | Smith & Wesson Holding Corp.* | 104,383 | ||||||
3,785 | Universal Electronics, Inc.* | 194,360 | ||||||
30,909 | Wolverine World Wide, Inc. | 516,489 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
2,685,377 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Services – 6.5% |
| ||||||
13,868 | BJ’s Restaurants, Inc.* | 602,842 | ||||||
5,447 | Bloomin’ Brands, Inc. | 92,000 | ||||||
25,447 | Boyd Gaming Corp.* | 505,632 | ||||||
19,200 | Bridgepoint Education, Inc.* | 146,112 | ||||||
9,361 | Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Inc.* | 625,315 | ||||||
2,493 | Capella Education Co. | 115,226 | ||||||
49,876 | Denny’s Corp.* | 490,281 | ||||||
9,513 | Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc.* | 132,516 | ||||||
8,970 | Jack in the Box, Inc. | 688,089 | ||||||
29,727 | K12, Inc.* | 261,598 | ||||||
10,346 | Papa John’s International, Inc. | 578,031 | ||||||
17,659 | Pinnacle Entertainment, Inc.* | 549,548 | ||||||
639 | Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Inc.* | 39,452 | ||||||
|
|
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Consumer Services – (continued) |
| ||||||
37,050 | Regis Corp.* | $ | 524,257 | |||||
22,439 | Sonic Corp. | 725,004 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
6,075,903 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Diversified Financials – 3.1% |
| ||||||
6,262 | Associated Capital Group, Inc. Class A* | 190,991 | ||||||
7,251 | Cash America International, Inc. | 217,167 | ||||||
1,298 | Cohen & Steers, Inc. | 39,563 | ||||||
677 | Diamond Hill Investment Group, Inc. | 127,953 | ||||||
10,148 | Evercore Partners, Inc. Class A | 548,702 | ||||||
51,266 | EZCORP, Inc. Class A* | 255,817 | ||||||
6,262 | GAMCO Investors, Inc. Class A | 194,373 | ||||||
22,224 | Investment Technology Group, Inc. | 378,253 | ||||||
2,639 | Nelnet, Inc. Class A | 88,591 | ||||||
1,054 | Piper Jaffray Companies* | 42,582 | ||||||
6,273 | Stifel Financial Corp.* | 265,724 | ||||||
32,916 | WisdomTree Investments, Inc.(a) | 516,123 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
2,865,839 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Energy – 4.1% |
| ||||||
32,187 | Alon USA Energy, Inc. | 477,655 | ||||||
4,468 | Contango Oil & Gas Co.* | 28,640 | ||||||
23,205 | Delek US Holdings, Inc. | 570,843 | ||||||
63,689 | DHT Holdings, Inc. | 515,244 | ||||||
14,167 | Gener8 Maritime, Inc.* | 133,878 | ||||||
9,835 | McDermott International, Inc.* | 32,947 | ||||||
21,230 | Oil States International, Inc.* | 578,518 | ||||||
3,193 | Par Pacific Holdings, Inc.* | 75,163 | ||||||
6,630 | PDC Energy, Inc.* | 353,910 | ||||||
50,549 | Pioneer Energy Services Corp.* | 109,691 | ||||||
5,780 | REX American Resources Corp.* | 312,525 | ||||||
17,465 | Western Refining, Inc. | 622,103 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,811,117 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing – 0.2% |
| ||||||
7,253 | SpartanNash Co. | 156,955 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco – 0.7% |
| ||||||
5,147 | J&J Snack Foods Corp. | 600,500 | ||||||
287 | Lancaster Colony Corp. | 33,137 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
633,637 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – 6.9% |
| ||||||
1,889 | Amedisys, Inc.* | 74,276 | ||||||
3,908 | AMN Healthcare Services, Inc.* | 121,343 | ||||||
440 | Atrion Corp. | 167,728 | ||||||
11,146 | Cantel Medical Corp. | 692,612 | ||||||
3,499 | Computer Programs & Systems, Inc. | 174,075 | ||||||
5,590 | ICU Medical, Inc.* | 630,440 | ||||||
15,696 | Invacare Corp. | 272,953 | ||||||
7,651 | Magellan Health, Inc.* | 471,761 | ||||||
2,562 | MedAssets, Inc.* | 79,268 | ||||||
1,210 | Medidata Solutions, Inc.* | 59,641 | ||||||
8,217 | Meridian Bioscience, Inc. | 168,613 | ||||||
17,738 | Merit Medical Systems, Inc.* | 329,749 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – (continued) |
| ||||||
1,728 | Molina Healthcare, Inc.* | $ | 103,905 | |||||
13,855 | Natus Medical, Inc.* | 665,733 | ||||||
3,341 | Omnicell, Inc.* | 103,838 | ||||||
4,675 | Orthofix International NV* | 183,307 | ||||||
954 | PharMerica Corp.* | 33,390 | ||||||
40,406 | Quality Systems, Inc. | 651,345 | ||||||
12,561 | Triple-S Management Corp. Class B* | 300,334 | ||||||
4,146 | WellCare Health Plans, Inc.* | 324,259 | ||||||
12,591 | West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. | 758,230 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
6,366,800 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Household & Personal Products – 0.3% |
| ||||||
2,355 | Central Garden & Pet Co. Class A* | 32,028 | ||||||
2,259 | USANA Health Sciences, Inc.* | 288,587 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
320,615 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Insurance – 2.1% |
| ||||||
24,915 | American Equity Investment Life Holding Co. | 598,707 | ||||||
11,344 | Argo Group International Holdings Ltd. | 678,825 | ||||||
36,281 | Maiden Holdings Ltd. | 540,950 | ||||||
2,237 | Selective Insurance Group, Inc. | 75,118 | ||||||
1,684 | Stewart Information Services Corp. | 62,864 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
1,956,464 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Materials – 5.6% |
| ||||||
11,222 | A. Schulman, Inc. | 343,842 | ||||||
24,163 | Berry Plastics Group, Inc.* | 874,217 | ||||||
18,722 | Carpenter Technology Corp. | 566,715 | ||||||
4,402 | Commercial Metals Co. | 60,263 | ||||||
34,314 | Ferroglobe PLC | 368,876 | ||||||
8,870 | FutureFuel Corp. | 119,745 | ||||||
4,440 | HB Fuller Co. | 161,927 | ||||||
23,606 | Headwaters, Inc.* | 398,233 | ||||||
12,200 | Innophos Holdings, Inc. | 353,556 | ||||||
6,458 | Kraton Performance Polymers, Inc.* | 107,267 | ||||||
18,551 | Materion Corp. | 519,428 | ||||||
855 | Minerals Technologies, Inc. | 39,210 | ||||||
25,163 | Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc. Class A | 361,592 | ||||||
8,729 | Sensient Technologies Corp. | 548,356 | ||||||
3,340 | Stepan Co. | 165,965 | ||||||
5,848 | Worthington Industries, Inc. | 176,259 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,165,451 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Media – 0.1% |
| ||||||
8,061 | Entercom Communications Corp. Class A* | 90,525 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – 8.3% |
| ||||||
1,138 | ACADIA Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 40,570 | ||||||
13,044 | AMAG Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 393,798 | ||||||
7,329 | Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 827,957 | ||||||
84,676 | Array BioPharma, Inc.* | 357,333 | ||||||
19,726 | Cepheid, Inc.* | 720,591 | ||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – (continued) |
| ||||||
2,266 | Dyax Corp.* | $ | 85,247 | |||||
3,991 | Dynavax Technologies Corp.* | 96,422 | ||||||
17,464 | Emergent Biosolutions, Inc.* | 698,735 | ||||||
35,314 | Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.* | 611,992 | ||||||
913 | Impax Laboratories, Inc.* | 39,040 | ||||||
3,302 | Insys Therapeutics, Inc.*(a) | 94,536 | ||||||
2,986 | Momenta Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 44,312 | ||||||
4,878 | Myriad Genetics, Inc.*(a) | 210,534 | ||||||
2,884 | Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc.* | 163,148 | ||||||
7,946 | NewLink Genetics Corp.* | 289,155 | ||||||
71,218 | Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc.*(a) | 122,495 | ||||||
87,665 | PDL BioPharma, Inc.(a) | 310,334 | ||||||
16,050 | Phibro Animal Health Corp. Class A | 483,586 | ||||||
13,075 | Prestige Brands Holdings, Inc.* | 673,101 | ||||||
21,086 | Repligen Corp.* | 596,523 | ||||||
22,091 | Sagent Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 351,468 | ||||||
25,949 | Sciclone Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 238,731 | ||||||
10,520 | Sucampo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Class A* | 181,891 | ||||||
5,147 | ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.*(a) | 42,772 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
7,674,271 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Real Estate – 0.9% |
| ||||||
15,346 | Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. | 541,867 | ||||||
5,607 | Marcus & Millichap, Inc.* | 163,388 | ||||||
2,598 | RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. Class A | 96,906 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
802,161 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Real Estate Investment Trust – 10.1% |
| ||||||
34,949 | American Capital Mortgage Investment Corp. | 487,888 | ||||||
115,864 | Anworth Mortgage Asset Corp. | 504,008 | ||||||
12,329 | CoreSite Realty Corp. | 699,301 | ||||||
63,387 | Cousins Properties, Inc. | 597,740 | ||||||
29,326 | CubeSmart | 897,962 | ||||||
20,956 | CyrusOne, Inc. | 784,802 | ||||||
14,398 | DCT Industrial Trust, Inc. | 538,053 | ||||||
20,996 | DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. | 667,463 | ||||||
15,212 | FelCor Lodging Trust, Inc. | 111,048 | ||||||
30,564 | First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. | 676,381 | ||||||
20,827 | Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. | 586,072 | ||||||
23,914 | Kite Realty Group Trust | 620,090 | ||||||
30,311 | Mack-Cali Realty Corp. | 707,762 | ||||||
8,352 | PS Business Parks, Inc. | 730,215 | ||||||
6,828 | QTS Realty Trust, Inc. | 308,011 | ||||||
3,611 | Rouse Properties, Inc.(a) | 52,576 | ||||||
1,377 | Sovran Self Storage, Inc. | 147,766 | ||||||
27,703 | Western Asset Mortgage Capital Corp.(a) | 283,125 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
9,400,263 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Retailing – 3.9% |
| ||||||
8,309 | Asbury Automotive Group, Inc.* | 560,359 | ||||||
2,899 | Burlington Stores, Inc.* | 124,367 | ||||||
2,409 | HSN, Inc. | 122,064 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Retailing – (continued) |
| ||||||
438 | Monro Muffler Brake, Inc. | $ | 29,004 | |||||
22,207 | Nutrisystem, Inc. | 480,559 | ||||||
3,188 | Outerwall, Inc.(a) | 116,490 | ||||||
9,172 | Pier 1 Imports, Inc.(a) | 46,685 | ||||||
8,178 | Pool Corp. | 660,619 | ||||||
33,983 | Rent-A-Center, Inc. | 508,725 | ||||||
4,299 | Select Comfort Corp.* | 92,042 | ||||||
1,050 | Shutterfly, Inc.* | 46,788 | ||||||
11,646 | Stage Stores, Inc.(a) | 106,095 | ||||||
16,157 | The Cato Corp. Class A | 594,901 | ||||||
2,509 | The Pep Boys-Manny Moe & Jack* | 46,191 | ||||||
8,181 | Zumiez, Inc.* | 123,697 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,658,586 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment – 2.2% |
| ||||||
18,469 | Advanced Energy Industries, Inc.* | 521,380 | ||||||
12,663 | Cabot Microelectronics Corp.* | 554,386 | ||||||
7,916 | Cirrus Logic, Inc.* | 233,759 | ||||||
10,796 | Inphi Corp.* | 291,708 | ||||||
5,736 | Microsemi Corp.* | 186,936 | ||||||
3,287 | Power Integrations, Inc. | 159,847 | ||||||
2,455 | Veeco Instruments, Inc.* | 50,475 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
1,998,491 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Software & Services – 6.3% |
| ||||||
528 | Blackbaud, Inc. | 34,774 | ||||||
19,558 | Blucora, Inc.* | 191,668 | ||||||
21,415 | Constant Contact, Inc.* | 626,175 | ||||||
1,318 | Cornerstone OnDemand, Inc.* | 45,511 | ||||||
2,704 | Cvent, Inc.* | 94,397 | ||||||
68,547 | EarthLink Holdings Corp. | 509,304 | ||||||
2,347 | Fleetmatics Group PLC*(a) | 119,204 | ||||||
5,548 | Gigamon, Inc.* | 147,410 | ||||||
955 | Imperva, Inc.* | 60,461 | ||||||
1,344 | LogMeIn, Inc.* | 90,182 | ||||||
10,538 | Manhattan Associates, Inc.* | 697,300 | ||||||
19,972 | ManTech International Corp. Class A | 603,953 | ||||||
19,803 | Marchex, Inc. Class B | 77,034 | ||||||
2,472 | Mentor Graphics Corp. | 45,534 | ||||||
1,166 | MicroStrategy, Inc. Class A* | 209,052 | ||||||
11,704 | Monster Worldwide, Inc.* | 67,064 | ||||||
1,595 | NIC, Inc. | 31,390 | ||||||
6,656 | Pegasystems, Inc. | 183,040 | ||||||
22,759 | Progress Software Corp.* | 546,216 | ||||||
7,763 | QAD, Inc. Class A | 159,297 | ||||||
8,947 | RingCentral, Inc. Class A* | 210,970 | ||||||
4,162 | Sykes Enterprises, Inc.* | 128,106 | ||||||
2,427 | Tyler Technologies, Inc.* | 423,075 | ||||||
28,131 | Web.com Group, Inc.* | 562,901 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,864,018 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – 7.7% |
| ||||||
26,543 | Benchmark Electronics, Inc.* | 548,644 | ||||||
8,863 | Calix, Inc.* | 69,752 | ||||||
10,822 | Ciena Corp.* | 223,907 | ||||||
|
|
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – (continued) |
| ||||||
5,181 | Coherent, Inc.* | $ | 337,335 | |||||
15,616 | Finisar Corp.* | 227,057 | ||||||
54,071 | Harmonic, Inc.* | 220,069 | ||||||
2,980 | II-VI, Inc.* | 55,309 | ||||||
20,104 | Insight Enterprises, Inc.* | 505,012 | ||||||
7,475 | Ixia* | 92,914 | ||||||
26,098 | Kimball Electronics, Inc.* | 286,817 | ||||||
15,038 | Methode Electronics, Inc. | 478,659 | ||||||
16,195 | NETGEAR, Inc.* | 678,732 | ||||||
7,760 | OSI Systems, Inc.* | 688,002 | ||||||
2,674 | Plantronics, Inc. | 126,801 | ||||||
3,028 | Plexus Corp.* | 105,738 | ||||||
35,983 | Polycom, Inc.* | 453,026 | ||||||
49,165 | QLogic Corp.* | 599,813 | ||||||
5,805 | ShoreTel, Inc.* | 51,374 | ||||||
6,805 | SYNNEX Corp. | 611,974 | ||||||
8,976 | Tech Data Corp.* | 595,827 | ||||||
35,189 | TTM Technologies, Inc.* | 229,080 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
7,185,842 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Telecommunication Services – 0.9% |
| ||||||
8,539 | General Communication, Inc. Class A* | 168,902 | ||||||
11,582 | Spok Holdings, Inc. | 212,182 | ||||||
81,933 | Vonage Holdings Corp.* | 470,295 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
851,379 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Transportation – 0.9% |
| ||||||
10,144 | Air Transport Services Group, Inc.* | 102,251 | ||||||
6,581 | ArcBest Corp. | 140,768 | ||||||
13,234 | Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc.* | 547,094 | ||||||
1,190 | Hub Group, Inc. Class A* | 39,210 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
829,323 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Utilities – 0.7% |
| ||||||
8,807 | New Jersey Resources Corp. | $ | 290,279 | |||||
63,048 | Talen Energy Corp.* | 392,789 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
683,068 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| TOTAL INVESTMENTS BEFORE SECURITIES LENDING REINVESTMENT VEHICLE | | ||||||
(Cost $91,464,729) | $ | 90,493,700 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Shares | Distribution Rate | Value | ||||||
Securities Lending Reinvestment Vehicle(c)(d) – 2.4% | ||||||||
| Goldman Sachs Financial Square Money Market Fund — | | ||||||
2,188,175 | 0.285% | $ | 2,188,175 | |||||
(Cost $2,188,175) | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 99.9% | ||||||||
(Cost $93,652,904) | $ | 92,681,875 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF | 76,117 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 92,757,992 | ||||||
|
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
* | Non-income producing security. | |
(a) | All or a portion of security is on loan. | |
(b) | All or a portion of security is segregated as collateral for initial margin requirements on futures transactions. | |
(c) | Represents an affiliated issuer. | |
(d) | Variable rate security. Interest rate or distribution rate disclosed is that which is in effect on December 31, 2015. |
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION
FUTURES CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following futures contracts:
Type | Number of Contracts Long (Short) | Expiration Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||||||||
Russell 2000 Mini Index | 13 | March 2016 | $ | 1,470,950 | $ | 3,682 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (cost $91,464,729)(a) | $ | 90,493,700 | ||
Investments in affiliated securities lending reinvestment vehicle, at value which equals cost | 2,188,175 | |||
Cash | 2,265,036 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Dividends | 148,081 | |||
Fund shares sold | 4,314 | |||
Reimbursement from investment adviser | 1,867 | |||
Securities lending income | 1,578 | |||
Total assets | 95,102,751 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | 14,940 | |||
Payables: | ||||
Payable upon return of securities loaned | 2,188,175 | |||
Management fees | 56,131 | |||
Fund shares redeemed | 16,990 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 5,813 | |||
Accrued expenses | 62,710 | |||
Total liabilities | 2,344,759 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 92,666,446 | |||
Undistributed net investment income | 501,507 | |||
Accumulated net realized gain | 557,386 | |||
Net unrealized loss | (967,347 | ) | ||
NET ASSETS | $ | 92,757,992 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional | $ | 73,270,263 | ||
Service | 19,487,729 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 92,757,992 | ||
Shares of beneficial interest outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional | 6,318,303 | |||
Service | 1,690,921 | |||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||
Institutional | $11.60 | |||
Service | 11.52 |
(a) Includes loaned securities having a market value of $2,086,961.
14 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Statement of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Investment income: | ||||
Dividends (net of foreign taxes withheld of $1,332) | $ | 1,430,646 | ||
Securities lending income — affiliated issuer | 28,870 | |||
Total investment income | 1,459,516 | |||
Expenses: | ||||
Management fees | 780,262 | |||
Professional fees | 80,622 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 61,138 | |||
Distribution and Service fees — Service Class | 54,399 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 46,159 | |||
Trustee fees | 25,511 | |||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 20,805 | |||
Other | 15,626 | |||
Total expenses | 1,084,522 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (185,798 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 898,724 | |||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 560,792 | |||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||
Net realized gain (loss) from: | ||||
Investments | 10,768,311 | |||
Futures contracts | (64,608 | ) | ||
Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on: | ||||
Investments | (12,894,104 | ) | ||
Futures contracts | (43,854 | ) | ||
Net realized and unrealized loss | (2,234,255 | ) | ||
NET DECREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | (1,673,463 | ) |
(a) Institutional and Service Shares incurred Transfer Agency fees of $16,454 and $4,351, respectively.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 15 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 560,792 | $ | 543,340 | ||||
Net realized gain | 10,703,703 | 14,149,077 | ||||||
Net change in unrealized loss | (12,937,958 | ) | (7,791,415 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations | (1,673,463 | ) | 6,901,002 | |||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (225,666 | ) | (647,639 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (5,881 | ) | (120,277 | ) | ||||
From net realized gains | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (9,544,423 | ) | (12,160,677 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (2,555,468 | ) | (3,387,666 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (12,331,438 | ) | (16,316,259 | ) | ||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 17,599,123 | 16,974,960 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 12,331,438 | 16,316,259 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (35,954,038 | ) | (35,135,496 | ) | ||||
Net decrease in net assets resulting from share transactions | (6,023,477 | ) | (1,844,277 | ) | ||||
TOTAL DECREASE | (20,028,378 | ) | (11,259,534 | ) | ||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 112,786,370 | 124,045,904 | ||||||
End of year | $ | 92,757,992 | $ | 112,786,370 | ||||
Undistributed net investment income | $ | 501,507 | $ | 164,576 |
16 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | From net investment income | From net realized gains | Total distributions | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 13.67 | $ | 0.08 | (d) | $ | (0.37 | ) | $ | (0.29 | ) | $ | (0.04 | ) | $ | (1.74 | ) | $ | (1.78 | ) | $ | 11.60 | (2.13 | )% | $ | 73,270 | 0.81 | % | 0.99 | % | 0.59 | %(d) | 124 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 13.60 | 0.05 | (d) | (0.39 | ) | (0.34 | ) | — | (e) | (1.74 | ) | (1.74 | ) | 11.52 | (2.49 | ) | 19,488 | 1.06 | 1.24 | 0.34 | (d) | 124 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 15.07 | 0.08 | 0.90 | 0.98 | (0.12 | ) | (2.26 | ) | (2.38 | ) | 13.67 | 6.93 | 89,043 | 0.83 | 1.04 | 0.53 | 119 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 15.00 | 0.04 | 0.90 | 0.94 | (0.08 | ) | (2.26 | ) | (2.34 | ) | 13.60 | 6.69 | 23,744 | 1.08 | 1.29 | 0.28 | 119 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional | 12.71 | 0.11 | 4.37 | 4.48 | (0.16 | ) | (1.96 | ) | (2.12 | ) | 15.07 | 35.62 | 98,114 | 0.82 | 0.98 | 0.77 | 152 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 12.65 | 0.08 | 4.34 | 4.42 | (0.11 | ) | (1.96 | ) | (2.07 | ) | 15.00 | 35.38 | 25,932 | 1.07 | 1.23 | 0.52 | 152 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Institutional | 11.40 | 0.19 | (f) | 1.27 | (g) | 1.46 | (0.15 | ) | — | (0.15 | ) | 12.71 | 12.79 | (g) | 82,961 | 0.81 | 0.97 | 1.55 | (f) | 95 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 11.35 | 0.17 | (f) | 1.25 | (g) | 1.42 | (0.12 | ) | — | (0.12 | ) | 12.65 | 12.47 | (g) | 22,674 | 1.06 | 1.22 | 1.34 | (f) | 95 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Institutional | 11.42 | 0.06 | (h) | 0.02 | (i) | 0.08 | (0.10 | ) | — | (0.10 | ) | 11.40 | 0.67 | 87,956 | 0.83 | 0.99 | 0.55 | (h) | 33 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 11.37 | 0.03 | (h) | 0.02 | (i) | 0.05 | (0.07 | ) | — | (0.07 | ) | 11.35 | 0.41 | 22,973 | 1.08 | 1.24 | 0.30 | (h) | 33 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. |
(c) | The Fund's portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments and certain derivatives. If such transactions were included, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Reflects income recognized from special dividends which amounted to $0.02 per share and 0.15% of average net assets. |
(e) | Amount is less than $0.005 per share. |
(f) | Reflects income recognized from special dividends which amounted to $0.08 per share and 0.62% of average net assets. |
(g) | Reflects payment from affiliate relating to certain investment transactions which amounted to $0.08 per share. Excluding such payment, the total return would have been 12.44% and 12.12%, respectively. |
(h) | Reflects income recognized from special dividends which amounted to $0.02 per share and 0.21% of average net assets. |
(i) | Reflects an increase of $0.02 due to payments received for class action settlements received this year. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 17 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs Small Cap Equity Insights Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is a diversified portfolio under the Act offering two classes of shares — Institutional and Service Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Fund’s valuation policy is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments. Distributions received from the Fund’s investments in United States (“U.S.”) real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) may be characterized as ordinary income, net capital gain or a return of capital. A return of capital is recorded by the Fund as a reduction to the cost basis of the REIT.
For derivative contracts, realized gains and losses are recorded upon settlement of the contract.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Fund are charged to that Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
D. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Fund’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
18
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Fund’s policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Fund, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Fund’s portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Equity Securities — Equity securities traded on a U.S. securities exchange or the NASDAQ system, or those located on certain foreign exchanges, including but not limited to the Americas, are valued daily at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded. If there is no sale or official closing price or such price is believed by GSAM to not represent fair value, equity securities are valued at the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2.
Unlisted equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last sale price on the valuation date, or if no sale occurs, at the last bid price. These investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
Money Market Funds — Investments in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Money Market Fund (“Underlying Fund”) are valued at the NAV of the FST Share class on the day of valuation. These investments are generally classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. For information regarding an Underlying Fund’s accounting policies and investment holdings, please see the Underlying Fund’s shareholder report.
Derivative Contracts — A derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from underlying assets, indices, reference rates or a combination of these factors. The Fund enters into derivative transactions to hedge against changes in interest rates, securities prices, and/or currency exchange rates, to increase total return, or to gain access to certain markets or attain exposure to other underliers.
Exchange-traded derivatives, including futures and options contracts, are valued at the last sale or settlement price and typically fall within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Over-the-counter (“OTC”) and centrally cleared derivatives are valued using market transactions and other market evidence, including market-based inputs to models, calibration to market-clearing
19
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
transactions, broker or dealer quotations, or other alternative pricing sources. Where models are used, the selection of a particular model to value OTC and centrally cleared derivatives depends upon the contractual terms of, and specific risks inherent in, the instrument, as well as the availability of pricing information in the market. Valuation models require a variety of inputs, including contractual terms, market prices, yield curves, credit curves, measures of volatility, voluntary and involuntary prepayment rates, loss severity rates and correlations of such inputs. For OTC and centrally cleared derivatives that trade in liquid markets, model inputs can generally be verified and model selection does not involve significant management judgment. OTC and centrally cleared derivatives are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy when significant inputs are corroborated by market evidence.
i. Futures Contracts — Futures contracts are contracts to buy or sell a standardized quantity of a specified commodity or security and are valued based on exchanged settlement prices or independent market quotes. Futures contracts are valued at the last settlement price, or in the absence of a sale, the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions, at the end of each day on the board of trade or exchange upon which they are traded. Upon entering into a futures contract, the Fund deposits cash or securities in an account on behalf of the broker in an amount sufficient to meet the initial margin requirement. Subsequent payments are made or received by the Fund equal to the daily change in the contract value and are recorded as variation margin receivable or payable with a corresponding offset to unrealized gains or losses.
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAM believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Fund’s investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAM, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Fund’s investments and derivatives classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Common Stock and/or Other Equity Investments(a) | ||||||||||||
North America | $ | 90,493,700 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Securities Lending Reinvestment Vehicle | 2,188,175 | — | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 92,681,875 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Derivative Type | ||||||||||||
Assets(b) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | 3,682 | $ | — | $ | — |
(a) | Amounts are disclosed by continent to highlight the impact of time zone differences between local market close and the calculation of NAV. Security valuations are based on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, which may differ from country of domicile. |
(b) | Amount shown represents unrealized gain (loss) at fiscal year end. |
For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Schedule of Investments.
20
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
4. INVESTMENTS IN DERIVATIVES
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the gross value of derivative contracts as of December 31, 2015. These instruments were used as part of the Fund’s investment strategies and to obtain and/or manage exposure related to the risks below. The values in the table below exclude the effects of cash collateral received or posted pursuant to these derivative contracts, and therefore are not representative of the Fund’s net exposure.
Risk | Statement of Assets and Liabilities | Assets(a) | ||
Equity | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | $3,682 |
(a) | Includes unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts described in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. Only current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. |
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the Fund’s gains (losses) related to these derivatives and their indicative volumes for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. These gains (losses) should be considered in the context that these derivative contracts may have been executed to create investment opportunities and/or economically hedge certain investments, and accordingly, certain gains (losses) on such derivative contracts may offset certain (losses) gains attributable to investments. These gains (losses) are included in “Net realized gain (loss)” or “Net change in unrealized gain (loss)” on the Statement of Operations:
Risk | Statement of Operations | Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Net Change in Unrealized Gain (Loss) | Average Number of Contracts(a) | ||||||||||
Equity | Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts | $ | (64,608 | ) | $ | (43,854 | ) | 10 |
(a) | Average number of contracts is based on the average of month end balances for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. |
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Fund, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Fund’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, contractual and effective net management fees with GSAM were at the following rates:
Contractual Management Rate | ||||||||||
First $2 billion | Next $3 billion | Next $3 billion | Over $8 billion | Effective Rate | Effective Net Management Rate^ | |||||
0.75% | 0.68% | 0.65% | 0.64% | 0.75% | 0.70%* |
^ | Effective Net Management Rate includes the impact of management fee waivers of affiliated underlying funds, if any. |
* | GSAM agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in order to achieve a net management rate, as defined in the Fund’s most recent prospectus. This waiver will be effective through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM waived $52,019 of its management fee. |
B. Distribution and Service Plan — The Trust, on behalf of the Service Shares of the Fund, has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”). Under the Plan, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (the “Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service Shares.
21
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Fund for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets of Institutional and Service Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification, and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a percentage rate of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Fund is not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitation as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for the Fund is 0.094%. The Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM reimbursed $131,296 to the Fund. In addition, the Fund has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Fund’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, custody fee credits were $2,483.
E. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Fund participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Fund and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Fund based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Fund did not have any borrowings under the facility.
F. Other Transactions with Affiliates — For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs earned $284 in brokerage commissions from portfolio transactions, including futures transactions executed with Goldman Sachs as the Futures Commission Merchant, on behalf of the Fund.
6. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were $125,014,702 and $139,757,832, respectively.
7. SECURITIES LENDING
Pursuant to exemptive relief granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the terms and conditions contained therein, the Fund may lend its securities through a securities lending agent, Goldman Sachs Agency Lending (“GSAL”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, to certain qualified borrowers including Goldman Sachs and affiliates. In accordance with the Fund’s securities lending procedures, the Fund receives cash collateral at least equal to the market value of the securities on loan. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of business of the Fund, at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, and any additional required collateral is delivered to the Fund on the next business day. As with other extensions of credit, the Fund may experience delay in the recovery of its securities or incur a loss should the borrower of the securities breach its agreement with the Fund or become insolvent at a time when the collateral is insufficient to cover the cost of repurchasing securities on loan. Dividend income received from securities on loan may not be
22
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
7. SECURITIES LENDING (continued)
subject to withholding taxes and therefore withholding taxes paid may differ from the amounts listed in the Statement of Operations. Loans of securities are terminable at any time and as such 1) the remaining contractual maturities of the outstanding securities lending transactions are considered to be overnight and continuous and 2) the borrower, after notice, is required to return borrowed securities within the standard time period for settlement of securities transactions.
The Fund invests the cash collateral received in connection with securities lending transactions in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Money Market Fund (“Money Market Fund”), an affiliated series of the Trust. The Money Market Fund is registered under the Act as an open end investment company, is subject to Rule 2a-7 under the Act, and is managed by GSAM, for which GSAM may receive an investment advisory fee of up to 0.205% on an annualized basis of the average daily net assets of the Money Market Fund.
In the event of a default by a borrower with respect to any loan, GSAL will exercise any and all remedies provided under the applicable borrower agreement to make the Fund whole. These remedies include purchasing replacement securities by applying the collateral held from the defaulting broker against the purchase cost of the replacement securities. If, despite such efforts by GSAL to exercise these remedies, the Fund sustains losses as a result of a borrower’s default, GSAL indemnifies the Funds by purchasing replacement securities at GSAL’s expense, or paying the Funds an amount equal to the market value of the replacement securities, subject to an exclusion for any shortfalls resulting from a loss of value in the cash collateral pool due to reinvestment risk and a requirement that the Fund agrees to assign rights to the collateral to GSAL for purpose of using the collateral to cover purchase of replacement securities as more fully described in the Securities Lending Agency Agreement. The Fund’s loaned securities were all subject to enforceable Securities Lending Agreements and the value of the collateral is at least equal to the value of the cash received. The value of loaned securities and cash collateral at period end are disclosed in the Fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
Both the Fund and GSAL received compensation relating to the lending of the Fund’s securities. The amounts earned by the Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, are reported under Investment Income on the Statement of Operations.
The table below details securities lending activity with affiliates of Goldman Sachs:
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 | ||||
Earnings of GSAL Relating to Securities Loaned | Amounts Received by the Fund from Lending to Goldman Sachs | Amounts Payable to Goldman Sachs Upon Return of Securities Loaned as of | ||
$3,160 | $8,367 | $456,175 |
The following table provides information about the Fund’s investment in the Money Market Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015:
Market Value 12/31/14 | Purchases at Cost | Proceeds from Sales | Market Value 12/31/15 | |||||||||||
$6,925,868 | $ | 32,639,364 | $ | (37,377,057 | ) | $ | 2,188,175 |
23
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
8. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, was as follows:
2014 | 2015 | |||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 6,700,936 | $ | 3,114,694 | ||||
Net long-term capital gains | 9,615,323 | 9,216,744 | ||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 16,316,259 | $ | 12,331,438 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Undistributed ordinary income — net | $ | 453,833 | ||
Undistributed long-term capital gains | 1,036,313 | |||
Total undistributed earnings | $ | 1,490,146 | ||
Timing differences (Post October Loss Deferral/§ 857(b)(9) Deferred Dividend) | $ | (311,690 | ) | |
Unrealized gains (losses) — net | (1,086,910 | ) | ||
Total accumulated earnings (losses) — net | $ | 91,546 |
As of December 31, 2015, the Fund’s aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
Tax cost | $ | 93,768,785 | ||
Gross unrealized gain | 9,831,404 | |||
Gross unrealized loss | (10,918,314 | ) | ||
Net unrealized security loss | $ | (1,086,910 | ) |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales, net mark to market gains (losses) on regulated futures contracts and differences in the tax treatment of underlying fund investments.
In order to present certain components of the Fund’s capital accounts on a tax-basis, the Fund has reclassified $7,686 from accumulated net realized gain (loss) to undistributed net investment income. This reclassification has no impact on the NAV of the Fund and results primarily from differences in the tax treatment of passive foreign investment company investments, real estate investment trust investments and underlying fund investments.
GSAM has reviewed the Fund’s tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
24
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
9. OTHER RISKS
The Fund’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that a Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Fund may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Fund has unsettled or open transactions defaults.
10. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Fund. Additionally, in the course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
11. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
25
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
12. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 1,203,429 | $ | 17,154,427 | 1,123,938 | $ | 16,714,665 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 842,249 | 9,770,089 | 960,144 | 12,808,316 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (2,240,010 | ) | (31,614,902 | ) | (2,080,842 | ) | (31,192,672 | ) | ||||||||
(194,332 | ) | (4,690,386 | ) | 3,240 | (1,669,691 | ) | ||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 32,525 | 444,696 | 16,602 | 260,295 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 222,147 | 2,561,349 | 264,351 | 3,507,943 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (310,170 | ) | (4,339,136 | ) | (263,368 | ) | (3,942,824 | ) | ||||||||
(55,498 | ) | (1,333,091 | ) | 17,585 | (174,586 | ) | ||||||||||
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) | (249,830 | ) | $ | (6,023,477 | ) | 20,825 | $ | (1,844,277 | ) |
26
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Small Cap Equity Insights Fund:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Small Cap Equity Insights Fund (the “Fund”), a fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015, and the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian, brokers and transfer agent of the underlying fund and the application of alternative auditing procedures where confirmation of securities purchased had not been received, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Fund Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional or Service Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service Shares) and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional Shares and Service Shares of the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund's actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund's actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Fund you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 938.20 | $ | 3.96 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,021.12 | + | 4.13 | ||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 936.50 | 5.17 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,019.86 | + | 5.40 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.81% and 1.06% for the Institutional and Service Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Fund’s actual annualized net expense ratios and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
28
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
29
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
30
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
31
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST SMALL CAP EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31, 2015, 23.38% of the dividends paid from net investment company taxable income by the Small Cap Equity Insights Fund qualify for the dividends received deduction available to corporations.
Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Small Cap Equity Insights Fund designates $9,216,744 or, if different, the maximum amount allowable, as capital gain dividends paid during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.
32
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President, and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York
New York 10282
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Fund included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Fund in the future. These statements are based on Fund management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Fund, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Fund. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Form N-Qs are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Fund’s first and third fiscal quarters. The Fund’s Form N-Qs may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Form N-Qs may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Fund holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Fund holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (“MSCI”) and Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) and is licensed for use by Goldman Sachs. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any other party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any of such standard or classification. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust: Goldman Sachs Small Cap Equity Insights Fund.
© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITSCAR-16/29863-TEMPL-02/2016/9.5K
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
Strategic Growth Fund
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of risks that may affect the Fund. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Fund, please see the Fund’s Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
The Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund invests primarily in U.S. equity investments. The Fund’s equity investments are subject to market risk, which means that the value of the securities in which it invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors and/or general economic conditions. Different investment styles (e.g., “growth”) tend to shift in and out of favor, and at times the Fund may underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes.
1
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Growth Portfolio Management Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of 3.40% and 3.14%, respectively. These returns compare to the 5.67% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell 1000® Growth Index (with dividends reinvested) (the “Russell Index”), during the same time period.
What economic and market factors most influenced the equity markets as a whole during the Reporting Period?
Representing the U.S. equity market, the S&P 500® Index gained 1.38% during the Reporting Period. Central bank policy, commodity price sell-off, geopolitical tensions, and China and global economic growth concerns were the key themes impacting U.S. equities throughout 2015.
As evidence of a U.S. economic and labor market recovery mounted, market expectations of a Federal Reserve (“Fed”) interest rate hike increased. The monetary policy divergence with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, which each eased policy during the calendar year, resulted in relative U.S. dollar strength. This paradoxically hurt U.S. equity performance despite improving domestic economic fundamentals. Also, geopolitical tensions intensified in the summer of 2015, as negotiations between Greece and its creditors unraveled, and the probability of a Greek exit, popularly known in the media as “Grexit,” from the euro increased. “Grexit” risk subsequently declined with an agreement in July 2015. However, concerns then escalated around China’s economic weakness, exacerbated by a surprise devaluation of its renminbi in August 2015, which further shook market confidence. U.S. equities sold off in the ensuing sharp global equity correction.
After holding the targeted federal funds rate steady in September and October 2015 in light of these external macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, the Fed voted unanimously for a 25 basis point hike in December 2015, a move largely expected by markets. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.) The fairly dovish language in the Fed’s announcement, which emphasized “gradual” adjustments to policy going forward, helped to somewhat assuage the markets.
Oil and commodity prices were “lower for longer” in 2015, as the supply glut took longer than expected to correct and demand concerns arose. Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude oil prices began 2015 at $57 and $53 per barrel, respectively, already well below 2014 highs of more than $100 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI crude oil prices ended 2015 still lower at approximately $37 per barrel. The U.S. consumer benefited from savings at the gas pump and consumer spending rose, particularly in areas typically associated with lower gas prices, such as autos and restaurants. However, this did not fully offset the negative impact on the U.S. energy industry and industrials companies. As a result, energy was the worst performing sector in the S&P 500 Index by a wide margin during the Reporting Period, followed by materials, utilities and industrials. Conversely, more consumer-oriented sectors, including consumer discretionary, health care, information technology and consumer staples were the best performing sectors in the S&P 500 Index during the Reporting Period.
Within the U.S. equity market, there was significant disparity in performance not only among sectors but also among the various capitalization and style segments. Large-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell 1000® Index, posted modestly positive returns, while mid-cap stocks and small-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell Midcap® Index and Russell 2000® Index, respectively, generated negative returns. Large-cap stocks were most successful relative to small-cap stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. From a style perspective, growth-oriented stocks significantly outpaced value-oriented stocks across the capitalization spectrum. Growth outperformed relative to value during the Reporting Period primarily due to stronger performance of the growth-oriented information technology sector. (All as measured by the Russell Investments indices.)
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
The Fund’s underperformance relative to the Russell Index during the Reporting Period can be attributed primarily to stock selection overall. Sector allocation contributed positively, albeit modestly, to relative results.
2
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Which equity market sectors most significantly affected Fund performance?
Detracting most from the Fund’s relative results during the Reporting Period was stock selection in the consumer staples and health care sectors. Having an overweighted allocation to energy, which was the worst performing sector in the Russell Index during the Reporting Period, also hurt. Partially offsetting such detractors was effective stock selection in the consumer discretionary and information technology sectors. Having an underweighted exposure to industrials, which significantly lagged the Russell Index during the Reporting Period, added value as well.
Which stocks detracted significantly from the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
Detracting from the Fund’s results relative to its benchmark index were positions in global apparel company PVH, transportation holding company Kansas City Southern and apparel and accessories designer Kate Spade.
During the Reporting Period, PVH released third quarter 2015 results with earnings stronger ahead of market estimates even amidst a challenging macroeconomic environment. However, weakness in the U.S. retail industry, including high promotions and currency headwinds, pressured what is otherwise a high quality company, in our view. Despite these concerns, which we see as short term in nature, we believe PVH remains a leading franchise with dominant market share, strong pricing power and solid fundamentals. Particularly, established brand names Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein have demonstrated international strength and have been a key source of growth. In our view, PVH was, at the end of the Reporting Period, highly undervalued relative to its peers. We remained optimistic on the company’s significant free cash flow generation ability, quality of management and return potential.
Kansas City Southern most recently reported third quarter 2015 earnings that were largely in-line with analysts’ consensus estimates but lowered its outlook on automobile carload volume expectations, which caused its shares to decline. Like other railroads, Kansas City Southern faced currency hurdles and challenges regarding industry-wide volume growth given weaker macroeconomic activity. Despite such headwinds, which we see as transitory, the company maintained high organic growth relative to its peers. At the end of the Reporting Period, we believed there were significant improvement opportunities for Kansas City Southern in terms of service quality, cost efficiency and operations that may drive meaningful margin expansion. We maintained conviction in the company’s strong volume growth drivers, specifically noting Mexico’s new auto plants and above-average pricing in contract negotiations in the near term. In our view, Kansas City Southern remains a high quality growth business with a favorable market structure, high barriers to entry and improving fundamental trends, as we move into 2016.
Kate Spade, a new purchase for the Fund during the Reporting Period, reported first and second quarter 2015 earnings that were disappointing overall. Although revenues topped expectations in the first calendar quarter, sales growth was light. However, toward the end of 2015, the company released encouraging third calendar quarter earnings, which highlighted a significant surpassing of same-store sales growth expectations. Despite the company’s weakness during the Reporting Period, we believe its strong underlying fundamentals remained intact at the end of the Reporting Period and that its catalysts for growth were unchanged. In our view, wholesale expansion, merchandising initiatives and the company’s strategic partnership with Exclusive Brands could potentially fuel revenue growth and support what we consider to be the company’s attractive valuation.
What were some of the Fund’s best-performing individual stocks?
The Fund benefited relative to the Russell Index from positions in e-commerce discretionary retailer Amazon.com, data center real estate investment trust (“REIT”) Equinix and television show and movie Internet subscription service Netflix.
Amazon.com was the top contributor to the Fund’s relative results during the Reporting Period. The company ended 2015 reporting strong third calendar quarter results. Amazon.com’s core retail business and its cloud computing business Amazon Web Services (“AWS”) exceeded exceptionally high market expectations as seen in its strong performance and in AWS’ operating margins. At the end of the Reporting Period, we believed the accelerating progress of the high-margin AWS business may well be a key driver of Amazon.com’s overall profitability going forward. In our view, Amazon.com is well positioned for further growth given its dominant market share and expansionary efforts worldwide.
Equinix reported strong first, second and third quarter 2015 earnings, and as a result, raised guidance across key metrics for a third time. Most notably, revenue and earnings saw significant growth on a year-over-year basis. Additionally, operating leverage returned to the business after a period of systems investment and international expansion. At the end of the Reporting Period, Equinix continued, in our view, to present an enduringly favorable outlook, as pricing has been net positive in the low churn rate, or customer turnover, environment. Going forward, we believe Equinix may be able to further benefit should its recurring revenue business model and demand environment remain steady and its integration of recent acquisitions unlock significant synergies.
3
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Netflix was a top contributor to the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period. In April 2015, the company reported first quarter 2015 earnings that exceeded market expectations on both earnings per share and key subscription metrics. The company’s second and third calendar quarter earnings were largely in line with market expectations and were received favorably by investors. New user additions thrived, seemingly due to improving content availability and increasing success of Netflix original series offerings. In our view, sentiment around subscriber growth and pricing showed signs of improvement and reflected Netflix’s ability to execute and deliver unique, high quality content. At the end of the Reporting Period, we continued to have conviction in the strength of Netflix’s franchise and believed the company’s international expansion initiatives and secular tailwinds could be key drivers of future growth.
Given each of these holdings’ strong performance during the Reporting Period, we opted to trim the Fund’s position in each to invest in other ideas with what we believed to have better risk/reward opportunities.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we did not use derivatives as part of an active management strategy.
Did the Fund make any significant purchases or sales during the Reporting Period?
Among the purchases initiated during the Reporting Period, we initiated a Fund position in global payment solutions company MasterCard. We believe recent macroeconomic trends are supportive of financial services and that MasterCard could be a key beneficiary. In particular, the company has deep exposure to emerging markets, where consumer card spending has seen some recovery and is supported by promotional government efforts. Given what we see as a favorable industry backdrop, a high quality business franchise and an attractive valuation for MasterCard, we opted to take advantage of what we viewed as a favorable risk/reward opportunity.
We established a Fund position in fast-food franchise McDonald’s. We believe improving sales and reductions in costs should lead to earnings upside and margin expansion potential. We further think that McDonald’s reduction in capital expenditures and further refranchising could lead to improving return on invested capital and free up additional capital to repurchase stock. At the end of the Reporting Period, McDonald’s remained, in our view, a high quality franchise with a proficient management team and attractive opportunities to drive top-line growth and earnings.
We sold the Fund’s position in computer hardware and storage company EMC during the Reporting Period. While we continue to like the company, near-term volatility around its acquisition by Dell and long-term issues driven by a backlog of orders led us to use the proceeds of the sale toward other opportunities where we believe the risk/reward balance is more compelling.
We exited the Fund’s position in generic and specialty pharmaceuticals company Mylan. Shares of Mylan had detracted from the Fund’s performance during the third quarter of 2015, driven by potential acquirer Teva’s announcement that it was withdrawing its bid on the company to pursue other merger and acquisition opportunities in the consolidated health care space. While we still believe Mylan is a fundamentally strong company that possesses its own value-creation strategies, our conviction was tested due to the lack of near-term upside and growth visibility. As such, we decided to sell out of the Fund’s position to pursue other names with what we considered to be more attractive risk/reward profiles.
Were there any notable changes in the Fund’s weightings during the Reporting Period?
In constructing the Fund’s portfolio, we focus on picking stocks rather than on making industry or sector bets. We seek to outpace the benchmark index by overweighting stocks that we expect to outperform and underweighting those that we think may lag. Consequently, changes in its sector weights are generally the direct result of individual stock selection or of stock appreciation or depreciation. That said, during the Reporting Period, the Fund’s exposure to energy increased compared to the Russell Index. The Fund’s allocation to cash also increased during the Reporting Period. The Fund’s allocations compared to the benchmark index in consumer discretionary, consumer staples and information technology decreased.
How was the Fund positioned relative to its benchmark index at the end of the Reporting Period?
At the end of December 2015, the Fund had overweighted positions relative to the Russell Index in the financials and consumer discretionary sectors. On the same date, the Fund had underweighted positions compared to the Russell Index in industrials and materials and was rather neutrally weighted to the Russell Index in consumer staples, energy, health care and information technology. The Fund had no exposure to the utilities and telecommunication services sectors at the end of the Reporting Period.
4
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
What is the Fund’s tactical view and strategy for the months ahead?
At the end of the Reporting Period, we believe positive, but below average, returns for global equities in 2016 in light of modest economic growth forecasts and rising valuations in some areas of the market. However, in our view, equities still looked more attractive than other asset classes in a persistently low-return environment.
After dipping in 2015, we expect global economic growth to increase modestly in 2016, which we think will be enough to sustain corporate profitability and allow stock prices to move higher. In our view, central banks are likely to remain accommodative given still-fragile global economic growth, which we also see as helpful for equity markets. Even in the U.S., where Fed policy has moved toward normalization, we do not expect to see much negative impact from what are likely to be gradual interest rate increases given continued strength in the housing and labor markets. However, the strong U.S. dollar may well remain a headwind for U.S. multi-nationals.
While the macro outlook remains benign, U.S. credit and equities reflect some typical late-cycle signs, such as more shareholder-friendly actions, an increase in merger and acquisition activity and a pick-up in leverage, all of which tend to coincide with an environment lacking top-line growth. Higher equity valuations are also consistent with late-cycle indicators. In part due to years of ultra-low interest rates, U.S. equity market valuations have risen toward fair value, in our opinion, with some areas looking particularly vulnerable if companies cannot deliver growth.
One common theme across the developed markets is that we believe domestically-focused companies in the major regions could benefit from increasing domestic consumption while being more insulated from currency volatility. In the U.S., we expect that the strong dollar could continue to be a headwind for many globally-exposed companies but believe the consumer remains healthy.
We also believe that some extraordinary dynamics in the U.S. equity market in 2015 have set up investment opportunities for 2016. The extremely narrow breadth of the market hit a 30-year low. For example, just ten stocks accounted for approximately 40% of the total positive contribution to the S&P 500 Index return. Also, as mentioned earlier, value stocks notably underperformed growth stocks. We expect some broadening of the market and reversal of these trends in 2016, as investors focus on the risk of high-priced stocks as well as on the relative attractiveness of the hundreds of stocks trading below the market multiple.
Regardless of market direction, we remain committed to our core philosophy and process. We intend to maintain a long-term time horizon, rather than forecast the next quarter. We intend to continue to favor high quality growth businesses over breathtaking concepts. We intend to invest when we consider valuations to be attractive, rather than following the trend. These core beliefs have guided our team during the past 30 years; we believe they hold the answer for the next 30.
As always, we maintain our focus on seeking companies that we believe will generate long-term growth in today’s ever-changing market conditions.
5
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Index Definitions
The Russell 1000® Growth Index (with dividends reinvested) is an unmanaged market capitalization weighted index of the 1000 largest U.S. companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell 2000® Index (with dividends reinvested) is an unmanaged index of common stock prices that measures the performance of the 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000® Index. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The S&P 500® Index (with dividends reinvested) is the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index of 500 stocks, an unmanaged index of common stock prices. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of the 800 smallest companies in the Russell 1000® Index, which represent approximately 25% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 1000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the 1,000 largest companies in the Russell 3000® Index, which represents approximately 92% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
6
FUND BASICS
Strategic Growth Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | |||||||||||||
Institutional | 3.40 | % | 12.67 | % | 7.54 | % | 5.25 | % | 4/30/98 | |||||||||
Service | 3.14 | 12.39 | N/A | 6.98 | 1/09/06 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional Shares and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.78 | % | 0.82 | % | ||||
Service | 1.03 | 1.07 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectuses for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
TOP TEN HOLDINGS AS OF 12/31/153
Holding | % of Net Assets | Line of Business | ||||
Apple, Inc. | 6.4% | Technology Hardware & Equipment | ||||
Amazon.com, Inc. | 3.5 | Retailing | ||||
Alphabet, Inc. Class A | 3.2 | Software & Services | ||||
Facebook, Inc. Class A | 3.3 | Software & Services | ||||
Equinix, Inc. (REIT) | 2.7 | Real Estate Investment Trusts | ||||
Costco Wholesale Corp. | 2.7 | Food & Staples Retailing | ||||
Alphabet, Inc. Class C | 2.5 | Software & Services | ||||
Mastercard, Inc. Class A | 2.3 | Software & Services | ||||
American Tower Corp. (REIT) | 2.3 | Real Estate Investment Trusts | ||||
The Coca-Cola Co. | 2.2 | Food, Beverage & Tobacco |
3 | The top 10 holdings may not be representative of the Fund’s future investments. |
7
FUND BASICS
FUND vs. BENCHMARK SECTOR ALLOCATIONS4
As of December 31, 2015
4 | The Fund is actively managed and, as such, its composition may differ over time. Consequently, the Fund’s overall sector allocations may differ from percentages contained in the graph above. The graph categorizes investments using Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”), however, the sector classifications used by the portfolio management team may differ from GICS. The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of market value. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
8
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on January 1, 2006 in the Institutional Shares at NAV. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the Russell Index (with distributions reinvested), is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Service Shares will vary from Institutional Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Strategic Growth Fund’s 10 Year Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | ||||
Institutional (Commenced April 30, 1998) | 3.40% | 12.67% | 7.54% | 5.25% | ||||
Service (Commenced January 9, 2006) | 3.14% | 12.39% | N/A | 6.98% |
9
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – 98.3% | ||||||||
| Automobiles & Components – 1.1% |
| ||||||
58,604 | BorgWarner, Inc. | $ | 2,533,451 | |||||
30,904 | Delphi Automotive PLC | 2,649,400 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,182,851 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Banks – 1.1% |
| ||||||
75,424 | First Republic Bank | 4,982,509 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Capital Goods – 7.6% |
| ||||||
58,151 | Danaher Corp. | 5,401,065 | ||||||
94,083 | Fortune Brands Home & Security, Inc. | 5,221,607 | ||||||
79,911 | Honeywell International, Inc. | 8,276,382 | ||||||
88,178 | Ingersoll-Rand PLC | 4,875,362 | ||||||
53,804 | The Boeing Co. | 7,779,520 | ||||||
20,653 | W.W. Grainger, Inc. | 4,184,091 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
35,738,027 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Durables & Apparel – 3.6% |
| ||||||
190,053 | Kate Spade & Co.* | 3,377,242 | ||||||
146,606 | NIKE, Inc. Class B | 9,162,875 | ||||||
56,123 | PVH Corp. | 4,133,459 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
16,673,576 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Services – 5.4% |
| ||||||
75,145 | McDonald’s Corp. | 8,877,630 | ||||||
170,576 | Starbucks Corp. | 10,239,677 | ||||||
88,732 | Yum! Brands, Inc. | 6,481,873 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
25,599,180 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Diversified Financials – 2.4% |
| ||||||
38,537 | American Express Co. | 2,680,248 | ||||||
22,187 | Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. | 5,685,641 | ||||||
473,379 | SLM Corp.* | 3,086,431 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
11,452,320 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Energy – 1.4% |
| ||||||
60,954 | Anadarko Petroleum Corp. | 2,961,146 | ||||||
111,230 | Halliburton Co. | 3,786,269 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
6,747,415 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing – 5.6% |
| ||||||
79,981 | Costco Wholesale Corp. | 12,916,931 | ||||||
87,337 | Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. | 7,437,182 | ||||||
182,099 | Whole Foods Market, Inc. | 6,100,317 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
26,454,430 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco – 5.4% |
| ||||||
33,706 | Brown-Forman Corp. Class B | 3,346,332 | ||||||
44,868 | McCormick & Co., Inc. | 3,838,906 | ||||||
61,921 | Philip Morris International, Inc. | 5,443,475 | ||||||
54,057 | Reynolds American, Inc. | 2,494,730 | ||||||
242,024 | The Coca-Cola Co. | 10,397,351 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
25,520,794 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – 6.5% |
| ||||||
220,148 | Abbott Laboratories | 9,886,847 | ||||||
30,466 | Aetna, Inc. | 3,293,984 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – (continued) |
| ||||||
98,268 | Cerner Corp.* | $ | 5,912,786 | |||||
33,811 | McKesson Corp. | 6,668,543 | ||||||
52,017 | Stryker Corp. | 4,834,460 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
30,596,620 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Household & Personal Products – 0.9% |
| ||||||
60,493 | Colgate-Palmolive Co. | 4,030,044 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Materials – 1.4% |
| ||||||
28,159 | Ashland, Inc. | 2,891,929 | ||||||
143,239 | Axalta Coating Systems Ltd.* | 3,817,320 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
6,709,249 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Media – 1.2% |
| ||||||
102,844 | Comcast Corp. Class A | 5,803,487 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – 10.2% |
| ||||||
71,031 | Agilent Technologies, Inc. | 2,969,806 | ||||||
26,764 | Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 5,105,233 | ||||||
29,071 | Allergan PLC* | 9,084,688 | ||||||
26,557 | Biogen, Inc.* | 8,135,737 | ||||||
62,925 | Gilead Sciences, Inc. | 6,367,381 | ||||||
21,647 | Illumina, Inc.* | 4,155,033 | ||||||
12,905 | Shire PLC ADR | 2,645,525 | ||||||
50,692 | Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 6,378,574 | ||||||
63,262 | Zoetis, Inc. | 3,031,515 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
47,873,492 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Real Estate Investment Trusts – 5.0% |
| ||||||
110,629 | American Tower Corp. (REIT) | 10,725,482 | ||||||
42,801 | Equinix, Inc. (REIT) | 12,943,022 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
23,668,504 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Retailing – 10.9% |
| ||||||
24,400 | Amazon.com, Inc.* | 16,491,716 | ||||||
66,273 | L Brands, Inc. | 6,350,279 | ||||||
64,412 | Netflix, Inc.* | 7,367,444 | ||||||
69,095 | The Home Depot, Inc. | 9,137,814 | ||||||
7,288 | The Priceline Group, Inc.* | 9,291,836 | ||||||
32,161 | Tractor Supply Co. | 2,749,765 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
51,388,854 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment – 1.3% |
| ||||||
73,108 | NXP Semiconductors NV* | 6,159,349 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Software & Services – 20.1% |
| ||||||
19,177 | Alphabet, Inc. Class A* | 14,919,898 | ||||||
15,766 | Alphabet, Inc. Class C* | 11,964,502 | ||||||
149,384 | Facebook, Inc. Class A* | 15,634,529 | ||||||
30,801 | FleetCor Technologies, Inc.* | 4,402,387 | ||||||
62,001 | Intuit, Inc. | 5,983,097 | ||||||
31,756 | LinkedIn Corp. Class A* | 7,147,641 | ||||||
110,593 | Mastercard, Inc. Class A | 10,767,334 | ||||||
138,926 | Microsoft Corp. | 7,707,614 | ||||||
173,703 | Oracle Corp. | 6,345,371 | ||||||
|
|
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Software & Services – (continued) |
| ||||||
172,080 | Sabre Corp. | $ | 4,813,078 | |||||
55,879 | ServiceNow, Inc.* | 4,836,886 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
94,522,337 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – 6.4% |
| ||||||
285,898 | Apple, Inc. | 30,093,623 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Transportation – 0.8% |
| ||||||
49,943 | Kansas City Southern | 3,729,244 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 98.3% | ||||||||
(Cost $366,385,311) | $ | 462,925,905 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF | 7,840,486 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 470,766,391 | ||||||
|
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
* | Non-income producing security. |
Investment Abbreviations: | ||
ADR | —American Depositary Receipt | |
REIT | —Real Estate Investment Trust |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments, at value (cost $366,385,311) | $ | 462,925,905 | ||
Cash | 9,838,480 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Dividends | 226,739 | |||
Fund shares sold | 45,696 | |||
Total assets | 473,036,820 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Payables: | ||||
Fund shares redeemed | 1,808,231 | |||
Management fees | 294,429 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 88,482 | |||
Accrued expenses | 79,287 | |||
Total liabilities | 2,270,429 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 375,186,769 | |||
Undistributed net investment income | 1,207,418 | |||
Accumulated net realized loss | (2,168,390 | ) | ||
Net unrealized gain | 96,540,594 | |||
NET ASSETS | $ | 470,766,391 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional | $ | 109,800,787 | ||
Service | 360,965,604 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 470,766,391 | ||
Shares of beneficial interest outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional | 7,029,997 | |||
Service | 23,160,326 | |||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||
Institutional | $15.62 | |||
Service | 15.59 |
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Statement of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Investment income: | ||||
Dividends | $ | 6,613,904 | ||
Expenses: | ||||
Management fees | 3,737,136 | |||
Distribution and Service fees — Service Class | 957,537 | |||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 99,649 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 89,831 | |||
Professional fees | 77,053 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 60,545 | |||
Trustee fees | 26,901 | |||
Other | 44,889 | |||
Total expenses | 5,093,541 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (207,507 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 4,886,034 | |||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 1,727,870 | |||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||
Net realized gain from investments (including commissions recaptured of $16,645) | 18,938,378 | |||
Net change in unrealized loss on investments | (8,924,679 | ) | ||
Net realized and unrealized gain | 10,013,699 | |||
NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | 11,741,569 |
(a) Institutional and Service Shares incurred Transfer Agency fees of $23,052 and $76,597, respectively.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 1,727,870 | $ | 907,718 | ||||
Net realized gain | 18,938,378 | 81,439,469 | ||||||
Net change in unrealized loss | (8,924,679 | ) | (18,833,285 | ) | ||||
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations | 11,741,569 | 63,513,902 | ||||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (396,858 | ) | (434,364 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (411,298 | ) | (456,398 | ) | ||||
From net realized gains | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (6,765,013 | ) | (22,539,042 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (23,357,665 | ) | (73,827,385 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (30,930,834 | ) | (97,257,189 | ) | ||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 105,471,558 | 20,904,256 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 30,930,834 | 97,257,189 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (161,127,801 | ) | (83,176,257 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from share transactions | (24,725,409 | ) | 34,985,188 | |||||
TOTAL INCREASE (DECREASE) | (43,914,674 | ) | 1,241,901 | |||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 514,681,065 | 513,439,164 | ||||||
End of year | $ | 470,766,391 | $ | 514,681,065 | ||||
Undistributed net investment income | $ | 1,207,418 | $ | 297,250 |
14 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | From net investment income | From net | Total distributions | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 16.16 | $ | 0.09 | (d) | $ | 0.46 | $ | 0.55 | $ | (0.06 | ) | $ | (1.03 | ) | $ | (1.09 | ) | $ | 15.62 | 3.40 | % | $ | 109,801 | 0.79 | % | 0.83 | % | 0.55 | %(d) | 56 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 16.13 | 0.05 | (d) | 0.46 | 0.51 | (0.02 | ) | (1.03 | ) | (1.05 | ) | 15.59 | 3.14 | 360,966 | 1.04 | 1.08 | 0.29 | (d) | 56 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 17.64 | 0.07 | 2.24 | 2.31 | (0.07 | ) | (3.72 | ) | (3.79 | ) | 16.16 | 13.64 | 119,934 | 0.79 | 0.81 | 0.37 | 48 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 17.61 | 0.02 | 2.24 | 2.26 | (0.02 | ) | (3.72 | ) | (3.74 | ) | 16.13 | 13.38 | 394,747 | 1.04 | 1.08 | 0.12 | 48 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional | 13.86 | 0.06 | 4.42 | 4.48 | (0.07 | ) | (0.63 | ) | (0.70 | ) | 17.64 | 32.42 | 122,220 | 0.80 | 0.84 | 0.35 | 66 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 13.85 | 0.02 | 4.40 | 4.42 | (0.03 | ) | (0.63 | ) | (0.66 | ) | 17.61 | 32.00 | 391,219 | 1.05 | 1.09 | 0.10 | 66 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Institutional | 11.64 | 0.10 | (e) | 2.21 | 2.31 | (0.09 | ) | — | (0.09 | ) | 13.86 | 19.83 | 106,119 | 0.80 | 0.84 | 0.79 | (e) | 42 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 11.63 | 0.07 | (e) | 2.21 | 2.28 | (0.06 | ) | — | (0.06 | ) | 13.85 | 19.57 | 304,065 | 1.05 | 1.09 | 0.56 | (e) | 42 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Institutional | 12.01 | 0.06 | (0.37 | ) | (0.31 | ) | (0.06 | ) | — | (0.06 | ) | 11.64 | (2.62 | ) | 102,018 | 0.83 | 0.85 | 0.47 | 35 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 12.00 | 0.03 | (0.37 | ) | (0.34 | ) | (0.03 | ) | — | (0.03 | ) | 11.63 | (2.86 | ) | 246,208 | 1.08 | 1.10 | 0.23 | 35 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. |
(c) | The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Reflects income recognized from special dividends which amounted to $0.03 per share and 0.20% of average net assets. |
(e) | Reflects income recognized from special dividends which amounted to $0.04 per share and 0.27% of average net assets. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 15 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is a diversified portfolio under the Act offering two classes of shares — Institutional and Service Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Fund’s valuation policy is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments. Distributions received from the Fund’s investments in United States (“U.S.”) real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) may be characterized as ordinary income, net capital gain or a return of capital. A return of capital is recorded by the Fund as a reduction to the cost basis of the REIT.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Fund are charged to that Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
D. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Fund’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
E. Commission Recapture — GSAM, on behalf of certain Funds, may direct portfolio trades, subject to seeking best execution, to various brokers who have agreed to rebate a portion of the commissions generated. Such rebates are made directly to a Fund as cash payments and are included in net realized gain (loss) from investments on the Statement of Operations.
16
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Fund’s policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Fund, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Fund’s portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Equity Securities — Equity securities traded on a U.S. securities exchange or the NASDAQ system, or those located on certain foreign exchanges, including but not limited to the Americas, are valued daily at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded. If there is no sale or official closing price or such price is believed by GSAM to not represent fair value, equity securities are valued at the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2.
Unlisted equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last sale price on the valuation date, or if no sale occurs, at the last bid price. These investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAM believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Fund’s investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAM, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
17
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Fund’s investments classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Common Stock and/or Other Equity Investments(a) | ||||||||||||
North America | $ | 462,925,905 | $ | — | $ | — |
(a) | Amounts are disclosed by continent to highlight the impact of time zone differences between local market close and the calculation of NAV. Security valuations are based on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, which may differ from country of domicile. |
For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Schedule of Investments.
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Fund, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Fund’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, contractual and effective net management fees with GSAM were at the following rates:
Contractual Management Rate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
First $1 billion | Next $1 billion | Next $3 billion | Next $3 billion | Over $8 billion | Effective Rate | Effective Net Management Rate^ | ||||||||||||||||||||
0.75% | 0.68 | % | 0.65 | % | 0.64 | % | 0.63 | % | 0.75 | % | 0.71 | %* |
^ | Effective Net Management Rate includes the impact of management fee waivers of affiliated underlying funds, if any. |
* | GSAM agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in order to achieve a net management rate, as defined in the Fund’s most recent prospectus. This waiver will be effective through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM waived $199,316 of its management fee. |
B. Distribution and Service Plan — The Trust, on behalf of the Service Shares of the Fund, has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”). Under the Plan, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (the “Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service Shares.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Fund for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets of Institutional and Service Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a percentage rate of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Fund is not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitation as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for the Fund is 0.114%. The Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the
18
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM did not reimburse to the Fund. In addition, the Fund has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Fund’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, custody fee credits were $8,191.
E. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Fund participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Fund and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Fund based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Fund did not have any borrowings under the facility.
5. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were $272,283,884 and $331,257,388, respectively.
6. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, was as follows:
2014 | 2015 | |||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 15,942,732 | $ | 808,156 | ||||
Net long-term capital gains | 81,314,457 | 30,122,678 | ||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 97,257,189 | $ | 30,930,834 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Undistributed ordinary income — net | $ | 1,166,533 | ||
Undistributed long-term capital gains | 46,394 | |||
Total undistributed earnings | $ | 1,212,927 | ||
Timing differences (Post October Loss Deferral) | (274,792 | ) | ||
Unrealized gains — net | 94,641,487 | |||
Total accumulated gains net | $ | 95,579,622 |
19
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
6. TAX INFORMATION (continued)
As of December 31, 2015, the Fund’s aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
Tax cost | $ | 368,284,418 | ||
Gross unrealized gain | 112,262,638 | |||
Gross unrealized loss | (17,621,151 | ) | ||
Net unrealized security gain | $ | 94,641,487 |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales, and differences in the tax treatment of underlying fund investments.
In order to present certain components of the Fund’s capital accounts on a tax-basis, the Fund has reclassified $9,546 of undistributed net investment income into accumulated net realized gain. These reclassifications have no impact on the NAV of the Fund and result primarily from differences in the tax treatment of underlying fund investments.
GSAM has reviewed the Fund’s tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
7. OTHER RISKS
The Fund’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that a Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Fund may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Fund has unsettled or open transactions defaults.
8. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Fund. Additionally, in the course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure
20
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
8. INDEMNIFICATIONS (continued)
under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
9. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
10 . SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 319,675 | $ | 5,242,157 | 355,839 | $ | 6,506,630 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 458,800 | 7,161,871 | 1,456,779 | 22,973,406 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (1,170,524 | ) | (19,375,952 | ) | (1,319,775 | ) | (24,281,424 | ) | ||||||||
(392,049 | ) | (6,971,924 | ) | 492,843 | 5,198,612 | |||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 5,956,788 | 100,229,401 | 771,692 | 14,397,626 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 1,525,608 | 23,768,963 | 4,719,427 | 74,283,783 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (8,800,386 | ) | (141,751,849 | ) | (3,229,668 | ) | (58,894,833 | ) | ||||||||
(1,317,990 | ) | (17,753,485 | ) | 2,261,451 | 29,786,576 | |||||||||||
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) | (1,710,039 | ) | $ | (24,725,409 | ) | 2,754,294 | $ | 34,985,188 |
21
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund (the “Fund”), a fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015 and the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian and the application of alternative auditing procedures where confirmation of securities purchased had not been received, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
22
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Fund Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional or Service Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service Shares) and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional Shares and Service Shares of the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund's actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund's actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Fund you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 1,007.80 | $ | 4.05 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,021.17 | + | 4.08 | ||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 1,006.50 | 5.31 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,019.91 | + | 5.35 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.80% and 1.05% for the Institutional and Service Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Fund’s actual annualized net expense ratios and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
23
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
24
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
25
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
26
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC GROWTH FUND
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31, 2015, 79.77% of the dividends paid from net investment company taxable income by the Strategic Growth Fund qualify for the dividends received deduction available to corporations.
Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the Strategic Growth Fund designates $30,122,678 or, if different, the maximum amount allowable, as capital gain dividends paid during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.
28
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President, and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York
New York 10282
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com/vit to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Fund included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Fund in the future. These statements are based on Fund management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Fund, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Fund. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities for the 12-month period ended December 31 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Form N-Qs are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Fund’s first and third fiscal quarters. The Fund’s Form N-Qs may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Form N-Qs may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Fund holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Fund holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (“MSCI”) and Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) and is licensed for use by Goldman Sachs. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any other party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any of such standard or classification. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust: Goldman Sachs Strategic Growth Fund.
©2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITGRWAR-16/29864-TEMP-02/2016
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
Strategic Income Fund
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of risks that may affect the Fund. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Fund, please see the Fund’s Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
The Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund invests in a broadly diversified portfolio of U.S. and foreign investment grade and non-investment grade fixed income investments including, but not limited to: U.S. government securities, non-U.S. sovereign debt, agency securities, corporate debt securities, agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, custodial receipts, municipal securities, loan participations and loan assignments and convertible securities. Investments in fixed income securities are subject to the risks associated with debt securities generally, including credit, liquidity and interest rate risk. Investments in mortgage-backed securities are also subject to, among other risks, prepayment risk (i.e., the risk that in a declining interest rate environment, issuers may pay principal more quickly than expected, causing the Fund to reinvest proceeds at lower prevailing interest rates). High yield, lower rated investments involve greater price volatility, are less liquid and present greater risks than higher rated fixed income securities. Foreign and emerging markets investments may be more volatile and less liquid than investments in U.S. securities and are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and adverse economic or political developments. The Fund is also subject to the risk that the issuers of sovereign debt or the government authorities that control the payment of debt may be unable or unwilling to repay principal or interest when due. The Fund may be more sensitive to adverse economic, business or political developments if it invests a substantial portion of its assets in bonds of similar projects or in particular types of municipal securities. The Fund may invest in loans directly, through loan assignments, or indirectly, by purchasing participations or sub-participations from financial institutions. Indirect purchases may subject the Fund to greater delays, expenses and risks than direct obligations in the case that a borrower fails to pay scheduled principal and interest. Derivative instruments may involve a high degree of financial risk. These risks include the risk that a small movement in the price of the underlying security or benchmark may result in a disproportionately large movement, unfavorable or favorable, in the price of the derivative instrument; risks of default by a counterparty; and liquidity risk. At times, the Fund may be unable to sell certain of its illiquid investments without a substantial drop in price, if at all. The Fund is subject to the risks associated with implementing short positions. Taking short positions involves leverage of the Fund’s assets and presents various other risks. Losses on short positions are potentially unlimited as a loss occurs when the value of an asset with respect to which the Fund has a short position increases.
1
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks total return comprised of income and capital appreciation.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Fixed Income Portfolio Management Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares generated average annual total returns of -1.81%, -2.16% and -2.25%, respectively. These returns compare to the 0.25% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. Dollar Three-Month LIBOR Constant Maturity Index (the “LIBOR Index”), during the same period.
We note that the Fund’s benchmark being the LIBOR Index is a means of emphasizing that the Fund has an unconstrained strategy. That said, this Fund employs a benchmark agnostic strategy and thus comparisons to a benchmark index are not particularly relevant.
What economic and market factors most influenced the Fund during the Reporting Period?
In January 2015, when the Reporting Period began, spread, or non-U.S. Treasury, sectors generated broadly positive returns. As the Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) and the U.K. considered raising short-term interest rates, global monetary policy easing intensified with the European Central Bank (“ECB”) announcing its quantitative easing program and approximately 25 other global central banks easing monetary policy. The U.S. dollar appreciated for a third consecutive quarter, reaching a 12-year high versus the euro ahead of the Fed’s March 2015 policy meeting. The anti-austerity Syriza party was victorious in Greece’s elections, which seemed to raise fears of a renewed debt crisis. Near first calendar quarter end, Eurozone finance ministers agreed to a four-month extension of the existing Greek bailout package, buying time but leaving unresolved the question of how Greece would fund debt repayments during July and August 2015.
During the second calendar quarter, the performance of spread sectors was mixed. High yield corporate bonds and emerging markets debt ended the quarter roughly where they began, while investment grade corporate bonds recorded a decline. U.S. Treasury yields rose amid significant volatility during May and early June 2015, as U.S. economic data improved, including positive surprises in inflation and retail sales. First quarter 2015 U.S. Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”) was revised upwards from -0.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of -0.2%. The upward revision stemmed in part from stronger than estimated consumer spending and inventory data. U.S. dollar gains hit a roadblock on uncertainty around the Fed’s plans for raising interest rates in 2015. The Eurozone’s economic progress took a back seat in the second calendar quarter to the seemingly intractable challenges surrounding Greece.
In the third quarter of 2015, spread sectors underperformed U.S. Treasuries as the outlook for the global economy grew cloudy. Investors focused on slowing economic growth in China, the devaluation of the Chinese renminbi and an unexpected increase in market volatility. Oil and other commodities prices dropped to new lows, partly because of falling demand from China. Uncertainty about the timing of potential Fed policy tightening became an increasingly key theme. Surprisingly to many, the Fed chose to leave rates unchanged at its September 2015 policy meeting, citing conditions in the global economy. Although the U.S. economy continued to improve, economic growth in other developed countries softened and emerging markets economies broadly weakened. Despite accommodative monetary policies by many global central banks, inflation remained subdued in the world’s major economies.
Spread sectors generally outperformed U.S. Treasuries during the fourth quarter of 2015, which saw the first Fed rate hike since 2006. Outside the U.S., the global monetary policy environment remained highly accommodative. The U.S. economy continued to display a positive growth trend, but economic growth in other developed countries had softened by the end of the Reporting Period. At the same time, growth in emerging markets countries broadly weakened, largely due to commodity price declines and concerns about the slowing Chinese economy.
For the Reporting Period overall, the broad fixed income market was virtually flat. High yield corporate bonds posted steep losses. Sovereign emerging markets debt also declined, underperforming U.S. Treasuries. In addition, investment grade corporate bonds
2
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
and agency securities recorded negative returns, followed at some distance by commercial mortgage-backed securities and residential mortgage-backed securities. Although asset-backed securities generated a positive return, they also trailed U.S. Treasuries. The U.S. Treasury yield curve, or spectrum of maturities, flattened during the Reporting Period, as shorter-term yields rose more than either intermediate-term or longer-term yields. The yield on the bellwether 10-year U.S. Treasury rose approximately 10 basis points (bps) during the Reporting Period to 2.27%.
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
Our duration and currency strategies detracted most from the Fund’s returns during the Reporting Period. Within our duration strategy, the Fund was hampered by its short duration position. Duration is a measure of sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Within our currency strategy, the Fund was hurt by its short position in the Swiss franc. In January 2015, the Swiss National Bank removed the exchange rate floor on the value of the Swiss franc versus the euro, leading the Swiss franc to appreciate dramatically. The Fund’s long position in the Mexican peso also detracted from relative returns, as the peso depreciated. Additionally, our corporate credit strategy dampened performance.
On the positive side, our country strategy added to the Fund’s results. More specifically, the Fund benefited from an overweight position in Europe versus underweight positions in the U.K. and U.S. Other notable contributors within our country strategy were the Fund’s outright long positions in Canada and Italy. In addition, during the Reporting Period, our securitized strategy bolstered returns. Our government/swaps strategy was also advantageous, as the Fund’s yield curve steepening positions in the U.S. and Europe performed well.
What fixed income market sectors most significantly affected Fund performance?
During the Reporting Period, we increased the Fund’s exposures to high yield corporate bonds and investment grade corporate bonds — positioning that hurt performance as credit spreads widened, especially in the energy sector, amid weakness in oil prices. Spreads are the difference in yields between corporate bonds and U.S. Treasury securities of comparable maturity. In addition, the Fund’s exposure to Puerto Rico municipal bonds detracted. During the Reporting Period, Puerto Rico municipal bonds came under significant pressure on broad concerns about the commonwealth’s ability to continue servicing its debt.
The Fund benefited from its exposure to agency mortgage-backed securities during the Reporting Period.
Did the Fund’s duration and yield curve positioning strategy help or hurt its results during the Reporting Period?
The combined effect of the Fund’s tactical duration and yield curve positioning detracted from its performance during the Reporting Period. Most of the underperformance occurred during January 2015 when the Fund held a short duration position on the U.S. Treasury yield curve and longer-term interest rates fell. As the Fed delayed a short-term rate hike and interest rate volatility increased, we lengthened the Fund’s duration to a neutral position. By the end of the Reporting Period, we had moved the Fund to a long duration position on the U.S. Treasury yield curve.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
We used derivatives and similar instruments for the efficient management of the Fund. These derivatives and similar instruments allowed us to manage interest rate, credit and currency risks more effectively by allowing us both to hedge and to apply active investment views with greater versatility and to afford greater risk management precision than we would otherwise be able to implement.
During the Reporting Period, we used interest rate and bond exchange traded futures contracts to implement duration and country strategies within the Fund, especially in the U.S., Eurozone and Japanese markets. Interest rate and bond exchange traded futures had a negative impact on the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period. Currency transactions were carried out using primarily over-the-counter (“OTC”) spot and forward foreign exchange contracts as well as by purchasing OTC options. Currency transactions were used as we sought both to enhance returns and to hedge the Fund’s portfolio against currency exchange rate fluctuations. OTC spot and forward foreign exchange contracts as well as OTC options had a positive impact on Fund performance. Also, we used written options contracts to express an outright term structure view and manage volatility (term structure, most often depicted as a yield curve, refers to the term structure of interest rates, which is the relationship between the yield to maturity and the time to maturity for pure discount bonds). During the Reporting Period, option contracts had a negative impact on Fund performance. The Fund also employed credit default swaps to manage exposure to fluctuations in credit spreads (or the differential in yields between Treasury securities and non-Treasury securities that are identical in all respects except for quality rating). During
3
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
the Reporting Period, credit default swaps had a negative impact on the Fund’s performance. Interest rate swaps were used to manage exposure to fluctuations in interest rates, which had a positive impact on Fund performance during the Reporting Period.
Were there any notable changes in the Fund’s weightings during the Reporting Period?
The Fund is a broadly diversified, multi-sector portfolio designed to provide total return opportunities from across the fixed income spectrum, including government, securitized, corporate credit and emerging market fixed income sectors. Through much of the Reporting Period, we added to the Fund’s corporate credit exposure due to what we considered to be increasingly attractive valuations. However, toward the end of the Reporting Period, we reduced the Fund’s exposure to corporate credit, especially high yield corporate credit, as oil prices fell and put significant pressure on high yield corporate bonds.
At the beginning of the Reporting Period, the Fund was overweight Japan and the U.S. and underweight the U.K. and Europe, as we sought to capitalize on divergence between their economies. Following strong performance near the middle of the Reporting Period, we shifted the Fund to an overweight in Europe and to an underweight in the U.S., as we believed the ECB was biased to ease further. Within our currency strategy, we steadily increased the Fund’s overweight in the U.S. dollar and its underweights in the euro and in a basket of Asian currencies because we were concerned about a possible slowdown in Asian economic growth as well as weakness in the Japanese yen, euro and Chinese renminbi.
How was the Fund positioned at the end of the Reporting Period?
At the end of the Reporting Period, the Fund held a long duration position on the U.S. Treasury yield curve, as we continued to monitor the pace of future Fed rate hikes. In terms of country positioning, the Fund was overweight Europe and underweight the U.K. and U.S. Within the Fund’s currency positioning, the Fund was overweight the U.S. dollar and underweight the euro and a basket Asian currencies. Within corporate credit, the Fund had holdings in high yield corporate bonds, investment grade corporate bonds and high yield loans. In addition, the Fund held a long position in collateralized loan obligations (“CLOs”) because we thought they offered an attractive spread as well as strong credit protection versus other securities of similar credit quality. (In this context, spread is the difference between the bid and ask price of a security or asset.) CLOs also have limited exposure to the energy and metals and mining industries. In addition, at the end of the Reporting Period, the Fund had a modest position in high quality Federal Family Education Loan Program (“FFELP”) student loan asset-backed securities (“ABS”). In our view, these securities offered an attractive spread, relatively short spread duration and strong credit protection. (Spread duration represents the price sensitivity of a security to a change in spreads.) Additionally, because they are floating rate securities, we expected FFELP ABS to appeal to investors as short-term interest rates rise.
What is the Fund’s tactical view and strategy for the months ahead?
At the end of the Reporting Period, we expected the global economy to maintain its course of slow growth and low inflation in 2016. We also expected continued gradual policy tightening by the Fed and for global monetary policy to remain accommodative. In our view, valuations in some market segments at the end of the Reporting Period suggested investors were focused on potential worst-case scenarios for global growth and inflation, commodity prices, corporate bond performance and conditions in the emerging markets and China. We also believed investors were concerned about geopolitical intrusions, such as the threat of terrorist attacks and the displacement of millions of people from Syria and other war-torn regions.
Looking ahead, we believe the U.S. economy can sustain a gradual increase in interest rates. In our view, the Fed is likely to raise rates between one and three times during 2016, depending on the path of inflation and financial conditions. Overall, we see economic growth moderating if consumption softens, as we expect, with the fading benefits of low oil prices. In the Eurozone, we think weak inflation may lead the ECB to ease again in the second half of 2016 and that downward pressure on yields is likely to continue. Our growth forecast for the region is slightly below the market consensus, due to weak demand from outside Europe and potential weakening in Eurozone consumption. However, we see a potentially positive contribution from increased government spending in Europe on services to accommodate migrants and on greater national security. U.K. growth, in our view, is likely to slow somewhat, due to continued fiscal cutbacks and weak exports. We believe U.K. interest rates will probably continue to underperform Eurozone markets as the Bank of England nears its first rate hike, possibly around mid-2016. Japan faces continued challenges, we believe, in getting inflation back on target, though the recent firming in core inflation may keep the Bank of Japan on hold through 2016. We expect Japan’s growth to improve somewhat, with consumption supported by low oil prices and additional benefits from a tourism boom. China’s growth continues to slow, but we expect policymakers to find a way to uphold its 6.5% GDP target in 2016. Currency devaluation could help at the margins, but we do not anticipate a much sharper weakening in the Chinese renminbi. We believe rising consumer spending and relatively healthy services activity are supportive domestic factors. Looking ahead, we expect further targeted stimulus by the People’s Bank of China and its policymakers to continue balancing reform objectives against the need to generate growth.
4
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Index Definitions
VIT Strategic Income
The Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. Dollar Three-Month LIBOR Constant Maturity Index tracks the performance of a synthetic asset paying LIBOR to a stated maturity. The index is based on the assumed purchase at par of a synthetic instrument having exactly its stated maturity and with a coupon equal to that day’s fixing rate. That issue is assumed to be sold the following business day (priced at a yield equal to the current day fixing rate) and rolled into a new instrument.
5
FUND BASICS
Strategic Income Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Since Inception | Inception Date | |||||||
Institutional | -1.81 | % | -1.35 | % | 4/14/14 | |||||
Service | -2.16 | -1.67 | 4/14/14 | |||||||
Advisor | -2.25 | -1.77 | 4/14/14 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.87 | % | 2.15 | % | ||||
Service | 1.12 | 2.43 | ||||||
Advisor | 1.27 | 2.02 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectuses for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
6
FUND BASICS
FUND COMPOSITION3
3 | The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. Underlying sector allocations of Exchange Traded Funds and Investment Companies held by the Fund are not reflected in the graph above. Figures in the graph may not sum to 100% due to the exclusion of other assets and liabilities. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
4 | “Federal Agencies” are mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (“GNMA”), Federal National Mortgage Association (“FNMA”) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (“FHLMC”). GNMA instruments are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States Government. |
7
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on April 14, 2014 (commencement of the Fund’s operations) in Institutional Shares at NAV. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the LIBOR Index, is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Service and Advisor Shares will vary from Institutional Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Strategic Income Fund’s Lifetime Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from April 14, 2014 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Since Inception | ||
Institutional (Commenced April 14, 2014) | -1.81% | -1.35% | ||
Service (Commenced April 14, 2014) | -2.16% | -1.67% | ||
Advisor (Commenced April 14, 2014) | -2.25% | -1.77% |
8
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – 16.1% | ||||||||||||||
| Airlines – 0.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| Air Canada(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 20,000 | 6.750 | % | 10/01/19 | $ | 20,750 | ||||||||
100,000 | 8.750 | 04/01/20 | 107,000 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
127,750 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Banks – 5.8% |
| ||||||||||||
| American Express Co.(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 6.800 | 09/01/66 | 75,375 | |||||||||||
| Bank of America Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 4.000 | 04/01/24 | 25,571 | |||||||||||
150,000 | 4.000 | 01/22/25 | 146,698 | |||||||||||
250,000 | 3.875 | 08/01/25 | 253,584 | |||||||||||
| Citigroup Capital XIII(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
1,475 | 6.692 | 10/30/40 | 38,335 | |||||||||||
| Citigroup, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 3.300 | 04/27/25 | 73,429 | |||||||||||
100,000 | 4.450 | 09/29/27 | 99,400 | |||||||||||
| Citigroup, Inc. Series O(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 5.875 | 12/29/49 | 24,781 | |||||||||||
| GMAC Capital Trust I Series 2(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
3,821 | 8.125 | 02/15/40 | 96,901 | |||||||||||
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 3.875 | 09/10/24 | 24,870 | |||||||||||
100,000 | 3.125 | (b) | 01/23/25 | 96,763 | ||||||||||
150,000 | 3.900 | (b) | 07/15/25 | 154,298 | ||||||||||
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. Series Z(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 5.300 | 12/29/49 | 24,906 | |||||||||||
| Morgan Stanley |
| ||||||||||||
275,000 | 4.000 | 07/23/25 | 282,802 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 4.350 | 09/08/26 | 25,050 | |||||||||||
100,000 | 3.950 | 04/23/27 | 97,109 | |||||||||||
| PNC Preferred Funding Trust II(a)(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 1.735 | 03/29/49 | 89,500 | |||||||||||
| The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 9.500 | 03/16/22 | 212,402 | |||||||||||
| Wells Fargo & Co. |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 3.550 | 09/29/25 | 100,771 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
1,942,545 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Building Materials – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| HD Supply, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 11.500 | 07/15/20 | 27,688 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Consumer Services – 0.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| MGM Resorts International |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 10.000 | 11/01/16 | 105,750 | |||||||||||
50,000 | 8.625 | 02/01/19 | 55,500 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
161,250 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Containers & Packaging(b) – 1.0% |
| ||||||||||||
| Beverage Packaging Holdings Luxembourg II SA(a) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 5.625 | 12/15/16 | 24,719 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Containers & Packaging(b) – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Reynolds Group Issuer, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 100,000 | 8.500 | % | 05/15/18 | $ | 98,750 | ||||||||
200,000 | 9.875 | 08/15/19 | 200,750 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
324,219 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Electric – 0.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| RWE AG(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 7.000 | 10/12/72 | 50,021 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Energy – 1.8% |
| ||||||||||||
| Antero Resources Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 5.375 | 11/01/21 | 40,000 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 5.625 | (a) | 06/01/23 | 19,375 | ||||||||||
| Comstock Resources, Inc.(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 10.000 | 03/15/20 | 11,375 | |||||||||||
| EP Energy LLC(b) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 6.375 | 06/15/23 | 25,125 | |||||||||||
| Halcon Resources Corp.(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 8.625 | 02/01/20 | 34,250 | |||||||||||
| Halliburton Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 5.000 | 11/15/45 | 49,083 | |||||||||||
| Kinder Morgan, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 4.300 | 06/01/25 | 21,575 | |||||||||||
| Laredo Petroleum, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 5.625 | 01/15/22 | 43,250 | |||||||||||
| MEG Energy Corp.(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 6.375 | 01/30/23 | 69,000 | |||||||||||
| Petroleos de Venezuela SA |
| ||||||||||||
20,000 | 9.000 | 11/17/21 | 8,100 | |||||||||||
60,000 | 6.000 | 05/16/24 | 22,215 | |||||||||||
60,000 | 6.000 | 11/15/26 | 22,125 | |||||||||||
40,000 | 5.375 | 04/12/27 | 14,600 | |||||||||||
| SM Energy Co.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 5.000 | 01/15/24 | 66,500 | |||||||||||
| TOTAL SA(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 100,000 | 2.625 | 02/26/25 | 95,770 | ||||||||||
| Whiting Petroleum Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 50,000 | 5.750 | 03/15/21 | 36,500 | ||||||||||
50,000 | 6.250 | 04/01/23 | 36,250 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
615,093 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Food & Beverage(b) – 0.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| Bumble Bee Holdings, Inc.(a) |
| ||||||||||||
46,000 | 9.000 | 12/15/17 | 46,632 | |||||||||||
47,000 | 9.625 | 03/15/18 | 47,176 | |||||||||||
| U.S. Foods, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 8.500 | 06/30/19 | 77,438 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
171,246 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing(b) – 0.7% |
| ||||||||||||
| Amazon.com, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 4.950 | 12/05/44 | 79,756 | |||||||||||
| CVS Health Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 3.875 | 07/20/25 | 25,449 | |||||||||||
50,000 | 5.125 | 07/20/45 | 53,018 | |||||||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 9 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing(b) – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Rite Aid Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 25,000 | 9.250 | % | 03/15/20 | $ | 26,469 | ||||||||
| Sysco Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 4.850 | 10/01/45 | 25,793 | |||||||||||
| Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 4.800 | 11/18/44 | 22,749 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
233,234 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Healthcare – 0.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| CHS/Community Health Systems, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 5.125 | 08/15/18 | 50,125 | |||||||||||
125,000 | 8.000 | 11/15/19 | 125,313 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
175,438 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Materials – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Ashland, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 6.875 | 05/15/43 | 47,875 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Media – 1.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| 21st Century Fox America, Inc.(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 3.700 | 10/15/25 | 24,745 | |||||||||||
50,000 | 4.950 | 10/15/45 | 49,459 | |||||||||||
| CCO Holdings LLC(b) |
| ||||||||||||
22,000 | 7.000 | 01/15/19 | 22,440 | |||||||||||
| CCO Safari II LLC(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 4.908 | 07/23/25 | 24,930 | |||||||||||
75,000 | 6.484 | 10/23/45 | 75,632 | |||||||||||
| DISH DBS Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 7.125 | 02/01/16 | 50,187 | |||||||||||
| Time Warner Cable, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 5.850 | 05/01/17 | 26,113 | |||||||||||
| Univision Communications, Inc.(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 8.500 | 05/15/21 | 204,250 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
477,756 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Noncaptive-Financial – 0.0% |
| ||||||||||||
| Speedy Cash Intermediate Holdings Corp.(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 10.750 | 05/15/18 | 12,875 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences(b) – 0.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| Actavis Funding SCS |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 3.800 | 03/15/25 | 49,570 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 4.750 | 03/15/45 | 24,334 | |||||||||||
| Celgene Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 3.875 | 08/15/25 | 49,717 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 5.000 | 08/15/45 | 25,190 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
148,811 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Pipelines – 0.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| Enterprise Products Operating LLC Series A(b)(c) |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 8.375 | 08/01/66 | 67,125 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Corporate Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Software & Services – 0.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| Microsoft Corp.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 25,000 | 3.125 | % | 11/03/25 | $ | 25,143 | ||||||||
125,000 | 4.450 | 11/03/45 | 128,950 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
154,093 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Apple, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 3.450 | 02/09/45 | 21,453 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 4.375 | 05/13/45 | 25,143 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
46,596 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Tobacco – 0.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| Reynolds American, Inc.(b) |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 4.450 | 06/12/25 | 26,167 | |||||||||||
75,000 | 5.850 | 08/15/45 | 83,304 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
109,471 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Wireless Telecommunications – 1.6% |
| ||||||||||||
| Intelsat Jackson Holdings SA(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 5.500 | 08/01/23 | 78,500 | |||||||||||
| Intelsat Luxembourg SA(b) |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 8.125 | 06/01/23 | 33,750 | |||||||||||
| Sprint Capital Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 6.875 | 11/15/28 | 52,312 | |||||||||||
| Sprint Communications, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
125,000 | 6.000 | 12/01/16 | 125,000 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 6.000 | 11/15/22 | 17,750 | |||||||||||
| Verizon Communications, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 5.150 | 09/15/23 | 27,400 | |||||||||||
100,000 | 3.500 | (b) | 11/01/24 | 98,311 | ||||||||||
50,000 | 4.862 | 08/21/46 | 47,421 | |||||||||||
50,000 | 4.522 | 09/15/48 | 44,622 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
525,066 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL CORPORATE OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $5,658,158) | $ | 5,418,152 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – 9.0% | ||||||||||||||
| Adjustable Rate Non-Agency(c) – 1.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| Alternative Loan Trust Series 2005-51, Class 2A1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 67,058 | 0.713 | % | 11/20/35 | $ | 52,306 | ||||||||
| Alternative Loan Trust Series 2006-HY11, Class A1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
68,179 | 0.542 | 06/25/36 | 58,841 | |||||||||||
| Alternative Loan Trust Series 2006-OA14, Class 2A1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
85,429 | 0.612 | 11/25/46 | 68,747 | |||||||||||
| Deutsche Alt-A Securities Mortgage Loan Trust Series 2007-OA3, | | ||||||||||||
43,173 | 0.562 | 07/25/47 | 34,798 | |||||||||||
| HomeBanc Mortgage Trust Series 2006-1, Class 3A2(b) |
| ||||||||||||
111,718 | 2.296 | 04/25/37 | 68,928 | |||||||||||
| IndyMac INDA Mortgage Loan Trust Series 2006-AR2, | | ||||||||||||
62,415 | 2.885 | 09/25/36 | 52,697 | |||||||||||
|
|
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Adjustable Rate Non-Agency(c) – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| JP Morgan Alternative Loan Trust Series 2006-A5, Class 1A1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 48,419 | 0.582 | % | 10/25/36 | $ | 38,227 | ||||||||
| Lehman XS Trust Series 2005-7N, Class 1A1A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
51,922 | 0.692 | 12/25/35 | 43,713 | |||||||||||
| Lehman XS Trust Series 2006-14N, Class 1A1A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
80,373 | 0.612 | 09/25/46 | 65,716 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
483,973 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Collateralized Mortgage Obligations – 6.9% |
| ||||||||||||
| Agency Multi-Family – 2.7% |
| ||||||||||||
| FHLMC Multifamily Structured Pass-Through Certificates | | ||||||||||||
$ | 400,000 | 2.373 | % | 05/25/22 | $ | 397,096 | ||||||||
| FHLMC Multifamily Structured Pass-Through Certificates | | ||||||||||||
500,000 | 3.320 | 02/25/23 | 521,657 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
918,753 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Interest Only(d) – 2.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| FHLMC Series 2014-4320, Class SD(b) |
| ||||||||||||
121,882 | 5.770 | 07/15/39 | 19,752 | |||||||||||
| FNMA Series 2013-121, Class SA |
| ||||||||||||
1,004,819 | 5.678 | 12/25/43 | 165,646 | |||||||||||
| FNMA Series 2014-87, Class MS |
| ||||||||||||
554,477 | 5.828 | 01/25/45 | 94,503 | |||||||||||
| FNMA Series 2015-81, Class SA |
| ||||||||||||
427,955 | 5.278 | 11/25/45 | 59,980 | |||||||||||
| GNMA Series 2010-20, Class SE(b) |
| ||||||||||||
545,655 | 5.848 | 02/20/40 | 93,237 | |||||||||||
| GNMA Series 2010-31, Class SA(b) |
| ||||||||||||
168,609 | 5.348 | 03/20/40 | 25,830 | |||||||||||
| GNMA Series 2013-152, Class SG(b) |
| ||||||||||||
141,752 | 5.748 | 06/20/43 | 23,310 | |||||||||||
| GNMA Series 2013-181, Class SA(b) |
| ||||||||||||
580,566 | 5.698 | 11/20/43 | 92,701 | |||||||||||
| GNMA Series 2015-110, Class MS(b) |
| ||||||||||||
653,929 | 5.308 | 08/20/45 | 105,228 | |||||||||||
| GNMA Series 2015-159, Class HS(b) |
| ||||||||||||
500,000 | 5.798 | 11/20/45 | 86,435 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
766,622 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Regular Floater(c) – 1.8% |
| ||||||||||||
| Aire Valley Mortgages PLC Series 2006-1X, Class 2A1 |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 61,492 | 0.167 | 09/20/66 | 64,851 | ||||||||||
| Alternative Loan Trust Series 2005-36, Class 2A1A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 80,356 | 0.732 | 08/25/35 | 61,523 | ||||||||||
| Connecticut Avenue Securities Series 2014-C03, Class 1M1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
12,279 | 1.622 | 07/25/24 | 12,215 | |||||||||||
| Connecticut Avenue Securities Series 2015-C01, Class 2M1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
2,401 | 1.922 | 02/25/25 | 2,400 | |||||||||||
| GreenPoint Mortgage Funding Trust Series 2006-AR1, | | ||||||||||||
435,145 | 0.712 | 02/25/36 | 351,429 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Regular Floater(c) – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Morgan Stanley Mortgage Loan Trust Series 2006-16AX, | | ||||||||||||
$ | 160,328 | 0.592 | % | 11/25/36 | $ | 64,700 | ||||||||
| Paragon Mortgages No. 13 PLC Series 13X, Class A2B(b) |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 54,108 | 0.191 | 01/15/39 | 53,400 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
610,518 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Sequential Fixed Rate – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Residential Accredit Loans, Inc. Trust Series 2007-QS1, | | ||||||||||||
$ | 52,114 | 6.000 | 01/25/37 | 42,057 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| TOTAL COLLATERALIZED MORTGAGE OBLIGATIONS | | $ | 2,337,950 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Federal Agency – 0.6% |
| ||||||||||||
| FNMA – 0.6% |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 187,845 | 6.000 | % | 09/01/36 | $ | 212,670 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL MORTGAGE-BACKED OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $3,060,195) | $ | 3,034,593 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities – 16.2% | ||||||||||||||
| Collateralized Loan Obligations(a)(c) – 12.0% |
| ||||||||||||
| Aberdeen Loan Funding Ltd. Series 2008-1A, Class A |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 96,141 | 0.979 | % | 11/01/18 | $ | 95,313 | ||||||||
| Acis CLO Ltd. Series 2014-4A, Class ACOM(b) |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 0.000 | 05/01/26 | 144,780 | |||||||||||
| Anchorage Capital CLO IV Ltd. Series 2014-4A, Class A1A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 1.773 | 07/28/26 | 247,000 | |||||||||||
| ARES XII CLO Ltd. Series 2007-12A, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
111,020 | 1.023 | 11/25/20 | 109,836 | |||||||||||
| Crown Point CLO III Ltd. Series 2015-3A, Class ACOM |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 1.856 | 12/31/27 | 243,850 | |||||||||||
| Cutwater Ltd. Series 2015-1A, Class A2(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 1.851 | 07/15/27 | 245,074 | |||||||||||
| Halcyon Loan Advisors Funding Ltd. Series 2015-2A, Class A |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 1.727 | 07/25/27 | 245,062 | |||||||||||
| Hildene CLO II Ltd. Series 2014-2A, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 1.765 | 07/19/26 | 245,584 | |||||||||||
| Madison Park Funding X Ltd. Series 2012-10A, Class A1A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 1.687 | 01/20/25 | 247,385 | |||||||||||
| MidOcean Credit CLO III Series 2014-3A, Class A |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 1.777 | 07/21/26 | 245,475 | |||||||||||
| Monroe Capital BSL CLO Ltd. Series 2015-1A, Class ACOM |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 1.931 | 05/22/27 | 192,420 | |||||||||||
| Ocean Trails CLO IV Series 2013-4A, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 1.659 | 08/13/25 | 246,375 | |||||||||||
| OCP CLO Ltd. Series 2015-8A, Class A1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 1.819 | 04/17/27 | 246,739 | |||||||||||
| OFSI Fund VI Ltd. Series 2014-6A, Class A1(b) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 1.351 | 03/20/25 | 192,858 | |||||||||||
| OFSI Fund VII Ltd. Series 2014-7A, Class ACOM |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 0.000 | 10/18/26 | 97,050 | |||||||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Collateralized Loan Obligations(a)(c) – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Regatta IV Funding Ltd. Series 2014-1A, Class ACOM(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 250,000 | 1.830 | % | 07/25/26 | $ | 243,850 | ||||||||
| Trinitas CLO II Ltd. Series 2014-2A, Class ACOM(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 0.000 | 07/15/26 | 241,775 | |||||||||||
| Trinitas CLO III Ltd. Series 2015-3A, Class A2(b) |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 1.830 | 07/15/27 | 146,483 | |||||||||||
| Wasatch Ltd. Series 2006-1A, Class A1B |
| ||||||||||||
236,119 | 0.602 | 11/14/22 | 226,499 | |||||||||||
| Z Capital Credit Partners CLO Ltd. Series 2015-1A, Class ACOM |
| ||||||||||||
150,000 | 1.737 | 07/16/27 | 145,635 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
4,049,043 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Home Equity(b) – 1.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| Citigroup Mortgage Loan Trust, Inc. Series 2006-WFH1, | | ||||||||||||
100,000 | 0.822 | 01/25/36 | 83,954 | |||||||||||
| Credit-Based Asset Servicing and Securitization LLC | | ||||||||||||
12,923 | 4.122 | 12/25/35 | 12,879 | |||||||||||
| Credit-Based Asset Servicing and Securitization LLC | | ||||||||||||
25,000 | 4.122 | 12/25/35 | 23,514 | |||||||||||
| GSAMP Trust Series 2006-HE8, Class A2C(c) |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 0.592 | 01/25/37 | 39,024 | |||||||||||
| Lehman XS Trust Series 2007-3, Class 1BA2(c) |
| ||||||||||||
51,299 | 1.154 | 03/25/37 | 38,689 | |||||||||||
| Saxon Asset Securities Trust Series 2007-2, Class A2C(c) |
| ||||||||||||
90,563 | 0.662 | 05/25/47 | 63,078 | |||||||||||
| Structured Asset Securities Corp. Mortgage Loan Trust | | ||||||||||||
100,000 | 0.892 | 05/25/35 | 86,797 | |||||||||||
| VOLT XXV LLC Series 2015-NPL8, Class A1(a)(e) |
| ||||||||||||
87,978 | 3.500 | 06/26/45 | 86,839 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
434,774 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Student Loans(c) – 2.9% |
| ||||||||||||
| Access Group, Inc. Series 2006-1, Class A2(b) |
| ||||||||||||
20,637 | 0.503 | 08/25/23 | 20,437 | |||||||||||
| Access Group, Inc. Series 2015-1, Class A(a) |
| ||||||||||||
91,925 | 1.122 | 07/25/56 | 89,245 | |||||||||||
| Bank of America Student Loan Trust Series 2010-1A, Class A(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
63,890 | 1.120 | 02/25/43 | 63,026 | |||||||||||
| Goal Capital Funding Trust Series 2006-1, Class A3 |
| ||||||||||||
23,544 | 0.513 | 11/25/26 | 23,460 | |||||||||||
| Scholar Funding Trust Series 2010-A, Class A(a) |
| ||||||||||||
63,137 | 1.073 | 10/28/41 | 61,276 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2003-14, Class A5 |
| ||||||||||||
43,464 | 0.550 | 01/25/23 | 42,985 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2006-9, Class A4 |
| ||||||||||||
19,532 | 0.390 | 10/25/22 | 19,478 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2007-1, Class A5(b) |
| ||||||||||||
250,000 | 0.410 | 01/26/26 | 238,484 | |||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2008-5, Class A4(b) |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 2.020 | 07/25/23 | 100,389 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Student Loans(c) – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| SLM Student Loan Trust Series 2012-3, Class A(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 154,696 | 1.072 | % | 12/26/25 | $ | 149,322 | ||||||||
| SunTrust Student Loan Trust Series 2006-1A, Class A4(a)(b) |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 0.513 | 10/28/37 | 183,042 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
991,144 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL ASSET-BACKED SECURITIES | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $5,525,827) | $ | 5,474,961 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Foreign Debt Obligations – 16.0% | ||||||||||||||
| Sovereign – 14.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| Brazilian Government International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
BRL | 70,000 | 0.000 | %(f) | 04/01/16 | $ | 17,096 | ||||||||
239,000 | 6.000 | 08/15/50 | 140,999 | |||||||||||
| Colombia Government International Bond(b) |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 200,000 | 4.500 | 01/28/26 | 192,500 | ||||||||||
| Croatia Government International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 100,000 | 3.875 | 05/30/22 | 108,512 | ||||||||||
| Dominican Republic International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 100,000 | 5.875 | 04/18/24 | 99,750 | ||||||||||
100,000 | 5.500 | 01/27/25 | 96,500 | |||||||||||
100,000 | 7.450 | (a) | 04/30/44 | 100,750 | ||||||||||
| Indonesia Government International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
200,000 | 4.125 | 01/15/25 | 190,000 | |||||||||||
200,000 | 4.750 | (a) | 01/08/26 | 197,000 | ||||||||||
| Italy Buoni Poliennali Del Tesoro |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 160,757 | 2.100 | 09/15/16 | 176,921 | ||||||||||
376,788 | 2.350 | 09/15/19 | 448,251 | |||||||||||
210,000 | 0.650 | 11/01/20 | 228,445 | |||||||||||
120,000 | 3.750 | 03/01/21 | 150,612 | |||||||||||
140,000 | 3.750 | 05/01/21 | 176,231 | |||||||||||
280,000 | 2.500 | 12/01/24 | 330,477 | |||||||||||
150,000 | 2.000 | 12/01/25 | 168,804 | |||||||||||
| Mexico Government International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
MXN | 489,490 | 0.000 | (f) | 01/14/16 | 28,333 | |||||||||
576,580 | 0.000 | (f) | 01/21/16 | 33,355 | ||||||||||
1,057,060 | 0.000 | (f) | 01/28/16 | 61,115 | ||||||||||
822,850 | 0.000 | (f) | 02/18/16 | 47,479 | ||||||||||
1,573,810 | 0.000 | (f) | 03/10/16 | 90,701 | ||||||||||
1,853,350 | 0.000 | (f) | 03/17/16 | 106,843 | ||||||||||
$ | 10,000 | 6.050 | 01/11/40 | 10,950 | ||||||||||
10,000 | 5.550 | 01/21/45 | 10,225 | |||||||||||
| Mexico Government International Bond Series M |
| ||||||||||||
MXN | 892,400 | 7.750 | 11/23/34 | 56,800 | ||||||||||
| Mexico Government International Bond Series M 10 |
| ||||||||||||
1,733,000 | 7.750 | 12/14/17 | 107,543 | |||||||||||
| Spain Government Bond |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 360,000 | 1.150 | 07/30/20 | 399,446 | ||||||||||
240,000 | 5.500 | (a) | 04/30/21 | 324,243 | ||||||||||
180,000 | 2.750 | (a) | 10/31/24 | 213,426 | ||||||||||
80,000 | 2.150 | (a) | 10/31/25 | 89,858 | ||||||||||
| Spain Government Inflation Linked Bond(a) |
| ||||||||||||
140,342 | 0.550 | 11/30/19 | 156,375 | |||||||||||
|
|
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Foreign Debt Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Sovereign – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Venezuela Government International Bond |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 20,000 | 7.750 | % | 10/13/19 | $ | 7,950 | ||||||||
40,000 | 6.000 | 12/09/20 | 14,900 | |||||||||||
10,000 | 12.750 | 08/23/22 | 4,475 | |||||||||||
30,000 | 9.000 | 05/07/23 | 11,925 | |||||||||||
110,000 | 8.250 | 10/13/24 | 41,800 | |||||||||||
80,000 | 7.650 | 04/21/25 | 29,600 | |||||||||||
30,000 | 11.750 | 10/21/26 | 13,350 | |||||||||||
110,000 | 9.250 | 09/15/27 | 45,100 | |||||||||||
80,000 | 9.250 | 05/07/28 | 31,200 | |||||||||||
30,000 | 11.950 | 08/05/31 | 13,275 | |||||||||||
20,000 | 9.375 | 01/13/34 | 7,850 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
4,780,965 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Supranational – 1.8% |
| ||||||||||||
| European Financial Stability Facility |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 400,000 | 0.750 | 06/05/17 | 440,395 | ||||||||||
| European Investment Bank |
| ||||||||||||
GBP | 100,000 | 3.875 | 06/08/37 | 170,795 | ||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
611,190 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL FOREIGN DEBT OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $5,641,824) | $ | 5,392,155 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Municipal Debt Obligations(b) – 1.6% | ||||||||||||||
| Puerto Rico – 1.6% |
| ||||||||||||
| Puerto Rico Commonwealth Aqueduct & Sewer Authority RB | | ||||||||||||
$ | 5,000 | 6.000 | % | 07/01/44 | $ | 3,369 | ||||||||
| Puerto Rico Commonwealth Aqueduct & Sewer Authority RB | | ||||||||||||
10,000 | 5.500 | 07/01/28 | 6,750 | |||||||||||
5,000 | 5.000 | 07/01/33 | 3,250 | |||||||||||
5,000 | 5.125 | 07/01/37 | 3,237 | |||||||||||
10,000 | 5.750 | 07/01/37 | 6,675 | |||||||||||
5,000 | 5.250 | 07/01/42 | 3,275 | |||||||||||
| Puerto Rico Commonwealth GO Bonds Series 2014 A |
| ||||||||||||
335,000 | 8.000 | 07/01/35 | 242,875 | |||||||||||
| Puerto Rico Commonwealth GO Refunding for Public | | ||||||||||||
20,000 | 5.500 | 07/01/32 | 12,925 | |||||||||||
| Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. RB First Subseries 2009 A |
| ||||||||||||
20,000 | 5.500 | 08/01/28 | 8,500 | |||||||||||
45,000 | 6.000 | 08/01/42 | 18,563 | |||||||||||
| Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. RB First Subseries 2010 A |
| ||||||||||||
5,000 | 5.500 | 08/01/37 | 2,012 | |||||||||||
55,000 | 5.375 | 08/01/39 | 22,000 | |||||||||||
115,000 | 5.500 | 08/01/42 | 46,288 | |||||||||||
| Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. RB First Subseries 2010 C |
| ||||||||||||
10,000 | 5.375 | 08/01/38 | 4,000 | |||||||||||
55,000 | 6.000 | 08/01/39 | 22,688 | |||||||||||
105,000 | 5.250 | 08/01/41 | 42,000 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Municipal Debt Obligations(b) – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Puerto Rico – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. RB First | | ||||||||||||
$ | 170,000 | 5.000 | % | 08/01/43 | $ | 68,000 | ||||||||
| Puerto Rico Sales Tax Financing Corp. RB for Capital | | ||||||||||||
15,000 | 0.000 | 08/01/32 | 5,880 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
522,287 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL MUNICIPAL DEBT OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $707,368) | $ | 522,287 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Bank Loan Obligations(b)(c)(h) – 3.7% | ||||||||||||||
| Building Materials – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Atkore International, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 25,000 | 7.750 | % | 10/09/21 | $ | 21,750 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Energy – 0.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| American Energy – Marcellus, LLC |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 5.250 | 08/04/20 | 6,562 | |||||||||||
| EP Energy LLC |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 3.500 | 05/24/18 | 38,625 | |||||||||||
| Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
9,689 | 9.000 | 09/09/16 | 9,665 | |||||||||||
4,728 | 9.000 | 09/16/16 | 4,728 | |||||||||||
74,250 | 0.000 | 10/22/19 | 43,808 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
103,388 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Environmental – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| ADS Waste Holdings, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
47,653 | 3.750 | 10/09/19 | 46,045 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Food & Beverage – 0.5% |
| ||||||||||||
| U.S. Foods, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
173,793 | 4.500 | 03/31/19 | 171,330 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Healthcare – 0.4% |
| ||||||||||||
| American Renal Holdings, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 8.500 | 03/20/20 | 24,125 | |||||||||||
| MPH Acquisition Holdings LLC |
| ||||||||||||
20,793 | 3.750 | 03/31/21 | 20,204 | |||||||||||
| Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
24,748 | 3.750 | 03/01/21 | 23,696 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 6.750 | 02/28/22 | 22,500 | |||||||||||
| U.S. Renal Care, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
25,000 | 0.000 | 11/17/22 | 24,750 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
115,275 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Media – 0.8% |
| ||||||||||||
| Checkout Holding Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
99,058 | 4.500 | 04/09/21 | 78,751 | |||||||||||
25,000 | 7.750 | 04/11/22 | 13,844 | |||||||||||
| CSC Holdings LLC |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 5.000 | 10/09/22 | 74,789 | |||||||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Principal Amount | Interest Rate | Maturity Date | Value | |||||||||||
Bank Loan Obligations(b)(c)(h) – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| Media – (continued) |
| ||||||||||||
| Getty Images, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 183,584 | 4.750 | % | 10/18/19 | $ | 114,465 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
281,849 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Pharmaceuticals – 0.3% |
| ||||||||||||
| Endo Luxembourg Finance I Co. SARL |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 3.750 | 09/26/22 | 73,907 | |||||||||||
| Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
49,937 | 4.000 | 04/01/22 | 47,927 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
121,834 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Retailing – 0.1% |
| ||||||||||||
| Neiman Marcus Group, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 4.250 | 10/25/20 | 44,125 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Software & Services – 0.2% |
| ||||||||||||
| First Data Corp. |
| ||||||||||||
75,000 | 4.168 | 07/08/22 | 73,856 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
| Technology – 0.9% |
| ||||||||||||
| Avago Technologies Ltd. |
| ||||||||||||
100,000 | 0.000 | 11/11/22 | 98,813 | |||||||||||
| BMC Software Finance, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
124,213 | 5.000 | 09/10/20 | 101,943 | |||||||||||
| NXP B.V. |
| ||||||||||||
50,000 | 3.750 | 12/07/20 | 49,713 | |||||||||||
| TTM Technologies, Inc. |
| ||||||||||||
24,938 | 6.000 | 05/31/21 | 22,506 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
272,975 | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL BANK LOAN OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $1,397,750) | $ | 1,252,427 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations – 22.3% | ||||||||||||||
| United States Treasury Bonds |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 300,000 | 3.625 | % | 08/15/43 | $ | 338,091 | ||||||||
100,000 | 3.750 | 11/15/43 | 115,250 | |||||||||||
150,000 | 3.000 | 05/15/45 | 149,383 | |||||||||||
| United States Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities |
| ||||||||||||
418,856 | 0.125 | 04/15/17 | 418,006 | |||||||||||
101,502 | 0.125 | 04/15/19 | 100,947 | |||||||||||
105,082 | 0.125 | 01/15/22 | 102,028 | |||||||||||
459,900 | 0.375 | 07/15/23 | 450,053 | |||||||||||
60,099 | 0.125 | 07/15/24 | 57,179 | |||||||||||
55,020 | 2.125 | 02/15/40 | 65,001 | |||||||||||
102,051 | 1.375 | 02/15/44 | 104,220 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations – (continued) | ||||||||||||||
| United States Treasury Notes |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 200,000 | 1.750 | % | 09/30/19 | $ | 201,386 | ||||||||
600,000 | 1.500 | 11/30/19 | 597,774 | |||||||||||
400,000 | 1.625 | 12/31/19 | 400,072 | |||||||||||
900,000 | 1.750 | 12/31/20 | 899,262 | |||||||||||
1,500,000 | 2.250 | 04/30/21 | 1,529,955 | |||||||||||
2,000,000 | 2.125 | 12/31/22 | 2,003,760 | |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
TOTAL U.S. TREASURY OBLIGATIONS | ||||||||||||||
(Cost $7,560,288) | $ | 7,532,367 | ||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Government Guarantee Obligation(i) – 0.7% | ||||||||||||||
| KFW |
| ||||||||||||
EUR | 200,000 | 0.000 | % | 12/07/18 | $ | 218,107 | ||||||||
(Cost $225,016) | ||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||
Commercial Paper(a)(b)(c) – 0.7% | ||||||||||||||
| Barclays Bank PLC Series 11-1 |
| ||||||||||||
$ | 250,000 | 1.242 | % | 03/11/16 | $ | 249,836 | ||||||||
(Cost $250,000) | ||||||||||||||
|
|
Shares | Distribution Rate | Value | ||||||
Investment Company(c)(j) – 8.1% | ||||||||
Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund — FST Shares |
| |||||||
2,716,785 | 0.185 | % | $ | 2,716,785 | ||||
(Cost $2,716,785) | ||||||||
| ||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 94.4% | ||||||||
(Cost $32,743,211) | $ | 31,811,670 | ||||||
| ||||||||
OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF LIABILITIES – 5.6% |
| 1,900,537 | ||||||
| ||||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 33,712,207 | ||||||
|
14 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
(a) | Exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. Under procedures approved by the Board of Trustees, such securities may be deemed to be liquid by the Investment Adviser and may be resold, normally to qualified institutional buyers in transactions exempt from registration. Total market value of Rule 144A securities amounts to $6,725,627, which represents approximately 19.9% of net assets as of December 31, 2015. | |
(b) | Securities with “Call” features. Maturity dates disclosed are the final maturity dates. | |
(c) | Variable rate security. Interest rate or distribution rate disclosed is that which is in effect on December 31, 2015. | |
(d) | Inverse floating rate security. Interest rate disclosed is that which is in effect on December 31, 2015. | |
(e) | Step Bond. Coupon rate is a fixed rate for an initial period then it resets at a specified date and rate. | |
(f) | Issued with a zero coupon. Income is recognized through the accretion of discount. | |
(g) | Zero coupon until next reset date. | |
(h) | Bank Loans often require prepayments from excess cash flows or permit the borrower to repay at its election. The degree to which borrowers repay, whether as a contractual requirement or at their election, cannot be predicted with accuracy. As a result, the actual remaining maturity may be substantially less than the stated maturities shown. The stated interest rate represents the weighted average interest rate of all contracts within the loan facility on December 31, 2015. Bank Loans typically have rates of interest which are predetermined either daily, monthly, quarterly or semi-annually by reference to a base lending rate, plus a premium. These base lending rates are primarily the London-Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) and secondarily the prime rate offered by one or more major United States banks (the “Prime Rate”) and the certificate of deposit (“CD”) rate or other base lending rates used by commercial lenders. | |
(i) | Guaranteed by a foreign government under maturity. Total market value of these securities amount to 218,107, which represents 0.7% of net assets as of December 31, 2015. | |
(j) | Represents an affiliated issuer. |
Investment Abbreviations: | ||
BA | —Banker Acceptance Rate | |
BBR | —Bank Bill Reference Rate | |
CD KSDA | —Certificates of Deposit by the Korean Securities Dealers Association | |
CDI | —Average One-Day Interbank Deposit | |
EURIBOR | —Euro Interbank Offered Rate | |
FHLMC | —Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. | |
FNMA | —Federal National Mortgage Association | |
GNMA | —Government National Mortgage Association | |
GO | —General Obligation | |
LIBOR | —London Interbank Offered Rate | |
RB | —Revenue Bond | |
STIBOR | —Stockholm Interbank Offered Rate | |
WIBOR | —Warsaw InterBank Offered Rate | |
Currency Abbreviations: | ||
AUD | —Australian Dollar | |
BRL | —Brazilian Real | |
CAD | —Canadian Dollar | |
CLP | —Chilean Peso | |
CNH | —Chinese Renminbi | |
COP | —Colombian Peso | |
EUR | —Euro | |
GBP | —British Pound | |
HUF | —Hungarian Forint | |
IDR | —Indonesian Rupiah | |
ILS | —Israel New Shekel | |
JPY | —Japanese Yen | |
KRW | —South Korean Won | |
MXN | —Mexican Peso | |
MYR | —Malaysian Ringgit | |
NZD | —New Zealand Dollar | |
PLN | —Polish Zloty | |
RUB | —Russian Ruble | |
SEK | —Swedish Krona | |
SGD | —Singapore Dollar | |
TRY | —Turkish Lira | |
TWD | —Taiwan Dollar | |
USD | —United States Dollar | |
ZAR | —South African Rand |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 15 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION |
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following forward foreign currency exchange contracts:
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED GAIN
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain | |||||||||||||||
Bank of America, N.A. | JPY | 10,244,000 | USD | 83,441 | 01/28/16 | $ | 85,271 | $ | 1,830 | |||||||||||
SEK | 2,355,264 | EUR | 254,166 | 03/16/16 | 279,594 | 2,871 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 312,262 | USD | 36,765 | 03/16/16 | 37,069 | 304 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 102,000 | BRL | 390,334 | 01/05/16 | 98,663 | 3,337 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 39,785 | CAD | 53,971 | 03/16/16 | 39,012 | 773 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | CNH | 342,996 | 03/16/16 | 51,671 | 329 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 97,198 | MXN | 1,606,964 | 01/28/16 | 93,082 | 4,116 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 91,504 | MXN | 1,560,712 | 03/10/16 | 90,129 | 1,375 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 146,516 | SGD | 206,961 | 03/16/16 | 145,618 | 898 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 102,433 | TWD | 3,359,704 | 01/19/16 | 101,850 | 583 | ||||||||||||||
Barclays Bank PLC | USD | 168,325 | CNH | 1,121,041 | 09/01/16 | 166,391 | 1,934 | |||||||||||||
USD | 52,149 | ILS | 201,144 | 03/16/16 | 51,772 | 377 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | ZAR | 805,861 | 03/16/16 | 51,417 | 583 | ||||||||||||||
BNP Paribas SA | CLP | 63,395,958 | USD | 89,095 | 01/27/16 | 89,232 | 137 | |||||||||||||
EUR | 34,000 | HUF | 10,696,808 | 03/16/16 | 37,017 | 200 | ||||||||||||||
HUF | 20,335,030 | USD | 69,228 | 03/16/16 | 69,991 | 763 | ||||||||||||||
JPY | 12,590,091 | USD | 103,000 | 03/16/16 | 104,927 | 1,927 | ||||||||||||||
MYR | 217,337 | USD | 50,543 | 01/04/16 | 50,620 | 77 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 1,115,275 | EUR | 120,274 | 03/16/16 | 132,395 | 1,447 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 8,018 | AUD | 11,000 | 03/16/16 | 7,987 | 31 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 53,949 | EUR | 49,464 | 03/16/16 | 53,854 | 95 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 151,017 | KRW | 175,465,500 | 01/14/16 | 149,238 | 1,779 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 50,667 | MYR | 217,337 | 01/04/16 | 50,620 | 47 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 50,535 | MYR | 217,337 | 01/08/16 | 50,512 | 23 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 69,450 | TWD | 2,255,385 | 01/08/16 | 68,554 | 896 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 69,752 | TWD | 2,271,816 | 01/29/16 | 68,821 | 931 | ||||||||||||||
Citibank, N.A. | CLP | 28,817,621 | USD | 40,302 | 01/12/16 | 40,637 | 335 | |||||||||||||
COP | 67,854,600 | USD | 20,661 | 01/12/16 | 21,360 | 699 | ||||||||||||||
GBP | 36,240 | EUR | 49,000 | 03/16/16 | 53,431 | 82 | ||||||||||||||
PLN | 218,189 | EUR | 50,376 | 03/16/16 | 55,544 | 698 | ||||||||||||||
PLN | 1,591,609 | USD | 393,733 | 03/16/16 | 405,176 | 11,443 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 232,048 | EUR | 25,080 | 03/16/16 | 27,546 | 241 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 747,634 | USD | 88,582 | 03/16/16 | 88,752 | 170 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 155,000 | CNH | 1,019,960 | 03/16/16 | 153,654 | 1,346 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 50,335 | CNH | 329,156 | 09/01/16 | 48,855 | 1,480 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 1,047,664 | EUR | 949,569 | 03/16/16 | 1,033,840 | 13,824 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 44,803 | GBP | 29,959 | 01/13/16 | 44,166 | 637 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 88,809 | KRW | 100,758,410 | 01/15/16 | 85,696 | 3,113 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 202,307 | MXN | 3,458,420 | 02/05/16 | 200,206 | 2,101 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 48,376 | MXN | 816,197 | 02/18/16 | 47,205 | 1,171 |
16 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION (continued)
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED GAIN (continued)
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain | |||||||||||||||
Deutsche Bank AG | BRL | 391,555 | USD | 98,036 | 01/05/16 | $ | 98,971 | $ | 935 | |||||||||||
COP | 208,148,637 | USD | 65,343 | 01/15/16 | 65,502 | 159 | ||||||||||||||
COP | 61,198,779 | USD | 18,227 | 01/27/16 | 19,234 | 1,007 | ||||||||||||||
IDR | 604,872,237 | USD | 43,850 | 01/04/16 | 43,879 | 29 | ||||||||||||||
KRW | 61,510,800 | USD | 52,000 | 01/08/16 | 52,399 | 399 | ||||||||||||||
KRW | 61,786,400 | USD | 52,000 | 01/15/16 | 52,550 | 550 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 669,912 | EUR | 72,165 | 03/16/16 | 79,525 | 956 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 51,000 | BRL | 196,376 | 01/05/16 | 49,637 | 1,363 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 178,516 | BRL | 686,000 | 02/02/16 | 171,637 | 6,879 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 104,000 | CNH | 681,850 | 03/16/16 | 102,719 | 1,281 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 662,769 | CNH | 4,348,300 | 09/01/16 | 645,398 | 17,371 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 86,165 | KRW | 99,742,340 | 01/15/16 | 84,832 | 1,333 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 51,000 | MYR | 217,337 | 01/04/16 | 50,620 | 380 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 146,169 | SGD | 206,976 | 03/16/16 | 145,628 | 541 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 113,561 | TWD | 3,719,688 | 01/21/16 | 112,747 | 814 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 109,620 | TWD | 3,586,868 | 02/04/16 | 108,611 | 1,009 | ||||||||||||||
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. | USD | 62,484 | CAD | 83,000 | 01/07/16 | 59,984 | 2,500 | |||||||||||||
Morgan Stanley Co., Inc. | RUB | 3,070,860 | USD | 41,519 | 01/19/16 | 41,899 | 380 | |||||||||||||
SEK | 434,609 | EUR | 47,000 | 03/16/16 | 51,593 | 421 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 102,000 | BRL | 387,533 | 01/05/16 | 97,955 | 4,045 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | MXN | 887,848 | 03/16/16 | 51,250 | 750 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 105,907 | MXN | 1,822,822 | 03/17/16 | 105,212 | 695 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | RUB | 3,653,442 | 01/12/16 | 49,944 | 2,056 | ||||||||||||||
Royal Bank of Canada | CAD | 115,061 | EUR | 76,272 | 03/16/16 | 83,170 | 129 | |||||||||||||
SEK | 862,261 | EUR | 92,474 | 03/16/16 | 102,359 | 1,678 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | BRL | 203,345 | 01/05/16 | 51,398 | 602 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | CAD | 70,113 | 03/16/16 | 50,680 | 1,320 | ||||||||||||||
Royal Bank of Scotland | HUF | 20,983,322 | USD | 71,251 | 03/16/16 | 72,223 | 972 | |||||||||||||
PLN | 210,532 | EUR | 49,000 | 03/16/16 | 53,595 | 247 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 883,279 | EUR | 95,000 | 03/16/16 | 104,854 | 1,423 | ||||||||||||||
TRY | 159,013 | USD | 52,000 | 03/16/16 | 53,431 | 1,431 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 62,114 | CLP | 43,708,504 | 01/11/16 | 61,642 | 472 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 63,073 | CLP | 44,724,888 | 01/15/16 | 63,045 | 28 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | MXN | 893,522 | 03/16/16 | 51,577 | 423 | ||||||||||||||
State Street Bank | AUD | 73,000 | USD | 51,690 | 03/16/16 | 53,005 | 1,315 | |||||||||||||
EUR | 95,000 | USD | 103,379 | 03/16/16 | 103,431 | 52 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 3,025,287 | EUR | 326,892 | 03/16/16 | 359,132 | 3,231 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 333,395 | USD | 39,477 | 03/16/16 | 39,577 | 100 | ||||||||||||||
UBS AG | EUR | 88,625 | GBP | 62,624 | 03/16/16 | 96,491 | 4,160 | |||||||||||||
JPY | 6,398,912 | USD | 52,000 | 03/16/16 | 53,329 | 1,329 | ||||||||||||||
KRW | 22,453,250 | USD | 19,000 | 01/14/16 | 19,097 | 97 | ||||||||||||||
KRW | 61,865,180 | USD | 52,000 | 01/15/16 | 52,617 | 617 | ||||||||||||||
SEK | 1,291,923 | EUR | 139,510 | 03/16/16 | 153,365 | 1,473 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 17 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION (continued)
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED GAIN (continued)
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain | |||||||||||||||
UBS AG (continued) | USD | 102,623 | AUD | 141,000 | 03/16/16 | $ | 102,379 | $ | 244 | |||||||||||
USD | 43,943 | IDR | 604,872,237 | 01/19/16 | 43,608 | 335 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 147,720 | KRW | 173,312,025 | 01/22/16 | 147,383 | 337 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 90,771 | RUB | 6,204,098 | 01/12/16 | 84,813 | 5,958 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | RUB | 3,648,840 | 01/14/16 | 49,854 | 2,146 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 155,000 | RUB | 11,094,125 | 01/19/16 | 151,368 | 3,632 | ||||||||||||||
Westpac Banking Corp. | AUD | 143,000 | USD | 102,933 | 03/16/16 | 103,832 | 899 | |||||||||||||
NZD | 93,720 | USD | 62,146 | 01/22/16 | 64,025 | 1,879 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | CNH | 342,966 | 03/16/16 | 51,667 | 333 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 201,000 | CNH | 1,320,724 | 09/01/16 | 196,029 | 4,971 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 202,943 | EUR | 185,000 | 02/10/16 | 201,232 | 1,711 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 653,609 | GBP | 432,000 | 01/13/16 | 636,869 | 16,740 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 88,836 | KRW | 100,781,493 | 01/15/16 | 85,716 | 3,120 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 50,677 | TWD | 1,644,000 | 01/08/16 | 49,971 | 706 | ||||||||||||||
USD | 23,563 | TWD | 775,257 | 02/04/16 | 23,475 | 88 | ||||||||||||||
TOTAL | $ | 175,054 |
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED LOSS
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Loss | |||||||||||||||
Bank of America, N.A. | EUR | 79,970 | AUD | 122,022 | 03/16/16 | $ | 87,067 | $ | (1,533 | ) | ||||||||||
EUR | 47,000 | PLN | 205,249 | 03/16/16 | 51,171 | (1,079 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 51,465 | AUD | 71,000 | 03/16/16 | 51,553 | (88 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 104,000 | CAD | 145,468 | 03/16/16 | 105,150 | (1,150 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 117,533 | EUR | 108,456 | 02/10/16 | 117,971 | (438 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 77,127 | JPY | 9,468,810 | 01/28/16 | 78,819 | (1,692 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 97,492 | KRW | 115,625,269 | 01/14/16 | 98,343 | (851 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | TWD | 1,716,520 | 01/11/16 | 52,091 | (91 | ) | |||||||||||||
Barclays Bank PLC | CNH | 343,278 | USD | 52,000 | 03/16/16 | 51,714 | (286 | ) | ||||||||||||
EUR | 79,970 | AUD | 122,524 | 03/16/16 | 87,067 | (1,897 | ) | |||||||||||||
KRW | 60,803,080 | USD | 52,000 | 01/14/16 | 51,715 | (285 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 3,407,868 | USD | 47,633 | 01/19/16 | 46,497 | (1,136 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 3,772,540 | USD | 53,000 | 01/28/16 | 51,343 | (1,657 | ) | |||||||||||||
TWD | 1,667,292 | USD | 51,000 | 01/08/16 | 50,678 | (322 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 48,931 | IDR | 705,585,000 | 02/17/16 | 50,277 | (1,346 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 60,865 | IDR | 873,900,988 | 02/19/16 | 62,231 | (1,366 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 162,246 | TRY | 486,251 | 03/16/16 | 163,388 | (1,142 | ) | |||||||||||||
BNP Paribas SA | USD | 208,000 | JPY | 25,157,173 | 03/16/16 | 209,663 | (1,663 | ) | ||||||||||||
Citibank, N.A. | CNH | 1,407,435 | USD | 216,412 | 03/16/16 | 212,025 | (4,387 | ) | ||||||||||||
GBP | 174,000 | USD | 261,267 | 01/13/16 | 256,517 | (4,750 | ) | |||||||||||||
HUF | 20,367,369 | USD | 70,754 | 03/16/16 | 70,102 | (652 | ) |
18 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION (continued)
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED LOSS (continued)
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Loss | |||||||||||||||
Citibank, N.A. (continued) | RUB | 2,983,760 | USD | 43,072 | 01/12/16 | $ | 40,790 | $ | (2,282 | ) | ||||||||||
RUB | 9,552,657 | USD | 142,439 | 01/27/16 | 130,046 | (12,393 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 51,574 | AUD | 72,000 | 03/16/16 | 52,279 | (705 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | CAD | 72,404 | 03/16/16 | 52,336 | (336 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 2,895,569 | EUR | 2,666,000 | 02/10/16 | 2,899,922 | (4,353 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 645,000 | EUR | 610,043 | 02/26/16 | 663,844 | (18,844 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 98,426 | JPY | 11,898,818 | 03/16/16 | 99,167 | (741 | ) | |||||||||||||
Deutsche Bank AG | CLP | 50,126,049 | USD | 71,254 | 01/13/16 | 70,676 | (578 | ) | ||||||||||||
CNH | 1,257,547 | USD | 191,000 | 03/16/16 | 189,446 | (1,554 | ) | |||||||||||||
CNH | 337,294 | USD | 51,000 | 09/01/16 | 50,063 | (937 | ) | |||||||||||||
COP | 163,710,000 | USD | 51,988 | 01/12/16 | 51,534 | (454 | ) | |||||||||||||
COP | 248,985,900 | USD | 81,355 | 01/27/16 | 78,253 | (3,102 | ) | |||||||||||||
KRW | 120,819,000 | USD | 103,000 | 01/19/16 | 102,749 | (251 | ) | |||||||||||||
MXN | 2,677,282 | USD | 156,000 | 03/16/16 | 154,542 | (1,458 | ) | |||||||||||||
MYR | 217,337 | USD | 50,667 | 01/04/16 | 50,620 | (47 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 6,640,500 | USD | 95,000 | 01/21/16 | 90,552 | (4,448 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 97,057 | BRL | 391,555 | 02/02/16 | 97,967 | (910 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 41,000 | CLP | 29,089,500 | 01/12/16 | 41,020 | (20 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 42,773 | COP | 143,180,408 | 01/21/16 | 45,029 | (2,256 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 43,503 | IDR | 604,872,238 | 01/04/16 | 43,879 | (376 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 50,301 | IDR | 697,680,000 | 01/11/16 | 50,487 | (186 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 50,423 | IDR | 712,980,000 | 01/22/16 | 51,328 | (905 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | JPY | 6,369,844 | 03/16/16 | 53,087 | (1,087 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 150,921 | KRW | 177,633,623 | 01/08/16 | 151,320 | (399 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 78,175 | SEK | 679,000 | 01/15/16 | 80,460 | (2,285 | ) | |||||||||||||
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. | CAD | 110,132 | USD | 82,909 | 01/07/16 | 79,592 | (3,317 | ) | ||||||||||||
Morgan Stanley Co., Inc. | BRL | 599,554 | USD | 155,000 | 01/05/16 | 151,546 | (3,454 | ) | ||||||||||||
EUR | 51,696 | USD | 56,377 | 02/10/16 | 56,232 | (145 | ) | |||||||||||||
GBP | 122,000 | USD | 184,502 | 01/13/16 | 179,857 | (4,645 | ) | |||||||||||||
MXN | 4,180,541 | USD | 244,385 | 03/16/16 | 241,315 | (3,070 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 8,321,547 | USD | 124,314 | 01/14/16 | 113,697 | (10,617 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 3,579,778 | USD | 50,596 | 01/19/16 | 48,842 | (1,754 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 6,597,154 | USD | 92,722 | 02/03/16 | 89,635 | (3,087 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 52,010 | AUD | 73,057 | 03/16/16 | 53,047 | (1,037 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 51,662 | BRL | 204,891 | 01/05/16 | 51,789 | (127 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 104,000 | BRL | 419,536 | 02/02/16 | 104,968 | (968 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 49,749 | IDR | 693,600,000 | 01/19/16 | 50,004 | (255 | ) | |||||||||||||
Royal Bank of Canada | CAD | 209,104 | EUR | 141,380 | 03/16/16 | 151,149 | (2,778 | ) | ||||||||||||
CAD | 75,340 | USD | 55,582 | 03/16/16 | 54,458 | (1,124 | ) | |||||||||||||
EUR | 20,904 | USD | 22,900 | 03/16/16 | 22,759 | (141 | ) | |||||||||||||
MXN | 4,930,137 | USD | 290,739 | 03/16/16 | 284,584 | (6,155 | ) | |||||||||||||
Royal Bank of Scotland | MXN | 3,591,753 | USD | 215,602 | 03/16/16 | 207,328 | (8,274 | ) | ||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | COP | 172,809,416 | 01/19/16 | 54,358 | (2,358 | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 19 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION (continued)
FORWARD FOREIGN CURRENCY EXCHANGE CONTRACTS WITH UNREALIZED LOSS (continued)
Counterparty | Currency Purchased | Currency Sold | Settlement Date | Current Value | Unrealized Loss | |||||||||||||||
State Street Bank | AUD | 67,849 | USD | 49,415 | 01/22/16 | $ | 49,399 | $ | (16 | ) | ||||||||||
CAD | 284,251 | USD | 208,000 | 03/16/16 | 205,468 | (2,532 | ) | |||||||||||||
KRW | 119,997,060 | USD | 103,000 | 01/15/16 | 102,059 | (941 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 154,691 | AUD | 215,000 | 03/16/16 | 156,111 | (1,420 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 190,683 | NZD | 286,299 | 03/16/16 | 194,954 | (4,271 | ) | |||||||||||||
UBS AG | BRL | 391,370 | USD | 102,999 | 01/05/16 | 98,924 | (4,075 | ) | ||||||||||||
CNH | 1,376,528 | USD | 207,999 | 03/16/16 | 207,369 | (630 | ) | |||||||||||||
EUR | 48,000 | PLN | 207,215 | 03/16/16 | 52,260 | (491 | ) | |||||||||||||
EUR | 101,004 | USD | 110,558 | 03/16/16 | 109,968 | (590 | ) | |||||||||||||
IDR | 604,872,237 | USD | 44,135 | 01/04/16 | 43,879 | (256 | ) | |||||||||||||
MXN | 3,967,662 | USD | 238,951 | 03/16/16 | 229,027 | (9,924 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 6,873,780 | USD | 102,000 | 01/12/16 | 93,968 | (8,032 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 6,634,280 | USD | 100,900 | 01/14/16 | 90,644 | (10,256 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 3,312,960 | USD | 46,774 | 01/19/16 | 45,202 | (1,572 | ) | |||||||||||||
RUB | 2,782,508 | USD | 39,456 | 02/11/16 | 37,728 | (1,728 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 43,850 | IDR | 604,872,237 | 01/04/16 | 43,879 | (29 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 51,250 | IDR | 718,779,440 | 01/08/16 | 52,079 | (829 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 94,380 | JPY | 11,609,006 | 03/16/16 | 96,751 | (2,371 | ) | |||||||||||||
USD | 52,000 | TWD | 1,717,820 | 01/21/16 | 52,069 | (69 | ) | |||||||||||||
ZAR | 794,768 | USD | 52,000 | 03/16/16 | 50,709 | (1,291 | ) | |||||||||||||
Westpac Banking Corp. | USD | 59,679 | NZD | 90,000 | 01/22/16 | 61,484 | (1,805 | ) | ||||||||||||
TOTAL | $ | (195,152 | ) |
FUTURES CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following futures contracts:
Type | Number of Contracts Long (Short) | Expiration Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||||||
Euro-Bobl | 3 | March 2016 | $ | 426,017 | $ | 255 | ||||||
U.S. Long Bond | (6) | March 2016 | (922,500 | ) | 2,346 | |||||||
U.S. Ultra Long Treasury Bonds | (2) | March 2016 | (317,375 | ) | (1,517 | ) | ||||||
2 Year U.S. Treasury Notes | (9) | March 2016 | (1,955,109 | ) | 2,390 | |||||||
5 Year U.S. Treasury Notes | (1) | March 2016 | (118,320 | ) | 366 | |||||||
10 Year U.S. Treasury Notes | (15) | March 2016 | (1,888,594 | ) | 8,063 | |||||||
TOTAL | $ | 11,903 |
20 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION (continued)
SWAP CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following swap contracts:
CENTRALLY CLEARED CREDIT DEFAULT SWAP CONTRACTS
Market Value | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Referenced Obligation | Notional Amount (000’s) | Rates Received (Paid) | Termination Date | Credit Spread on | Upfront Payments Made (Received) | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||||||||||||||||
Protection Purchased: |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
CDX North America High Yield Index | $ | 1,700 | (5.000 | )% | 12/20/20 | 4.726 | % | $ | (7,163 | ) | $ | (12,214 | ) | |||||||||||
Protection Sold: |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
CDX North America Investment Grade Index | 5,175 | 1.000 | 12/20/20 | 0.885 | (a) | 29,538 | (825 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
TOTAL | $ | 22,375 | $ | (13,039 | ) |
(a) | Credit spread on the Referenced Obligation, together with the period of expiration, are indicators of payment/performance risk. The likelihood of a credit event occurring which would require a fund to make a payment or otherwise be required to perform under the swap contract is generally greater as the credit spread and term of the swap contract increase. |
OVER THE COUNTER CREDIT DEFAULT SWAP CONTRACTS
Market Value | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Counterparty | Referenced Obligation | Notional Amount (000’s) | Rates Received (Paid) | Termination Date | Credit Spread on | Upfront Payments Made (Received) | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | |||||||||||||||||||
Protection Purchased: |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bank of America, N.A. | People’s Republic of China, 4.250%, 10/28/27 | $ | 210 | (1.000 | )% | 06/20/19 | 0.786 | % | $ | (931 | ) | $ | (685 | ) | ||||||||||||
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. | People’s Republic of China, 4.250%, 10/28/27 | 1,250 | (1.000 | ) | 06/20/19 | 0.786 | (4,169 | ) | (5,451 | ) | ||||||||||||||||
TOTAL | $ | (5,100 | ) | $ | (6,136 | ) |
CENTRALLY CLEARED INTEREST RATE SWAP CONTRACTS
Rates Exchanged | Market Value | |||||||||||||||
Notional (000’s) | Termination Date | Payments Received | Payments Made | Upfront Made (Received) | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | |||||||||||
GBP | 460 | (a) | 01/04/18 | 3 Month LIBOR | 0.845% | $ | 689 | $ | 1,066 | |||||||
CAD | 1,900 | (a) | 03/16/18 | 1.250% | 3 Month BA | 10,597 | 322 | |||||||||
GBP | 1,960 | (a) | 03/16/18 | 6 Month LIBOR | 1.500 | (23,620 | ) | 5,533 | ||||||||
SEK | 29,250 | (a) | 03/16/18 | 0.050 | 3 Month STIBOR | 12,935 | (5,572 | ) | ||||||||
$ | 860 | (a) | 03/16/18 | 1.500 | 3 Month LIBOR | 5,189 | (1,524 | ) | ||||||||
AUD | 5,730 | 12/07/18 | 2.250 | 3 Month BBR | 3,083 | (2,323 | ) | |||||||||
EUR | 1,540 | (a) | 03/16/19 | 0.250 | 6 Month EURIBOR | 9,379 | (1,091 | ) | ||||||||
$ | 1,900 | (a) | 03/16/19 | 3 Month LIBOR | 1.750 | (19,161 | ) | 5,542 | ||||||||
PLN | 90 | 06/17/19 | 3.048 | 6 Month WIBOR | 471 | 855 | ||||||||||
90 | 06/17/19 | 6 Month WIBOR | 3.045 | — | (1,323 | ) | ||||||||||
AUD | 840 | (a) | 03/16/21 | 2.500 | 6 Month BBR | (3,218 | ) | (969 | ) |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 21 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION (continued)
CENTRALLY CLEARED INTEREST RATE SWAP CONTRACTS (continued)
Rates Exchanged | Market Value | |||||||||||||||||
Notional (000’s) | Termination Date | Payments Received | Payments Made | Upfront Made (Received) | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | |||||||||||||
CAD | 1,960 | (a) | 03/16/21 | 1.750% | 3 Month BA | $ | 30,469 | $ | 6,048 | |||||||||
EUR | 1,740 | (a) | 03/16/21 | 6 Month EURIBOR | 0.500% | (18,057 | ) | 6,124 | ||||||||||
SEK | 11,320 | (a) | 03/16/21 | 3 Month STIBOR | 0.750 | (4,655 | ) | 8,909 | ||||||||||
$ | 4,300 | (a) | 03/16/21 | 3 Month LIBOR | 2.000 | (61,327 | ) | 19,101 | ||||||||||
1,250 | (a) | 03/16/23 | 3 Month LIBOR | 2.250 | (24,364 | ) | 4,420 | |||||||||||
EUR | 4,680 | (a) | 05/11/25 | 1.568 | 6 Month EURIBOR | (6,695 | ) | 13,069 | ||||||||||
1,630 | (a) | 09/16/25 | 2.000 | 6 Month EURIBOR | 14,180 | 17,855 | ||||||||||||
GBP | 1,290 | (a) | 09/16/25 | 6 Month LIBOR | 2.750 | (21,386 | ) | (5,542 | ) | |||||||||
AUD | 1,680 | (a) | 03/16/26 | 3.000 | 6 Month BBR | (13,522 | ) | 1,481 | ||||||||||
EUR | 4,230 | (a) | 03/16/26 | 1.000 | 6 Month EURIBOR | 19,429 | (35,826 | ) | ||||||||||
GBP | 270 | (a) | 03/16/26 | 6 Month LIBOR | 2.250 | (12,230 | ) | 4,495 | ||||||||||
JPY | 139,180 | (a) | 03/16/26 | 0.500 | 6 Month LIBOR | 1,553 | 5,329 | |||||||||||
NZD | 440 | (a) | 03/16/26 | 3 Month BBR | 3.500 | 3,693 | 3,376 | |||||||||||
SEK | 7,230 | (a) | 03/16/26 | 3 Month STIBOR | 1.500 | 7,299 | 8,332 | |||||||||||
$ | 3,220 | (a) | 03/16/26 | 3 Month LIBOR | 2.500 | (96,027 | ) | 16,907 | ||||||||||
EUR | 1,500 | (a) | 03/17/26 | 1.500 | 6 Month EURIBOR | (17,684 | ) | (408 | ) | |||||||||
$ | 1,600 | (a) | 03/17/26 | 3 Month LIBOR | 2.500 | 19,421 | (4,406 | ) | ||||||||||
EUR | 1,810 | (a) | 05/11/35 | 6 Month EURIBOR | 1.695 | 36,844 | 39,544 | |||||||||||
GBP | 100 | 06/08/37 | 6 Month LIBOR | 2.100 | (5,253 | ) | 7,750 | |||||||||||
830 | (a) | 03/16/46 | 6 Month LIBOR | 2.250 | (61,055 | ) | 38,563 | |||||||||||
TOTAL | $ | (213,023 | ) | $ | 155,637 |
(a) | Represents forward starting interest rate swaps whose effective dates of commencement of accruals and cash flows occur subsequent to December 31, 2015. |
OVER THE COUNTER INTEREST RATE SWAP CONTRACTS
Rates Exchanged | ||||||||||||||
Counterparty | Notional (000’s) | Termination Date | Payments Received | Payments Made | Unrealized Gain (Loss)(b) | |||||||||
Bank of America, N.A. | BRL | 3,396 | 01/02/17 | 15.530% | 1 Day CDI | $ | (1,143 | ) | ||||||
KRW | 290,710 | 11/04/17 | 2.060 | 3 Month CD KSDA | 2,281 | |||||||||
593,840 | 08/06/24 | 3 Month CD KSDA | 2.970% | (46,209 | ) | |||||||||
Deutsche Bank AG | BRL | 762 | 01/02/17 | 15.697 | 1 Day CDI | 303 | ||||||||
KRW | 142,230 | 10/06/17 | 2.245 | 3 Month CD KSDA | 1,555 | |||||||||
209,280 | 10/15/17 | 2.253 | 3 Month CD KSDA | 2,317 | ||||||||||
173,640 | 11/04/17 | 2.075 | 3 Month CD KSDA | 1,407 | ||||||||||
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. | KRW | 1,612,725 | 07/29/17 | 1.630 | 3 Month CD KSDA | 760 | ||||||||
TOTAL | $ | (38,729 | ) |
(b) | There are no upfront payments on the swap contracts listed above, therefore the unrealized gains (losses) on the swap contracts are equal to their market value. |
22 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (cost $30,026,426) | $ | 29,094,885 | ||
Investments in affiliated issuer, at value (cost $2,716,785) | 2,716,785 | |||
Cash | 340,526 | |||
Foreign currencies, at value (cost $60,249) | 59,667 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Fund shares sold | 1,352,709 | |||
Collateral on certain derivative contracts(a) | 485,181 | |||
Interest and dividends | 216,011 | |||
Reimbursement from investment adviser | 16,372 | |||
Investments sold on an extended-settlement basis | 14,924 | |||
Unrealized gain on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 175,054 | |||
Unrealized gain on swap contracts | 8,623 | |||
Total assets | 34,480,737 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Unrealized loss on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 195,152 | |||
Unrealized loss on swap contracts | 53,488 | |||
Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | 32,800 | |||
Payables: | ||||
Investments purchased on an extended-settlement basis | 386,987 | |||
Management fees | 15,750 | |||
Upfront payments received on swap contracts | 5,100 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 2,348 | |||
Fund shares redeemed | 711 | |||
Accrued expenses | 76,194 | |||
Total liabilities | 768,530 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 35,683,362 | |||
Undistributed net investment income | 97,298 | |||
Accumulated net realized loss | (1,224,278 | ) | ||
Net unrealized loss | (844,175 | ) | ||
NET ASSETS | $ | 33,712,207 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional | $ | 28,036,352 | ||
Service | 9,716 | |||
Advisor | 5,666,139 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 33,712,207 | ||
Shares outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional | 3,029,473 | |||
Service | 1,050 | |||
Advisor | 613,633 | |||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||
Institutional | $9.25 | |||
Service | 9.25 | |||
Advisor | 9.23 |
(a) Includes amounts segregated for initial margin and/or collateral on future transactions and swap transactions of $66,832 and $418,349, respectively.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 23 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Statement of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Investment income: | ||||
Interest | $ | 730,302 | ||
Dividends — affiliated issuers | 497 | |||
Total investment income | 730,799 | |||
Expenses: | ||||
Management fees | 170,208 | |||
Professional fees | 134,797 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 89,080 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 48,215 | |||
Offering costs | 41,397 | |||
Trustee fees | 23,879 | |||
Distribution and Service fees(a) | 13,837 | |||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 5,672 | |||
Other | 5,517 | |||
Total expenses | 532,602 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (273,796 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 258,806 | |||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 471,993 | |||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||
Net realized gain (loss) from: | ||||
Investments | (636,301 | ) | ||
Futures contracts | (109,144 | ) | ||
Swap contracts | (83,016 | ) | ||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 688,487 | |||
Foreign currency transactions | (35,232 | ) | ||
Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on: | ||||
Investments | (810,994 | ) | ||
Futures contracts | 28,610 | |||
Swap contracts | 119,687 | |||
Forward foreign currency exchange contracts | (186,867 | ) | ||
Foreign currency translation | 2,456 | |||
Net realized and unrealized loss | (1,022,314 | ) | ||
NET DECREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | (550,321 | ) |
(a) Class specific Distribution and Service, and Transfer Agency fees were as follows:
Distribution and Service Fees | Transfer Agency Fees | |||||||||||||||||
Service | Advisor | Institutional | Service | Advisor | ||||||||||||||
$ | 26 | $ | 13,811 | $ | 4,978 | $ | 4 | $ | 690 |
24 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Statements of Changes in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Period Ended | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 471,993 | $ | 164,747 | ||||
Net realized loss | (175,206 | ) | (280,585 | ) | ||||
Net change in unrealized gain (loss) | (847,108 | ) | 2,933 | |||||
Net decrease in net assets resulting from operations | (550,321 | ) | (112,905 | ) | ||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (743,475 | ) | (454,918 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (250 | ) | (229 | ) | ||||
Advisor Shares | (97,996 | ) | (23,752 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (841,721 | ) | (478,899 | ) | ||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 16,426,940 | 20,054,257 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 841,721 | 478,899 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (1,527,322 | ) | (578,442 | ) | ||||
Net increase in net assets resulting from share transactions | 15,741,339 | 19,954,714 | ||||||
TOTAL INCREASE | 14,349,297 | 19,362,910 | ||||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 19,362,910 | — | ||||||
End of year | $ | 33,712,207 | $ | 19,362,910 | ||||
Undistributed net investment income | $ | 97,298 | $ | 62,465 |
(a) Commenced operations on April 14, 2014.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 25 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Period
Income (loss) from investment operations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of period | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized loss | Total from investment operations | Distributions to from net | Net asset value, end of period | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of period (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 9.70 | $ | 0.16 | $ | (0.34 | ) | $ | (0.18 | ) | $ | (0.27 | ) | $ | 9.25 | (1.81 | )% | $ | 28,036 | 0.86 | % | 1.82 | % | 1.71 | % | 176 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 9.70 | 0.14 | (0.35 | ) | (0.21 | ) | (0.24 | ) | 9.25 | (2.16 | ) | 10 | 1.14 | 2.09 | 1.44 | 176 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Advisor | 9.69 | 0.13 | (0.36 | ) | (0.23 | ) | (0.23 | ) | 9.23 | (2.25 | ) | 5,666 | 1.26 | 2.26 | 1.35 | 176 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE PERIOD ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional (Commenced April 14, 2014) | 10.00 | 0.09 | (0.14 | ) | (0.05 | ) | (0.25 | ) | 9.70 | (0.51 | ) | 18,180 | 0.86 | (d) | 2.77 | (d) | 1.23 | (d) | 157 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service (Commenced April 14, 2014) | 10.00 | 0.07 | (0.14 | ) | (0.07 | ) | (0.23 | ) | 9.70 | (0.70 | ) | 10 | 1.13 | (d) | 3.05 | (d) | 0.96 | (d) | 157 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Advisor (Commenced April 14, 2014) | 10.00 | 0.09 | (0.17 | ) | (0.08 | ) | (0.23 | ) | 9.69 | (0.79 | ) | 1,173 | 1.26 | (d) | 2.64 | (d) | 1.30 | (d) | 157 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the period. Total returns for periods less than one full year are not annualized. |
(c) | The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments and certain derivatives. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Annualized. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 26 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is a diversified Portfolio under the Act offering three classes of shares — Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. The Fund commenced operations on April 14, 2014.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Fund’s valuation policy is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments.
For derivative contracts, realized gains and losses are recorded upon settlement of the contract. Upfront payments, if any, are made or received upon entering into a swap agreement and are reflected in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. Upfront payments are recognized over the contract’s term/event as realized gains or losses, with the exception of forward starting interest rate swaps whose realized gains or losses are recognized from the effective start date. For securities with paydown provisions, principal payments received are treated as a proportionate reduction to the cost basis of the securities, and excess or shortfall amounts are recorded as income. For treasury inflation protected securities (“TIPS”), adjustments to principal due to inflation/deflation are reflected as increases/decreases to interest income with a corresponding adjustment to cost.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Fund are charged to that Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
D. Offering Costs — Offering costs paid in connection with the offering of shares of the Fund were amortized on a straight-line basis over 12 months from the date of commencement of operations.
E. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income distributions are declared and paid quarterly and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Fund’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
F. Foreign Currency Translation — The accounting records and reporting currency of the Fund are maintained in United States (“U.S.”) dollars. Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars using the current exchange rates at the close of each business day. The effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on investments is included within net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments. Changes in the value of other assets and liabilities as a result of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates are included in the Statement of Operations within net change in unrealized gain (loss) on foreign currency translations. Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars on the date the transaction occurred, the effects of which are included within net realized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions.
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Fund’s policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Fund, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Fund’s portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
28
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Money Market Funds — Investments in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund (“Underlying Fund”) are valued at the NAV of the FST Share class on the day of valuation. These investments are generally classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. For information regarding an Underlying Fund’s accounting policies and investment holdings, please see the Underlying Fund’s shareholder report.
Debt Securities — Debt securities for which market quotations are readily available are valued daily on the basis of quotations supplied by dealers or an independent pricing service approved by the Trustees. The pricing services may use valuation models or matrix pricing, which consider: (i) yield or price with respect to bonds that are considered comparable in characteristics such as rating, interest rate and maturity date or (ii) quotations from securities dealers to determine current value. Short-term debt obligations that mature in sixty days or less and that do not exhibit signs of credit deterioration are valued at amortized cost, which approximates fair value. With the exception of treasury securities of G8 countries (not held in money market funds), which are generally classified as Level 1, these investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
i. Bank Loans — Bank Loans (“Loans”) are interests in amounts owed by corporate, governmental, or other borrowers to lenders or lending syndicates. Loans are arranged through private negotiations between the borrower and one or more financial institutions (“Lenders”). The Fund’s investments in Loans are in the form of either participation in Loans (“Participations”) or assignments of all or a portion of Loans from third parties (“Assignments”). With respect to Participations, the Fund has the right to receive payments of principal, interest and any fees to which it is entitled from the Lender selling the Participations and only upon receipt by the Lender of the payments from the borrower. The Fund generally has no right to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement with respect to Participations. Conversely, Assignments result in the Fund having a direct contractual relationship with the borrower, and the Fund may be permitted to enforce compliance by the borrower with the terms of the loan agreement.
ii. Inverse Floaters — The interest rate on inverse floating rate securities (“inverse floaters”) resets in the opposite direction from the market rate of interest to which the inverse floaters are indexed. An inverse floater may be considered to be leveraged to the extent that its interest rate varies by a magnitude that exceeds the magnitude of the change in the index rate of interest. The higher the degree of leverage of an inverse floater, the greater the volatility of its market value.
iii. Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities — Mortgage-backed securities represent direct or indirect participations in, or are collateralized by and payable from, mortgage loans secured by residential and/or commercial real estate property. Asset-backed securities include securities whose principal and interest payments are collateralized by pools of other assets or receivables. The value of certain mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities (including adjustable rate mortgage loans) may be particularly sensitive to changes in prevailing interest rates. The value of these securities may also fluctuate in response to the market’s perception of the creditworthiness of the issuers.
Asset-backed securities may present credit risks that are not presented by mortgage-backed securities because they generally do not have the benefit of a security interest in collateral that is comparable to mortgage assets. Some asset-backed securities may only have a subordinated claim on collateral.
Stripped mortgage-backed securities are usually structured with two different classes: one that receives substantially all interest payments (interest-only, or “IO” and/or high coupon rate with relatively low principal amount, or “IOette”), and the other that receives substantially all principal payments (principal-only, or “PO”) from a pool of mortgage loans. Little to no principal will be received at the maturity of an IO; as a result, periodic adjustments are recorded to reduce the cost of the security until maturity. These adjustments are included in interest income.
iv. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities — TIPS are treasury securities in which the principal amount is adjusted daily to keep pace with inflation, as measured by the U.S. Consumer Pricing Index for Urban Consumers. The repayment of the original bond principal upon maturity is guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government.
29
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
v. When-Issued Securities and Forward Commitments — When-issued securities, including TBA (“To Be Announced”) securities, are securities that are authorized but not yet issued in the market and purchased in order to secure what is considered to be an advantageous price or yield to a Fund. A forward commitment involves entering into a contract to purchase or sell securities, typically on an extended settlement basis, for a fixed price at a future date. The purchase of securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis involves a risk of loss if the value of the security to be purchased declines before the settlement date. Conversely the sale of securities on a forward commitment basis involves the risk that the value of the securities sold may increase before the settlement date. Although a Fund will generally purchase securities on a when-issued or forward commitment basis with the intention of acquiring the securities for its portfolio, the Fund may dispose of when-issued securities or forward commitments prior to settlement, which may result in a realized gain or loss.
Derivative Contracts — A derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from underlying assets, indices, reference rates or a combination of these factors. The Fund enters into derivative transactions to hedge against changes in interest rates, securities prices, and/or currency exchange rates, to increase total return, or to gain access to certain markets or attain exposure to other underliers.
Exchange-traded derivatives, including futures and options contracts, are valued at the last sale or settlement price and typically fall within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Over-the-counter (“OTC”) and centrally cleared derivatives are valued using market transactions and other market evidence, including market-based inputs to models, calibration to market-clearing transactions, broker or dealer quotations, or other alternative pricing sources. Where models are used, the selection of a particular model to value OTC and centrally cleared derivatives depends upon the contractual terms of, and specific risks inherent in, the instrument, as well as the availability of pricing information in the market. Valuation models require a variety of inputs, including contractual terms, market prices, yield curves, credit curves, measures of volatility, voluntary and involuntary prepayment rates, loss severity rates and correlations of such inputs. For OTC and centrally cleared derivatives that trade in liquid markets, model inputs can generally be verified and model selection does not involve significant management judgment. OTC and centrally cleared derivatives are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy when significant inputs are corroborated by market evidence.
i. Forward Contracts — A forward contract is a contract between two parties to buy or sell an asset at a specified price on a future date. A forward contract settlement can occur on a cash or delivery basis. Forward contracts are marked-to-market daily using independent vendor prices, and the change in value, if any, is recorded as an unrealized gain or loss. Cash and certain investments may be used to collateralize forward contracts.
A forward foreign currency contract is a forward contract in which a Fund agrees to receive or deliver a fixed quantity of one currency for another, at a pre-determined price at a future date. All forward foreign currency exchange contracts are marked-to-market daily at the applicable forward rate. Non-deliverable forward foreign currency exchange contracts are settled with the counterparty in cash without the delivery of foreign currency.
ii. Futures Contracts — Futures contracts are contracts to buy or sell a standardized quantity of a specified commodity or security and are valued based on exchanged settlement prices or independent market quotes. Futures contracts are valued at the last settlement price, or in the absence of a sale, the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions, at the end of each day on the board of trade or exchange upon which they are traded. Upon entering into a futures contract, a Fund deposits cash or securities in an account on behalf of the broker in an amount sufficient to meet the initial margin requirement. Subsequent payments are made or received by the Fund equal to the daily change in the contract value and are recorded as variation margin receivable or payable with a corresponding offset to unrealized gains or losses.
iii. Options — When a Fund writes call or put options, an amount equal to the premium received is recorded as a liability and is subsequently marked-to-market to reflect the current value of the option written. Swaptions are options on interest rate swap contracts.
30
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
Upon the purchase of a call option or a put option by a Fund, the premium paid is recorded as an investment and subsequently marked-to-market to reflect the current value of the option. Certain options may be purchased with premiums to be determined on a future date. The premiums for these options are based upon implied volatility parameters at specified terms.
iv. Swap Contracts — Bilateral swap contracts are agreements in which a Fund and a counterparty agree to exchange periodic payments on a specified notional amount or make a net payment upon termination. Bilateral swap transactions are privately negotiated in the OTC market and payments are settled through direct payments between a Fund and the counterparty. By contrast, certain swap transactions are subject to mandatory central clearing. These swaps are executed through a derivatives clearing member (“DCM”), acting in an agency capacity, and submitted to a central counterparty (“CCP”) (“centrally cleared swaps”), in which case all payments are settled with the CCP through the DCM. Swaps are marked-to-market daily using pricing vendor quotations, counterparty or clearinghouse prices or model prices, and the change in value, if any, is recorded as an unrealized gain or loss. Upon entering into a swap contract, a Fund is required to satisfy an initial margin requirement by delivering cash or securities to the counterparty (or in some cases, segregated in a triparty account on behalf of the counterparty), which can be adjusted by any mark-to-market gains or losses pursuant to bilateral or centrally cleared arrangements. For centrally cleared swaps the daily change in valuation, if any, is recorded as a receivable or payable for variation margin.
An interest rate swap is an agreement that obligates two parties to exchange a series of cash flows at specified intervals, based upon or calculated by reference to changes in interest rates on a specified notional principal amount. The payment flows are usually netted against each other, with the difference being paid by one party to the other.
A credit default swap is an agreement that involves one party (the buyer of protection) making a stream of payments to another party (the seller of protection) in exchange for the right to receive protection on a reference security or obligation, including a group of assets or exposure to the performance of an index. A Fund’s investment in credit default swaps may involve greater risks than if the Fund had invested in the referenced obligation directly. Credit events are contract specific but may include bankruptcy, failure to pay, restructuring and obligation acceleration. If a Fund buys protection through a credit default swap and no credit event occurs, its payments are limited to the periodic payments previously made to the counterparty. Upon the occurrence of a specified credit event, a Fund, as a buyer of credit protection, is entitled to receive an amount equal to the notional amount of the swap and deliver to the seller the defaulted reference obligation in a physically settled trade. A Fund may also receive a net settlement amount in the form of cash or securities equal to the notional amount of the swap reduced by the recovery value of the reference obligation in a cash settled trade.
As a seller of protection, a Fund generally receives a payment stream throughout the term of the swap, provided that there is no credit event. In addition, if a Fund sells protection through a credit default swap, a Fund could suffer a loss because the value of the referenced obligation and the premium payments received may be less than the notional amount of the swap paid to the buyer of protection. Upon the occurrence of a specified credit event, a Fund, as a seller of credit protection, may be required to take possession of the defaulted reference obligation and pay the buyer an amount equal to the notional amount of the swap in a physically settled trade. A Fund may also pay a net settlement amount in the form of cash or securities equal to the notional amount of the swap reduced by the recovery value of the reference obligation in cash settled trade. Recovery values are at times established through the credit event auction process in which market participants are ensured that a transparent price has been set for the defaulted security or obligation. In addition, a Fund is entitled to a return of any assets, which have been pledged as collateral to the counterparty upon settlement.
The maximum potential amount of future payments (undiscounted) that a Fund as seller of protection could be required to make under a credit default swap would be an amount equal to the notional amount of the agreement. These potential amounts would be partially offset by any recovery values of the respective referenced obligations or net amounts received from a settlement of a credit default swap for the same reference security or obligation where a Fund bought credit protection.
Short Term Investments — Short-term investments having a maturity of 60 days or less are generally valued at amortized cost which approximates fair market value. These investments are classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
31
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAM believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Fund’s investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAM, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Fund’s investments and derivatives classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Fixed Income | ||||||||||||
Corporate Obligations | $ | — | $ | 5,418,152 | $ | — | ||||||
Mortgage-Backed Obligations | — | 3,034,593 | — | |||||||||
U.S. Treasury Obligations and/or Other U.S. Government Agencies | 7,532,367 | — | — | |||||||||
Asset-Backed Securities | — | 5,474,961 | — | |||||||||
Foreign Debt Obligations | 384,922 | 5,007,233 | — | |||||||||
Municipal Debt Obligations | — | 522,287 | — | |||||||||
Government Guarantee Obligation | — | 218,107 | — | |||||||||
Bank Loan Obligations | — | 1,215,528 | 36,899 | |||||||||
Commercial Paper | — | 249,836 | — | |||||||||
Investment Company | 2,716,785 | — | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 10,634,074 | $ | 21,140,697 | $ | 36,899 | ||||||
Derivative Type | ||||||||||||
Assets(a) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | 13,420 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | — | 175,054 | — | |||||||||
Interest Rate Swaps Contracts | — | 223,244 | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 13,420 | $ | 398,298 | $ | — | ||||||
Liabilities(a) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | (1,517 | ) | $ | — | $ | — | |||||
Forward Foreign Currency Exchange Contracts | — | (195,152 | ) | — | ||||||||
Credit Default Swaps Contracts | — | (19,175 | ) | — | ||||||||
Interest Rate Swaps Contracts | — | (106,336 | ) | — | ||||||||
Total | $ | (1,517 | ) | $ | (320,663 | ) | $ | — |
(a) | Amount shown represents unrealized gain (loss) at fiscal year end. |
For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Schedule of Investments.
32
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
4. INVESTMENTS IN DERIVATIVES
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the gross value of derivative contracts as of December 31, 2015. These instruments were used as part of the Fund’s investment strategies and to obtain and/or manage exposure related to the risks below. The values in the table below exclude the effects of cash collateral received or posted pursuant to these derivative contracts, and therefore are not representative of the Fund’s net exposure.
Risk | Statement of Assets and Liabilities | Assets | Statement of Assets and Liabilities | Liabilities | ||||||||||
Credit | — | $ | — | Payable for unrealized loss on swap contracts and variation margin on certain derivative contracts | $ | (19,175 | )(a) | |||||||
Currency | Receivable for unrealized gain on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 175,054 | Payable for unrealized loss on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | (195,152 | ) | |||||||||
Interest Rate | Receivable for unrealized gain on swap contracts and variation margin on certain derivative contracts | 236,664 | Payable for unrealized loss on swap contracts and variation margin on certain derivative contracts | (107,853 | )(a) | |||||||||
Total | $ | 411,718 | $ | (322,180 | ) |
(a) | Includes unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts and centrally cleared swap contracts described in the Additional Investment Information sections of the Schedule of Investments. Only current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. |
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the Fund’s gains (losses) related to these derivatives and their indicative volumes for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. These gains (losses) should be considered in the context that these derivative contracts may have been executed to create investment opportunities and/or economically hedge certain investments, and accordingly, certain gains (losses) on such derivative contracts may offset certain (losses) gains attributable to investments. These gains (losses) are included in “Net realized gain (loss)” or “Net change in unrealized gain (loss)” on the Statement of Operations:
Risk | Statement of Operations | Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Net Change in Unrealized Gain (Loss) | Average Number of Contracts(a) | ||||||||||
Credit | Net realized gain (loss) from swap contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on swap contracts | $ | (25,285 | ) | $ | (39,769 | ) | 6 | ||||||
Currency | Net realized gain (loss) from forward foreign currency exchange contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on forward foreign currency exchange contracts | 688,487 | (186,867 | ) | 311 | |||||||||
Interest Rate | Net realized gain (loss) from future contracts, investments and swap contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on future contracts and swap contracts | (217,073 | ) | 188,066 | 93 | |||||||||
Total | $ | 446,129 | $ | (38,570 | ) | 410 |
(a) | Average number of contracts is based on the average of month end balances for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. |
In order to better define its contractual rights and to secure rights that will help a Fund mitigate its counterparty risk, a Fund may enter into an International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. Master Agreement (“ISDA Master Agreement”) or similar agreement with its derivatives counterparties. An ISDA Master Agreement is a bilateral agreement between a Fund and a counterparty that governs OTC derivatives (including forward foreign currency exchange contracts, and certain options and swaps), and typically contains, among other things, collateral posting terms and netting provisions in the event of a default and/or termination event. The provisions of the ISDA Master Agreement typically permit a single net payment in the event of a default (close-out netting) or similar event, including the bankruptcy or insolvency of the counterparty.
Collateral and margin requirements differ between exchange traded derivatives and OTC derivatives. Margin requirements are established by the broker or clearing house for exchange-traded and centrally cleared derivatives (financial futures contracts, options and centrally cleared swaps) pursuant to governing agreements for those instrument types. Brokers can ask for margin in
33
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
4. INVESTMENTS IN DERIVATIVES (continued)
excess of the minimum in certain circumstances. Collateral terms are contract-specific for OTC derivatives. For derivatives traded under an ISDA Master Agreement, the collateral requirements are typically calculated by netting the marked to market amount for each transaction under such agreement and comparing that amount to the value of any collateral currently pledged by a Fund and the counterparty. Additionally, a Fund may be required to post initial margin to the counterparty, the terms of which would be outlined in the confirmation of the OTC transaction.
For financial reporting purposes, cash collateral that has been pledged to cover obligations of a Fund and cash collateral received from the counterparty, if any, is reported separately on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities as receivables/payables for collateral on certain derivative contracts. Non-cash collateral pledged by a Fund, if any, is noted in the Schedule of Investments. Generally, the amount of collateral due from or to a counterparty must exceed a minimum transfer amount threshold before a transfer is required to be made. To the extent amounts due to a Fund from its counterparties are not fully collateralized, contractually or otherwise, the Fund bears the risk of loss from counterparty nonperformance. A Fund attempts to mitigate counterparty risk by only entering into agreements with counterparties that the Investment Adviser believes to be of good standing and by monitoring the financial stability of those counterparties.
Additionally, the netting of assets and liabilities and the offsetting of collateral pledged or received are based on contractual netting/set-off provisions in the ISDA Master Agreement or similar agreements. However, in the event of a default or insolvency of a counterparty, a court could determine that such rights are not enforceable due to the restrictions or prohibitions against the right of setoff that may be imposed in accordance with a particular jurisdiction’s bankruptcy or insolvency laws.
The following table sets forth the Fund’s net exposure for derivative instruments that are subject to enforceable master netting arrangements or similar agreements as of December 31, 2015.
Derivative Assets(1) | Derivative Liabilities(1) |
|
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Counterparty | Forwards | Swaps | Swaps | Forwards | Net Derivative Assets (Liabilities) | Collateral (Received) Pledged(1) | Net Amount(2) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Bank of America, N.A. | $ | 16,416 | $ | 2,281 | $ | (48,037 | ) | $ | (6,922 | ) | $ | (36,262 | ) | $ | — | $ | (36,262 | ) | ||||||||||
Barclays Bank PLC | 2,894 | — | — | (9,437 | ) | (6,543 | ) | — | (6,543 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
BNP Paribas SA | 8,353 | — | — | (1,663 | ) | 6,690 | — | 6,690 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Citibank, N.A. | 37,340 | — | — | (49,443 | ) | (12,103 | ) | — | (12,103 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Deutsche Bank AG | 35,006 | 5,582 | — | (21,253 | ) | 19,335 | — | 19,335 | ||||||||||||||||||||
JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. | — | 760 | (5,451 | ) | — | (4,691 | ) | — | (4,691 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. | 2,500 | — | — | (3,317 | ) | (817 | ) | — | (817 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Morgan Stanley Co., Inc. | 8,347 | — | — | (29,159 | ) | (20,812 | ) | — | (20,812 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Royal Bank of Canada | 3,729 | — | — | (10,198 | ) | (6,469 | ) | — | (6,469 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Royal Bank of Scotland | 4,996 | — | — | (10,632 | ) | (5,636 | ) | — | (5,636 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
State Street Bank | 4,698 | — | — | (9,180 | ) | (4,482 | ) | — | (4,482 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
UBS AG | 20,328 | — | — | (42,143 | ) | (21,815 | ) | — | (21,815 | ) | ||||||||||||||||||
Westpac Banking Corp. | 30,447 | — | — | (1,805 | ) | 28,642 | — | 28,642 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Total | $ | 175,054 | $ | 8,623 | $ | (53,488 | ) | $ | (195,152 | ) | $ | (64,963 | ) | $ | — | $ | (64,963 | ) |
(1) | Gross amounts available for offset but not netted in the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. |
(2) | Net amount represents the net amount due (to) from counterparty in the event of a default based on the contractual set-off rights under the agreement. |
34
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Fund, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Fund’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, contractual and effective net management fees with GSAM were at the following rates:
Contractual Management Rate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
First $1 billion | Next $1 billion | Next $3 billion | Next $3 billion | Over $8 billion | Effective Rate | Effective Net Management Rate^ | ||||||||||||||||||
0.60% | 0.54 | % | 0.51 | % | 0.50 | % | 0.49 | % | 0.60 | % | 0.59 | % |
^ | Effective Net Management Rate includes the impact of management fee waivers of affiliated underlying funds, if any. |
The Fund invests in FST Shares of the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund, which is an affiliated Underlying Fund. GSAM has agreed to waive a portion of its management fee payable by the Fund in an amount equal to the management fee it earns as an investment adviser to any of the affiliated Underlying Funds in which the Fund invests. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM waived $2,034 of the Fund’s management fee.
B. Distribution and Service Plans — The Trust, on behalf of the Fund, has adopted Distribution and Service Plans (the “Plans”). Under the Plans, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (“The Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% and 0.40% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service and Advisor Shares, respectively.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Fund for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets for Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a percentage rate of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Fund is not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitation as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for the Fund is 0.254%. The Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM reimbursed $270,840 to the Fund. In addition, the Fund has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Fund’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, custody fee credits were $922.
E. Other Transactions with Affiliates — The following table provides information about the Fund’s investment in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Government Fund as of and for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015:
Market Value 12/31 | Purchases at Cost | Proceeds from Sales | Market Value 12/31 | Dividend Income | |||||||||||||||||||
$— | $ | 33,847,617 | $ | (31,130,832 | ) | $ | 2,716,785 | $ | 497 |
35
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
As of December 31, 2015, the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. was the beneficial owner of approximately 63% of Institutional Class Shares and 100% of the Service Class Shares of the Fund.
F. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Fund participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Fund and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Fund based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Fund did not have any borrowings under the facility.
6. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were as follows:
Purchases of U.S. Government and Agency Obligations | Purchases (Excluding U.S. Government and Agency Obligations) | Sales and Maturities of U.S. Government and Agency Obligations | Sales and Maturities (Excluding U.S. Government and Agency Obligations) | |||||||||||
$ | 27,312,813 | $ | 26,478,105 | $ | 26,372,822 | $ | 15,567,940 |
7. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, was as follows:
2014 | 2015 | |||||||||
Distributions paid from ordinary income | $ | 478,899 | $ | 841,721 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Undistributed ordinary income — net | $ | 115,730 | ||
Capital loss carryforwards: | ||||
Perpetual short-term | (640,285 | ) | ||
Perpetual long-term | (396,121 | ) | ||
Total capital loss carryforwards | $ | (1,036,406 | ) | |
Timing differences (Qualified Late Year Loss Deferral/Post October Loss Deferral/Straddle Loss Deferral ) | (184,559 | ) | ||
Unrealized losses — net | (865,920 | ) | ||
Total accumulated losses — net | $ | (1,971,155 | ) |
36
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
7. TAX INFORMATION (continued)
As of December 31, 2015, the Fund’s aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
Tax cost | $ | 32,751,908 | ||
Gross unrealized gain | 72,376 | |||
Gross unrealized loss | (1,012,614 | ) | ||
Net unrealized security loss | (940,238 | ) | ||
Net unrealized gain on other investments | 74,318 | |||
Net unrealized loss | $ | (865,920 | ) |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales, net mark to market gains/(losses) on regulated futures and foreign currency contracts, and differences in the tax treatment of swap transactions, foreign currency transactions and inflation protected securities.
In order to present certain components of the Fund’s capital accounts on a tax-basis, the Fund has reclassified $2,501 of paid-in capital and $404,561 of undistributed net investment income into accumulated investment gain/(loss). These reclassifications have no impact on the NAV of the Fund and result primarily from certain non-deductible expenses, and differences in the tax treatment of swap transactions, foreign currency transactions, inflation protected securities and paydown gains and losses.
GSAM has reviewed the Fund’s tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
8. OTHER RISKS
The Fund’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Foreign Custody Risk — A Fund that invests in foreign securities may hold such securities and cash with foreign banks, agents, and securities depositories appointed by the Fund’s custodian (each a “Foreign Custodian”). Some foreign custodians may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business. In some countries, Foreign Custodians may be subject to little or no regulatory oversight over, or independent evaluation of, their operations. Further, the laws of certain countries may place limitations on a Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a Foreign Custodian enters bankruptcy. Investments in emerging markets may be subject to even greater custody risks than investments in more developed markets. Custody services in emerging market countries are very often undeveloped and may be considerably less well regulated than in more developed countries, and thus may not afford the same level of investor protection as would apply in developed countries.
Interest Rate Risk — When interest rates increase, fixed income securities or instruments held by the Fund will generally decline in value. Long-term fixed income securities or instruments will normally have more price volatility because of this risk than short-term fixed income securities or instruments.
Investments in Other Investment Companies — As a shareholder of another investment company, including an exchange traded fund (“ETF”), a Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any net management fees and other expenses paid by such other investment companies, in addition to the fees and expenses regularly borne by the Fund. ETFs are subject to risks that do not apply to conventional mutual funds, including but not limited to the following: (i) the market price of the ETF’s shares may trade at a premium or a discount to their NAV; and (ii) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained.
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares
37
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
8. OTHER RISKS (continued)
of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that a Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, a Fund may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions. Liquidity risk may be the result of, among other things, the reduced number and capacity of traditional market participants to make a market in fixed income securities or the lack of an active market. The potential for liquidity risk may be magnified by a rising interest rate environment or other circumstances where investor redemptions from fixed income mutual funds may be higher than normal, potentially causing increased supply in the market due to selling activity.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Fund may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Fund has unsettled or open transactions defaults.
Investing in foreign markets may involve special risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation, less public information and less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Fund invests. Loss may also result from the imposition of exchange controls, confiscations and other government restrictions by the U.S. or other governments, or from problems in registration, settlement or custody. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. To the extent that the Fund also invests in securities of issuers located in emerging markets, these risks may be more pronounced.
Short Position Risk — A Fund may enter into a short position through a futures contract, an option or swap agreement or through short sales of any instrument that a Fund may purchase for investment. Taking short positions involves leverage of a Fund’s assets and presents various risks. If the value of the underlying instrument or market in which a Fund has taken a short position increases, then the Fund will incur a loss equal to the increase in value from the time that the short position was entered into plus any related interest payments or other fees. Taking short positions involves the risk that losses may be disproportionate, may exceed the amount invested, and may be unlimited.
9. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Funds. Additionally, in the course of business, the Funds enter into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Funds that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
10. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
38
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
11. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Period Ended December 31, 2014(a) | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 1,105,959 | $ | 10,607,135 | 1,827,210 | $ | 18,272,275 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 79,151 | 743,475 | 46,920 | 454,918 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (29,676 | ) | (280,472 | ) | (91 | ) | (914 | ) | ||||||||
1,155,434 | 11,070,138 | 1,874,039 | 18,726,279 | |||||||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | — | — | 1,000 | 10,000 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 26 | 250 | 24 | 229 | ||||||||||||
26 | 250 | 1,024 | 10,229 | |||||||||||||
Advisor Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 614,049 | 5,819,805 | 176,940 | 1,771,982 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 10,496 | 97,996 | 2,459 | 23,752 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (132,060 | ) | (1,246,850 | ) | (58,251 | ) | (577,528 | ) | ||||||||
492,485 | 4,670,951 | 121,148 | 1,218,206 | |||||||||||||
NET INCREASE | 1,647,945 | $ | 15,741,339 | 1,996,211 | $ | 19,954,714 |
(a) | Commenced operations on April 14, 2014. |
39
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund (the “Fund”), a fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015, and the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian, transfer agent, brokers and the application of alternative auditing procedures where confirmations of securities purchased had not been received, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
40
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Fund Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional, Service or Advisor Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service and Advisor Shares) and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares of the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Fund you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 991.60 | $ | 4.32 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,020.87 | + | 4.38 | ||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 989.20 | 5.72 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,019.46 | + | 5.80 | ||||||||
Advisor | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 989.80 | 6.32 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,018.85 | + | 6.41 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.86%, 1.14% and 1.26% for the Institutional, Service and Advisor Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Fund’s actual annualized net expense ratios and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
41
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
42
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
43
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INCOME FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31, 2015, 1.21% of the dividends paid from net investment company taxable income by the Strategic Income Fund qualify for the dividends received deduction available to corporations.
45
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York
New York 10282
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Fund included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Fund in the future. These statements are based on Fund management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Fund, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Fund. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities for the 12-month period ended December 31 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Form N-Qs are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Fund’s first and third fiscal quarters. The Fund’s Form N-Qs may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Form N-Qs may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Fund holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Fund holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (“MSCI”) and Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) and is licensed for use by Goldman Sachs. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any other party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any of such standard or classification. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust: Goldman Sachs Strategic Income Fund.
© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITSTIAR-16/30037-TEMPL-02/2016
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
Strategic International Equity Fund
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of risks that may affect the Fund. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Fund, please see the Fund’s Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Strategic International Equity Fund are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
The Goldman Sachs Strategic International Equity Fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity investments in companies that are organized outside the United States or whose securities are principally traded outside the United States. The Fund’s equity investments are subject to market risk, which means that the value of the securities in which it invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors and/or general economic conditions. Foreign and emerging markets investments may be more volatile and less liquid than investments in U.S. securities and are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and adverse economic or political developments.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs International Equity Portfolio Management Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Strategic International Equity Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of 1.05% and 0.77%, respectively. These returns compare to the -0.81% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Europe, Australasia, Far East (EAFE) Index (Net, USD, Unhedged) (the “MSCI EAFE Index”), during the same time period.
What economic and market factors most influenced the international equity markets as a whole during the Reporting Period?
International equities, as measured by the MSCI EAFE Index, posted a return of -0.81% in U.S. dollar terms for the Reporting Period as a whole. Divergent central bank policy, geopolitical risk, a commodity price sell-off, and China and global economic growth concerns were the key themes affecting international equities during the Reporting Period.
In January 2015, the European Central Bank (“ECB”) implemented historic quantitative easing (“QE”) measures. In contrast, as evidence of a U.S. economic and labor market recovery mounted, market expectations of a Federal Reserve (“Fed”) interest rate hike increased. The monetary policy divergence resulted in relative U.S. dollar strength, which benefited equity markets in several major developed market regions outside the U.S. but detracted from their returns in U.S. dollar terms.
Geopolitical tensions intensified in the summer of 2015, as negotiations between Greece and its creditors unraveled and the probability of a Greek exit, popularly known in the media as “Grexit,” from the euro increased. “Grexit” risk subsequently declined with an agreement in July 2015. However, concerns then escalated around China’s economic weakness, exacerbated by a surprise devaluation of its renminbi in August 2015, which further shook market confidence. International equities sold off in the ensuing sharp global equity correction.
After holding the targeted federal funds rate steady in September and October 2015 in light of these external macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, the Fed voted unanimously for a 25 basis point hike in December 2015, a move largely expected by markets. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.) The fairly dovish language in the Fed’s announcement, which emphasized “gradual” adjustments to policy going forward, helped to somewhat assuage the markets. Meanwhile, the Bank of Japan announced supplementary support for its quantitative and qualitative easing. The ECB also lowered its deposit rate by 10 basis points and announced an extension of its QE program at its December 2015 meeting. However, market reaction to the ECB announcement was one of disappointment, as more had been expected.
Oil and commodity prices were “lower for longer” in 2015, as the supply glut took longer than expected to correct and demand concerns arose. Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude oil prices began 2015 at $57 and $53 per barrel, respectively, already well below 2014 highs of more than $100 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI crude oil prices ended 2015 still lower at approximately $37 per barrel. Consumer staples was the best performing sector in the MSCI EAFE Index during the Reporting Period, as consumers benefited from savings at the gas pump. Other consumer-oriented sectors, including health care, information technology and consumer discretionary, also outpaced the broad MSCI EAFE Index during the Reporting Period. In contrast, the lower commodity prices were a headwind for energy and materials, which were the worst performing sectors in the MSCI EAFE Index by a wide margin during the Reporting Period.
For the Reporting Period overall, Denmark, Ireland, Belgium, Israel and Japan were the best performing equity markets in the MSCI EAFE Index. China was the weakest equity market in the MSCI EAFE Index by a wide margin, followed at some distance by Singapore, Spain and Norway.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
The Fund’s outperformance of the MSCI EAFE Index during the Reporting Period can be primarily attributed to individual stock selection.
What were some of the Fund’s best-performing individual stocks?
The greatest contributors to Fund performance relative to the MSCI EAFE Index during the Reporting Period were Japanese cosmetics manufacturer Pola Orbis, Japanese tobacco company Japan Tobacco and U.K. online takeaway restaurant servicer Just Eat.
Pola Orbis was the top contributor to the Fund’s results. Throughout the Reporting Period, Pola Orbis reported strong sales momentum in both its domestic and foreign markets, demonstrating demand resilience of its differentiated product offerings despite ongoing global market volatility. Its management’s focus on improving its dividend payout and return on equity was well-received by investors and appeared to be gradually materializing. In our view, Pola Orbis was poised at the end of the Reporting Period for growth, should secular tailwinds, such as heightening inbound tourism and domestic consumption, continue to increase revenues year over year.
Japan Tobacco, which engages in the manufacture and sale of tobacco products, was another top contributor to the Fund’s relative results during the Reporting Period. Through an enduring emphasis on cost rationalization, the company has created, in our view, meaningful earnings quality and dividend growth within the calendar year, helping to drive its stock performance. At the end of the Reporting Period, we continued to like the company given its significant market share and brand value in both Asia and Europe (through international licensing rights of local brands). We also liked what to date has been the relative stability of its diversified, non-core businesses in consumer staples and pharmaceuticals.
Just Eat gained share in its biggest market, the U.K., and had a growing presence in key countries, such as Canada, France, Spain and Italy. Additionally, the company reported earnings results that were consecutively improving and above market expectations. At the end of the Reporting Period, we liked what we considered to be Just Eat’s growth potential and strong positioning. We also believed secular drivers, such as the Eurozone recovery and evolving consumer spending trends, may serve as important tailwinds to accelerate the company’s growth over the medium term.
Which stocks detracted significantly from the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
The biggest detractors from Fund performance relative to the MSCI EAFE Index during the Reporting Period were Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer Mediatek, Spanish bank Banco Popular and German auto manufacturer Volkswagen.
Mediatek, which focuses on low-end handsets for emerging markets, detracted most from the Fund’s results during the Reporting Period. Its stock came under pressure, as mobile phone sales growth in the company’s key markets significantly faltered amid a cyclical slowdown in emerging markets. In addition, the company lowered its earnings outlook due to competitive pressures from China. We believe the market concerns were valid and sold the position to pursue ideas with what we considered to be more attractive risk/reward profiles.
Banco Popular detracted from Fund performance during the Reporting Period. Its stock was negatively impacted by volatility in the Spanish market, largely driven by political uncertainty that had weighed on the financial sector’s outlook. However, we believe the concerns were transitory, as elections have concluded and near-term economic visibility should be forthcoming. At the end of the Reporting Period, we continued to like the bank due to its strong presence in the small and medium-sized enterprise market and improvements in asset quality, which we believe could stabilize and improve margins in 2016. More importantly, in our view, Banco Popular should benefit from Spain’s recovering business environment, conducive to increased economic activity.
Volkswagen detracted from Fund performance during the Reporting Period as well. In September 2015, the company admitted to circumventing U.S. diesel emission tests and, following the news, Volkswagen suspended sales in the U.S. of all affected diesel vehicles in light of an investigation into the allegations. It has been estimated that approximately 482,000 cars will be affected in the U.S. alone, and the result could be a large fine from the Environmental Protection Agency. While we still believe Volkswagen is a substantial player in the automotive space, our conviction in the stock was challenged. We exercised our sell discipline and exited the position to pursue names with what we believed to be more attractive risk/reward profiles.
Which equity market sectors most significantly affected Fund performance?
Effective security selection within the consumer staples, materials and energy sectors contributed most positively to the Fund’s performance relative to the MSCI EAFE Index during the Reporting Period. Having an overweight to consumer staples, which was
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
the best performing sector in the MSCI EAFE Index during the Reporting Period, and an underweight to materials, which was the second-weakest performing sector in the MSCI EAFE Index during the Reporting Period, also helped. Only partially offsetting these positive contributors was stock selection in information technology, health care and consumer discretionary, which detracted. Having an underweight to consumer discretionary, which outpaced the MSCI EAFE Index during the Reporting Period, also hurt.
Which countries or regions most affected the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
Typically, the Fund’s individual stock holdings will significantly influence the Fund’s performance within a particular country or region relative to the MSCI EAFE Index. This effect may be even more pronounced in countries that represent only a modest proportion of the MSCI EAFE Index.
That said, the Fund’s effective stock selection in Japan and the U.K. and its overweighted allocation to the strongly performing equity market of Ireland contributed most positively to the Fund’s returns relative to the MSCI EAFE Index. The countries that detracted most from the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period were Taiwan, the Netherlands and India, where positioning and stock selection overall hurt.
How did the Fund use derivatives and similar instruments during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we did not use derivatives to hedge positions or as part of an active management strategy.
Did the Fund make any significant purchases or sales during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we established Fund positions in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi Estate and Aviva.
We initiated a Fund position in Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, one of Japan’s largest banks and conglomerates. We believe the company is poised to benefit from its dominant market share and strong fundamentals, which could drive both organic growth and value creation opportunities. Such a favorable outlook on our part has already begun to materialize, as seen with the company’s structural reforms that have successfully translated to high quality earnings growth. Additionally, in late 2015, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial acquired General Electric’s Japan leasing business, which is a leading player in the domestic industry and we believe could lead to substantial synergies.
The Fund purchased shares of Japanese real estate developer Mitsubishi Estate during the Reporting Period. The company is engaged in diversified real estate activities in both Japan and internationally. In our view, through its dominant market share and broad range of real asset offerings, Mitsubishi Estate may well be a key beneficiary of Japan’s growing office space demand, which has been reflected in rent hikes and lower vacancy rates. We believe this favorable trend may help improve the company’s medium-term growth prospects and overall earnings quality.
We established a Fund position in U.K. insurer Aviva. At the end of 2014, its stock came under pressure after the company announced its acquisition of competitor Friends Life. In our view, the markets misperceived a deal that offered attractive synergies. We saw what we considered to be an attractive entry point to a quality business with meaningful market share and upside potential. Our view was justified when Aviva proved to be a positive contributor to the Fund’s relative performance during the Reporting Period.
In addition to those sales already mentioned, we exited the Fund’s positions in Mitsubishi UFJ, Intesa Sanpaolo and Aurizon.
We exited the Fund’s position in Japanese banking group Mitsubishi UFJ during the Reporting Period. The company had performed strongly on the back of what we viewed as compelling results driven by a gradual recovery in its domestic business and a strong growth outlook in its international segments. Additionally, Mitsubishi UFJ announced increased shareholder returns through a higher dividend and share buybacks, which were well-received by investors. As a result, we decided to sell the position and take profits on the stock’s strength.
We sold the Fund’s position in Intesa Sanpaolo, one of the leading banks in Italy. In our view, while trends such as domestic recovery, lower funding costs and lower loss provision created a favorable backdrop for banks in peripheral European countries, we think the company’s valuations were stretched. As such, we decided to sell the position and redeploy capital in what we considered to be more attractive opportunities elsewhere.
We eliminated the Fund’s position in Australian railroad operator Aurizon. As the company is heavily exposed to the mining industry, the recent Chinese economic slowdown raised concerns that commodity freight volumes may come under pressure despite the long-term nature of Aurizon’s contracts with its mining customers. As such, we decided to sell the position to pursue other higher conviction ideas.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Were there any notable changes in the Fund’s weightings during the Reporting Period?
In constructing the Fund’s portfolio, we focus on picking stocks rather than on making regional, country, sector or industry bets. We seek to outpace the benchmark index by overweighting stocks that we expect to outperform and underweighting those that we think may lag. Consequently, changes in its sector or country weights are generally the direct result of individual stock selection or of stock appreciation or depreciation. That said, there were no notable changes in the Fund’s sector or country weightings during the Reporting Period.
How was the Fund positioned relative to its benchmark index at the end of the Reporting Period?
At the end of December 2015, the Fund had a greater weighting than the MSCI EAFE Index in the consumer staples sector. The Fund had underweighted allocations to the consumer discretionary, industrials and utilities sectors and was rather neutrally weighted to the MSCI EAFE Index in the health care, information technology, energy, materials, financials and telecommunication services sectors at the end of the Reporting Period.
From a country perspective, the Fund had greater positions in Ireland, Germany, Belgium and Sweden relative to the MSCI EAFE Index at the end of December 2015. The Fund had less exposure to the U.K., Australia, Japan and Italy than the MSCI EAFE Index and was rather neutrally weighted to the MSCI EAFE Index in Spain, France, Switzerland, China, Singapore, the Netherlands and Denmark at the end of the Reporting Period. On the same date, the Fund had no exposure to the remaining components of the MSCI EAFE Index and did have exposure to South Korea, which is not a component of the MSCI EAFE Index.
As always, we remained focused on individual stock selection, with sector and country positioning being a secondary, but closely monitored, effect.
What is the Fund’s tactical view and strategy for the months ahead?
At the end of the Reporting Period, we believe positive, but below average, returns for global equities in 2016 in light of modest economic growth forecasts and rising valuations in some areas of the market. However, in our view, equities still looked more attractive than other asset classes in a persistently low-return environment.
After dipping in 2015, we expect global economic growth to increase modestly in 2016, which we think will be enough to sustain corporate profitability and allow stock prices to move higher. In our view, central banks are likely to remain accommodative given still-fragile global economic growth, which we also see as helpful for equity markets. With inflation well below central bank targets in the Eurozone and Japan, we believe both the ECB and Bank of Japan could ease further in the second half of 2016. We believe the euro and yen will remain weak versus the U.S. dollar, given the divergence in interest rates, which should help both countries’ large export sectors. Even in the U.S., where Fed policy has moved toward normalization, we do not expect to see much negative impact from what are likely to be gradual interest rate increases given continued strength in the housing and labor markets. However, the strong U.S. dollar may well remain a headwind for U.S. multi-nationals.
In our view, the macro outlook remains benign, particularly in Europe and Japan, and we find that equities in these regions are less expensive, reflecting earlier stages of the economic and profit cycles than seen in the U.S.
One common theme across the developed markets is that we believe domestically-focused companies in the major regions could benefit from increasing domestic consumption while being more insulated from currency volatility.
In Europe, we are interested in companies that may benefit from domestic recovery as well as those that are less exposed to relatively weak emerging market end-markets. European equities could benefit, we believe, from earnings growth catch-up, which we think is achievable with modest improvements in economic growth, even factoring in the negative impact from weak emerging market end-markets.
As for Japan, we remained optimistic at the end of the Reporting Period about its ability to slowly grow its economy and inflation. However, we are more focused on the corporate earnings, profitability and reforms that are making many Japanese companies more attractive investments at the end of the Reporting Period, in our view, than seen in recent decades. Corporate profitability is already close to historical record levels, a result of the weak yen as well as of years of restructuring. Companies have also delivered, and balance sheets, in our opinion, are the healthiest in two decades. Importantly, we are also seeing significant evidence of improved corporate governance and shareholder orientation from many companies, including more independent directors, fewer cross shareholdings, and a significant increase in share buybacks and dividends. We also believe that equity market flows and investor behavior could push Japanese equities higher and encourage more long-term investors to enter the market.
As always, we maintain our focus on seeking companies that we believe will generate long-term growth in today’s ever-changing market conditions.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Index Definitions
The MSCI® Index is a market capitalization-weighted composite of securities in 22 developed markets. The MSCI® Index approximates the minimum possible dividend reinvestment. The dividend is reinvested after deduction for withholding tax, applying the rate to non-resident individuals who do not benefit from double taxation treaties. MSCI® Barra uses withholding tax rates applicable to Luxembourg holding companies, as Luxembourg applies the highest rates. The MSCI® EAFE Index is unmanaged and the figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees or expenses. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
6
FUND BASICS
Strategic International Equity Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | |||||||||||||
Institutional | 1.05 | % | 3.63 | % | 1.91 | % | 3.46 | % | 1/12/98 | |||||||||
Service | 0.77 | 3.37 | N/A | 1.16 | 1/09/06 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional Shares and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||||
Institutional | 0.95 | % | 1.06 | % | ||||||
Service | 1.20 | 1.31 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectuses for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
TOP TEN HOLDINGS AS OF 12/31/153
Holding | % of Net Assets | Line of Business | Country | |||||
Anheuser-Busch InBev NV | 3.4% | Food, Beverage & Tobacco | Belgium | |||||
Novartis AG (Registered) | 3.1 | Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences | Switzerland | |||||
BG Group PLC | 2.6 | Energy | United Kingdom | |||||
Vodafone Group PLC | 2.5 | Telecommunication Services | United Kingdom | |||||
Japan Tobacco, Inc. | 2.4 | Food, Beverage & Tobacco | Japan | |||||
Beiersdorf AG | 2.3 | Household & Personal Products | Germany | |||||
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. | 2.2 | Banks | Japan | |||||
Iberdrola SA | 2.2 | Utilities | Spain | |||||
Credit Suisse Group AG (Registered) | 2.2 | Diversified Financials | Switzerland | |||||
Kerry Group PLC Class A | 2.1 | Food, Beverage & Tobacco | Ireland |
3 | The top 10 holdings may not be representative of the Fund’s future investments. |
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FUND BASICS
FUND VS. BENCHMARK SECTOR ALLOCATIONS4
As of December 31, 2015
4 | The Fund is actively managed and, as such, its composition may differ over time. Consequently, the Fund’s overall sector allocations may differ from percentages contained in the graph above. The graph categorizes investments using Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”), however, the sector classifications used by the portfolio management team may differ from GICS. Underlying sector allocations of Exchange Traded Funds and Investment Companies held by the Fund, if any, are not reflected in the graph above. The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of market value. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
8
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on January 1, 2006 in the Institutional Shares at NAV. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the MSCI EAFE Index (Net, USD, Unhedged), is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence performance would be reduced. Performance of Service Shares will vary from Institutional Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry/country investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
Strategic International Equity Fund’s 10 Year Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | ||||
Institutional (Commenced January 12, 1998) | 1.05% | 3.63% | 1.91% | 3.46% | ||||
Service (Commenced January 9, 2006) | 0.77% | 3.37% | N/A | 1.16% |
9
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – 96.3% | ||||||||
| Australia – 4.7% |
| ||||||
167,113 | Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. (Banks) | $ | 3,372,306 | |||||
91,449 | BHP Billiton PLC (Materials) | 1,019,823 | ||||||
363,921 | Computershare Ltd. (Software & Services) | 3,062,229 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
7,454,358 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Belgium – 3.4% |
| ||||||
43,794 | Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (Food, Beverage & Tobacco) | 5,450,043 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| China – 0.5% |
| ||||||
486,000 | China Mengniu Dairy Co. Ltd. (Food, Beverage & Tobacco) | 788,944 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Denmark – 1.9% |
| ||||||
51,786 | Novo Nordisk A/S Class B (Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences) | 2,998,317 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| France – 10.7% |
| ||||||
14,851 | Air Liquide SA (Materials) | 1,667,272 | ||||||
57,092 | Klepierre (REIT) | 2,537,728 | ||||||
25,473 | Publicis Groupe SA (Media) | 1,693,836 | ||||||
97,614 | Rexel SA (Capital Goods) | 1,299,806 | ||||||
32,372 | Safran SA (Capital Goods) | 2,224,046 | ||||||
30,816 | Sanofi (Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences) | 2,626,194 | ||||||
35,081 | Societe Generale SA (Banks) | 1,616,608 | ||||||
28,592 | Total SA (Energy) | 1,281,819 | ||||||
30,647 | Vinci SA (Capital Goods) | 1,964,312 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
16,911,621 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Germany – 11.3% |
| ||||||
24,524 | adidas AG (Consumer Durables & Apparel) | 2,380,277 | ||||||
26,502 | Bayer AG (Registered) (Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences) | 3,309,845 | ||||||
39,448 | Beiersdorf AG (Household & Personal Products) | 3,585,483 | ||||||
160,378 | Commerzbank AG (Banks)* | 1,654,873 | ||||||
65,769 | Covestro AG (Materials)*(a) | 2,404,043 | ||||||
50,057 | GEA Group AG (Capital Goods) | 2,022,346 | ||||||
41,971 | Gerry Weber International AG (Consumer Durables & Apparel) | 581,183 | ||||||
24,696 | SAP SE (Software & Services) | 1,959,706 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
17,897,756 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Ireland – 5.3% |
| ||||||
6,533,611 | Bank of Ireland (Banks)* | 2,411,772 | ||||||
41,081 | Kerry Group PLC Class A (Food, Beverage & Tobacco) | 3,399,033 | ||||||
36,928 | Shire PLC (Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences) | 2,533,534 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
8,344,339 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Italy – 1.0% |
| ||||||
275,355 | UniCredit SpA (Banks) | $ | 1,522,353 | |||||
|
| |||||||
| Japan – 19.6% |
| ||||||
57,500 | HIS Co. Ltd. (Consumer Services) | 1,920,734 | ||||||
54,800 | Hoya Corp. (Health Care Equipment & Services) | 2,240,914 | ||||||
103,500 | Japan Tobacco, Inc. (Food, Beverage & Tobacco) | 3,799,875 | ||||||
57,400 | Kao Corp. (Household & Personal Products) | 2,949,714 | ||||||
94,800 | KDDI Corp. (Telecommunication Services) | 2,461,975 | ||||||
132,000 | Kubota Corp. (Capital Goods) | 2,039,222 | ||||||
160,000 | Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd. (Real Estate) | 3,326,933 | ||||||
36,700 | Nidec Corp. (Capital Goods) | 2,661,337 | ||||||
188,100 | ORIX Corp. (Diversified Financials) | 2,638,754 | ||||||
26,100 | Pola Orbis Holdings, Inc. (Household & Personal Products) | 1,720,214 | ||||||
58,100 | Start Today Co. Ltd. (Retailing) | 1,870,310 | ||||||
92,800 | Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (Banks) | 3,502,369 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
31,132,351 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Netherlands – 4.8% |
| ||||||
378,154 | Aegon NV (Insurance) | 2,138,636 | ||||||
32,510 | ASML Holding NV (Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment) | 2,888,562 | ||||||
113,434 | Royal Dutch Shell PLC Class A (Energy) | 2,569,185 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
7,596,383 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Singapore – 1.6% |
| ||||||
223,021 | DBS Group Holdings Ltd. (Banks) | 2,613,695 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| South Korea – 1.4% |
| ||||||
49,392 | Kia Motors Corp. (Automobiles & Components)* | 2,202,388 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Spain – 4.1% |
| ||||||
246,018 | Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (Banks) | 1,797,601 | ||||||
391,254 | Banco Popular Espanol SA (Banks) | 1,289,137 | ||||||
491,135 | Iberdrola SA (Utilities) | 3,481,643 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
6,568,381 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Sweden – 4.1% |
| ||||||
77,478 | Hennes & Mauritz AB Class B (Retailing) | 2,755,915 | ||||||
81,339 | Svenska Cellulosa AB SCA Class B (Household & Personal Products) | 2,357,214 | ||||||
153,458 | Volvo AB Class B (Capital Goods) | 1,422,948 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
6,536,077 | ||||||||
|
|
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Switzerland – 11.9% |
| ||||||
160,165 | Credit Suisse Group AG (Registered) (Diversified Financials)* | $ | 3,450,269 | |||||
57,513 | Novartis AG (Registered) (Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences) | 4,947,226 | ||||||
6,167 | Syngenta AG (Registered) (Materials) | 2,413,783 | ||||||
7,173 | The Swatch Group AG (Consumer Durables & Apparel) | 2,490,932 | ||||||
141,211 | UBS Group AG (Registered) (Diversified Financials) | 2,739,419 | ||||||
50,522 | Wolseley PLC (Capital Goods) | 2,743,996 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
18,785,625 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| United Kingdom – 10.0% |
| ||||||
376,720 | Aviva PLC (Insurance) | 2,859,484 | ||||||
287,408 | BG Group PLC (Energy) | 4,166,220 | ||||||
159,212 | BTG PLC (Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences)* | 1,613,282 | ||||||
241,771 | Just Eat PLC (Software & Services)* | 1,755,488 | ||||||
55,912 | Rio Tinto PLC (Materials) | 1,627,893 | ||||||
1,205,196 | Vodafone Group PLC (Telecommunication Services) | 3,908,170 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
15,930,537 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS | ||||||||
(Cost $158,083,254) | $ | 152,733,168 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Exchange Traded Fund – 2.0% | ||||||||
| United States – 2.0% |
| ||||||
261,665 | iShares MSCI Japan Fund | $ | 3,171,380 | |||||
(Cost $3,296,560) | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 98.3% | ||||||||
(Cost $161,379,814) | $ | 155,904,548 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF | 2,643,077 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 158,547,625 | ||||||
|
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
* | Non-income producing security. | |
(a) | Exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933. Under procedures approved by the Board of Trustees, such securities may be deemed to be liquid by the Investment Adviser and may be resold, normally to qualified institutional buyers in transactions exempt from registration. Total market value of Rule 144A securities amounts to $2,404,043, which represents approximately 1.5% of net assets as of December 31, 2015. |
Investment Abbreviation: | ||
REIT | —Real Estate Investment Trust |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments, at value (cost $161,379,814) | $ | 155,904,548 | ||
Cash | 2,291,730 | |||
Foreign currencies, at value (cost $68,174) | 68,609 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Foreign tax reclaims | 324,060 | |||
Dividends | 232,706 | |||
Reimbursement from investment adviser | 16,798 | |||
Fund shares sold | 1,971 | |||
Total assets | 158,840,422 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Payables: | ||||
Management fees | 109,708 | |||
Fund shares redeemed | 43,001 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 27,657 | |||
Accrued expenses | 112,431 | |||
Total liabilities | 292,797 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 249,969,071 | |||
Undistributed net investment income | 98,021 | |||
Accumulated net realized loss | (86,008,012 | ) | ||
Net unrealized loss | (5,511,455 | ) | ||
NET ASSETS | $ | 158,547,625 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional | $ | 41,736,548 | ||
Service | 116,811,077 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 158,547,625 | ||
Shares of beneficial interest outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional | 4,543,291 | |||
Service | 12,685,582 | |||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||
Institutional | $9.19 | |||
Service | 9.21 |
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Statement of Operations
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015
Investment income: | ||||
Dividends (net of foreign taxes withheld of $436,378) | $ | 4,100,249 | ||
Expenses: | ||||
Management fees | 1,502,966 | |||
Distribution and Service fees — Service Class | 325,872 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 117,212 | |||
Professional fees | 89,497 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 79,059 | |||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 35,361 | |||
Trustee fees | 24,740 | |||
Other | 32,945 | |||
Total expenses | 2,207,652 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (306,657 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 1,900,995 | |||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 2,199,254 | |||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||
Net realized gain (loss) from: | ||||
Investments | 1,751,108 | |||
Foreign currency transactions | (94,321 | ) | ||
Net change in unrealized loss on: | ||||
Investments (including the effects of the net change in the foreign capital gains tax liability of $176,824) | (1,743,179 | ) | ||
Foreign currency translation | (94,916 | ) | ||
Net realized and unrealized loss | (181,308 | ) | ||
NET INCREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | 2,017,946 |
(a) Institutional and Service Shares incurred Transfer Agency fees of $9,293 and $26,068, respectively.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Statement of Changes in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 2,199,254 | $ | 6,973,333 | ||||
Net realized gain | 1,656,787 | 10,857,262 | ||||||
Net change in unrealized loss | (1,838,095 | ) | (32,429,892 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations | 2,017,946 | (14,599,297 | ) | |||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (744,425 | ) | (1,864,061 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (1,759,317 | ) | (4,656,225 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (2,503,742 | ) | (6,520,286 | ) | ||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 10,473,455 | 5,634,642 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 2,503,742 | 6,520,286 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (27,045,586 | ) | (29,633,821 | ) | ||||
Net decrease in net assets resulting from share transactions | (14,068,389 | ) | (17,478,893 | ) | ||||
TOTAL DECREASE | (14,554,185 | ) | (38,598,476 | ) | ||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 173,101,810 | 211,700,286 | ||||||
End of year | $ | 158,547,625 | $ | 173,101,810 | ||||
Undistributed net investment income | $ | 98,021 | $ | 496,785 |
14 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders from net investment income | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, end of year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 9.26 | $ | 0.14 | (d) | $ | (0.04 | ) | $ | 0.10 | $ | (0.17 | ) | $ | 9.19 | 1.05 | % | $ | 41,737 | 0.89 | % | 1.06 | % | 1.42 | %(d) | 58 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 9.28 | 0.12 | (d) | (0.05 | ) | 0.07 | (0.14 | ) | 9.21 | 0.77 | 116,811 | 1.14 | 1.31 | 1.18 | (d) | 58 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 10.43 | 0.39 | (e) | (1.18 | ) | (0.79 | ) | (0.38 | ) | 9.26 | (7.54 | ) | 46,871 | 0.99 | 1.04 | 3.75 | (e) | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 10.44 | 0.36 | (e) | (1.17 | ) | (0.81 | ) | (0.35 | ) | 9.28 | (7.70 | ) | 126,230 | 1.24 | 1.29 | 3.47 | (e) | 74 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional | 8.56 | 0.16 | 1.89 | 2.05 | (0.18 | ) | 10.43 | 24.20 | 59,187 | 0.98 | 1.05 | 1.67 | 95 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 8.57 | 0.13 | 1.90 | 2.03 | (0.16 | ) | 10.44 | 23.73 | 152,513 | 1.23 | 1.30 | 1.42 | 95 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Institutional | 7.20 | 0.16 | 1.38 | 1.54 | (0.18 | ) | 8.56 | 21.17 | 56,872 | 0.97 | 1.03 | 2.06 | 110 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 7.22 | 0.14 | 1.37 | 1.51 | (0.16 | ) | 8.57 | 20.82 | 139,250 | 1.22 | 1.28 | 1.80 | 110 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Institutional | 8.82 | 0.26 | (f) | (1.59 | ) | (1.33 | ) | (0.29 | ) | 7.20 | (15.05 | ) | 55,954 | 0.99 | 1.04 | 3.03 | (f) | 143 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 8.83 | 0.24 | (f) | (1.58 | ) | (1.34 | ) | (0.27 | ) | 7.22 | (15.16 | ) | 125,991 | 1.24 | 1.29 | 2.80 | (f) | 143 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. |
(c) | The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Reflects income recognized from a corporate action which amounted to $0.02 per share and 0.17% of average net assets. |
(e) | Reflects income recognized from a corporate action which amounted to $0.22 per share and 2.10% of average net assets. |
(f) | Reflects income recognized from a corporate action which amounted to $0.11 per share and 1.33% of average net assets. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 15 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs Strategic International Equity Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is a diversified portfolio under the Act offering two classes of shares — Institutional and Service Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management International (“GSAMI”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Fund’s valuation policy is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments. Distributions received from the Fund’s investments in United States (“U.S.”) real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) may be characterized as ordinary income, net capital gain or a return of capital. A return of capital is recorded by the Fund as a reduction to the cost basis of the REIT.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Fund are charged to that Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
D. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
Under the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act of 2010, the Fund is permitted to carry forward capital losses incurred in taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010 for an unlimited period. However, any losses incurred during those future taxable years will be required to be utilized prior to the losses incurred in pre-enactment taxable years. As a result of this ordering rule, pre-enactment capital loss carryforwards may be more likely to expire unused. Additionally, post-enactment capital losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses rather than being considered all short-term as under previous law.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying
16
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (continued)
financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Fund’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
E. Foreign Currency Translation — The accounting records and reporting currency of the Fund are maintained in U.S. dollars. Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars using the current exchange rates at the close of each business day. The effect of changes in foreign currency exchange rates on investments is included within net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments. Changes in the value of other assets and liabilities as a result of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates are included in the Statement of Operations within net change in unrealized gain (loss) on foreign currency translations. Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are translated into U.S. dollars on the date the transaction occurred, the effects of which are included within net realized gain (loss) on foreign currency transactions.
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAMI’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Fund’s policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Fund, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAMI day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Fund’s portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAMI regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Equity Securities — Equity securities traded on a U.S. securities exchange or the NASDAQ system, or those located on certain foreign exchanges, including but not limited to the Americas, are valued daily at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded. If there is no sale or official closing price or such price is believed by GSAMI to not represent fair value, equity securities are valued at the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2.
17
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
Unlisted equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last sale price on the valuation date, or if no sale occurs, at the last bid price. Securities traded on certain foreign securities exchanges are valued daily at fair value determined by an independent fair value service (if available) under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees and consistent with applicable regulatory guidance. The independent fair value service takes into account multiple factors including, but not limited to, movements in the securities markets, certain depositary receipts, futures contracts and foreign currency exchange rates that have occurred subsequent to the close of the foreign securities exchange. These investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
Exchange Traded Funds — Investments in exchange traded funds are valued daily at the last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which the investment is traded. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2.
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAMI believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Fund’s investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAMI, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Fund’s investments classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Common Stock and/or Other Equity Investments(a) | ||||||||||||
Asia | $ | — | $ | 36,737,378 | $ | — | ||||||
Australia and Oceania | — | 7,454,358 | — | |||||||||
Europe | — | 108,541,432 | — | |||||||||
North America | 3,171,380 | — | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 3,171,380 | $ | 152,733,168 | $ | — |
(a) | Amounts are disclosed by continent to highlight the impact of time zone differences between local market close and the calculation of NAV. Security valuations are based on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, which may differ from country of domicile. The Fund utilizes fair value model prices provided by an independent fair value service for international equities, resulting in a Level 2 classification. |
For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Schedule of Investments.
18
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAMI manages the Fund, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Fund’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAMI is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, contractual and effective net management fees with GSAMI were at the following rates:
Contractual Management Rate |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
First $1 billion | Next $1 billion | Next $3 billion | Next $3 billion | Over $8 billion | Effective Rate | Effective Net Management Rate^ | ||||||||||||||||||
0.85% | 0.77 | % | 0.73 | % | 0.72 | % | 0.71 | % | 0.85 | % | 0.81 | %* |
^ | Effective Net Management Rate includes the impact of management fee waivers of affiliated underlying funds, if any. |
* | GSAMI has agreed to waive a portion of its management fee in order to achieve a net management rate, as defined in the Fund’s most recent prospectus. This waiver will be effective through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date GSAMI may not terminate the arrangement without approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAMI waived $70,729 of its management fee. |
B. Distribution and Service Plan — The Trust, on behalf of the Service Shares of the Fund, has adopted a Distribution and Service Plans (the “Plan”). Under the Plan, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (the “Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service Shares.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Fund for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets of Institutional and Service Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAMI has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a percentage rate of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Fund is not obligated to reimburse GSAMI for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitation as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for the Fund is 0.084%. Prior to April 30, 2015 the Other Expense limitation for the Fund was 0.144%. The Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAMI may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAMI reimbursed $157,058 to the Fund. In addition, the Fund has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Fund’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, custody fee credits were $3,312. Besides the expense reimbursement noted above, GSAMI has also voluntarily agreed to reimburse the Fund in the amount of $75,558.
E. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Fund participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Fund and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Fund
19
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
4. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Fund did not have any borrowings under the facility.
F. Other Transactions with Affiliates — For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs earned $353 in brokerage commissions from portfolio transactions on behalf of the Fund.
5. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were $99,535,523 and $113,149,029, respectively.
6. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, was as follows:
2014 | 2015 | |||||||
Distributions paid from ordinary income | $ | 6,520,286 | $ | 2,503,742 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Undistributed ordinary income — net | $ | 104,183 | ||
Capital loss carryforwards:(1) | ||||
Expiring 2016 | (21,940,989 | ) | ||
Expiring 2017 | (63,558,058 | ) | ||
Total capital loss carryforwards | $ | (85,499,047 | ) | |
Timing differences (Qualified Late Year Loss Deferral/Post October Loss Deferral) | (64,875 | ) | ||
Unrealized losses — net | (5,961,707 | ) | ||
Total accumulated losses — net | $ | (91,421,446 | ) |
(1) | Expiration occurs on December 31 of the year indicated. The Fund utilized $585,390 of capital losses in the current fiscal year. |
As of December 31, 2015, the Fund’s aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
Tax cost | $ | 161,830,066 | ||
Gross unrealized gain | 12,859,315 | |||
Gross unrealized loss | (18,784,833 | ) | ||
Net unrealized loss | $ | (5,925,518 | ) |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales.
In order to present certain components of the Fund’s capital accounts on a tax-basis, the Fund has reclassed ($94,276) from accumulated net realized losses to undistributed net investment income. This reclassification has no impact on the NAV of the Fund and results primarily from differences in the tax treatment of foreign currency transactions and realized foreign capital gains tax.
20
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
6. TAX INFORMATION (continued)
GSAMI has reviewed the Fund’s tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
7. OTHER RISKS
The Fund’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Foreign Custody Risk — A Fund that invests in foreign securities may hold such securities and cash with foreign banks, agents, and securities depositories appointed by the Fund’s custodian (each a “Foreign Custodian”). Some foreign custodians may be recently organized or new to the foreign custody business. In some countries, Foreign Custodians may be subject to little or no regulatory oversight over, or independent evaluation of, their operations. Further, the laws of certain countries may place limitations on a Fund’s ability to recover its assets if a Foreign Custodian enters bankruptcy.
Investments in Other Investment Companies — As a shareholder of another investment company, including an exchange traded fund (“ETF”), a Fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of any net management fees and other expenses paid by such other investment companies, in addition to the fees and expenses regularly borne by the Fund. ETFs are subject to risks that do not apply to conventional mutual funds, including but not limited to the following: (i) the market price of the ETF’s shares may trade at a premium or a discount to their NAV; and (ii) an active trading market for an ETF’s shares may not develop or be maintained.
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that a Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Fund may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Fund has unsettled or open transactions defaults.
Investing in foreign markets may involve special risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in the U.S. Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation, less public information and less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Fund invests. Loss may also result from the imposition of exchange controls, confiscations and other government restrictions by the U.S. or other governments, or from problems in registration, settlement or custody. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. To the extent that the Fund also invests in securities of issuers located in emerging markets, these risks may be more pronounced.
21
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
8. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Fund. Additionally, in the course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, GSAMI believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
9. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAMI has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
10. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 78,427 | $ | 762,672 | 62,023 | $ | 625,818 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 81,626 | 744,425 | 201,957 | 1,864,061 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (678,130 | ) | (6,709,975 | ) | (878,847 | ) | (9,090,883 | ) | ||||||||
(518,077 | ) | (5,202,878 | ) | (614,867 | ) | (6,601,004 | ) | |||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 982,644 | 9,710,783 | 491,901 | 5,008,824 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 192,485 | 1,759,317 | 503,375 | 4,656,225 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (2,092,691 | ) | (20,335,611 | ) | (1,994,697 | ) | (20,542,938 | ) | ||||||||
(917,562 | ) | (8,865,511 | ) | (999,421 | ) | (10,877,889 | ) | |||||||||
NET DECREASE | (1,435,639 | ) | $ | (14,068,389 | ) | (1,614,288 | ) | $ | (17,478,893 | ) |
22
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs Strategic International Equity Fund:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs Strategic International Equity Fund (the “Fund”), a fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015, and the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian and the application of alternative auditing procedures where confirmation of securities purchased had not been received, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
23
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Fund Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional or Service Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service Shares) and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional Shares and Service Shares of the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund's actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund's actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Funds and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Fund you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 928.30 | $ | 4.42 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,020.62 | + | 4.63 | ||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 926.80 | 5.63 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,019.36 | + | 5.90 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.91% and 1.16% for Institutional and Service Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Fund’s actual annualized net expense ratios and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
24
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
25
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
26
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the 2015 tax year, the Strategic International Equity Fund has elected to pass through a credit for taxes paid to foreign jurisdictions. The total amount of income received by the Strategic International Equity Fund from sources within foreign countries and possessions of the United States was $0.1534 per share, all of which is attributable to qualified passive income. The percentage of net investment income dividends paid by the Fund during the year ended December 31, 2015 from foreign sources was 95.88%. The total amount of foreign taxes paid by the Fund was $0.0274 per share.
28
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President, and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York, New York 10282
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT INTERNATIONAL
Investment Adviser
Christchurch Court, 10-15 Newgate Street London, EC1A 7HD, England, United Kingdom
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Fund included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Fund in the future. These statements are based on Fund management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Fund, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Fund. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended December 31 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Form N-Qs are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Fund’s first and third fiscal quarters. The Fund’s Form N-Qs may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Form N-Qs may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Economic and market forecasts presented herein reflect our judgment as of the date of this presentation and are subject to change without notice. These forecasts do not take into account the specific investment objectives, restrictions, tax and financial situation or other needs of any specific client. Actual data will vary and may not be reflected here. These forecasts are subject to high levels of uncertainty that may affect actual performance. Accordingly, these forecasts should be viewed as merely representative of a broad range of possible outcomes. These forecasts are estimated, based on assumptions, and are subject to significant revision and may change materially as economic and market conditions change. Goldman Sachs has no obligation to provide updates or changes to these forecasts. Case studies and examples are for illustrative purposes only.
Fund holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Fund holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (“MSCI”) and Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) and is licensed for use by Goldman Sachs. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any other party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any of such standard or classification. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust: Goldman Sachs Strategic International Equity Fund.
© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITINTLAR-16/29867-TEMPL-02/2016
Goldman
Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Goldman Sachs
U.S. Equity Insights Fund
Annual Report
December 31, 2015
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Principal Investment Strategies and Risks
This is not a complete list of risks that may affect the Fund. For additional information concerning the risks applicable to the Fund, please see the Fund’s Prospectuses.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs U.S. Equity Insights Fund are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider the Fund’s objective, risks and charges and expenses, and read the Prospectus carefully before investing. The Prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
The Goldman Sachs U.S. Equity Insights Fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity investments in U.S. issuers, including foreign issuers traded in the United States. The Fund’s equity investments will be subject to market risk, which means that the value of the securities in which it invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors and/or general economic conditions. The Investment Adviser’s use of quantitative models to execute the Fund’s investment strategy may fail to produce the intended result. Different investment styles (e.g., “quantitative”) tend to shift in and out of favor, and at times the Fund may underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes. The Fund may have a high rate of portfolio turnover, which involves correspondingly greater expenses which must be borne by the Fund, and is also likely to result in short-term capital gains taxable to shareholders.
1
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital and dividend income.
Portfolio Management Discussion and Analysis
Below, the Goldman Sachs Quantitative Investment Strategies Team discusses the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs U.S. Equity Insights Fund’s (the “Fund”) performance and positioning for the 12-month period ended December 31, 2015 (the “Reporting Period”).
How did the Fund perform during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, the Fund’s Institutional and Service Shares generated average annual total returns of -0.20% and -0.41%, respectively. These returns compare to the 1.38% average annual total return of the Fund’s benchmark, the Standard & Poor’s 500® Index (with dividends reinvested) (the “S&P 500® Index”) during the same time period.
What economic and market factors most influenced the equity markets as a whole during the Reporting Period?
Representing the U.S. equity market, the S&P 500® Index gained 1.38% during the Reporting Period. Central bank policy, a commodity price sell-off, geopolitical tensions, and China and global economic growth concerns were the key themes impacting U.S. equities throughout 2015.
As evidence of a U.S. economic and labor market recovery mounted, market expectations of a Federal Reserve (“Fed”) interest rate hike increased. The monetary policy divergence with the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan, which each eased policy during the calendar year, resulted in relative U.S. dollar strength. This paradoxically hurt U.S. equity performance despite improving domestic economic fundamentals. Also, geopolitical tensions intensified in the summer of 2015, as negotiations between Greece and its creditors unraveled, and the probability of a Greek exit, popularly known in the media as “Grexit,” from the euro increased. “Grexit” risk subsequently declined with an agreement in July 2015. However, concerns then escalated around China’s economic weakness, exacerbated by a surprise devaluation of its renminbi in August 2015, which further shook market confidence. U.S. equities sold off in the ensuing sharp global equity correction.
After holding the targeted federal funds rate steady in September and October 2015 in light of these external macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, the Fed voted unanimously for a 25 basis point hike in December 2015, a move largely expected by markets. (A basis point is 1/100th of a percentage point.) The fairly dovish language in the Fed’s announcement, which emphasized “gradual” adjustments to policy going forward, helped to somewhat assuage the markets.
Oil and commodity prices were “lower for longer” in 2015, as the supply glut took longer than expected to correct and demand concerns arose. Brent crude oil and West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude oil prices began 2015 at $57 and $53 per barrel, respectively, already well below 2014 highs of more than $100 per barrel. Both Brent and WTI crude oil prices ended 2015 still lower at approximately $37 per barrel. The U.S. consumer benefited from savings at the gas pump and consumer spending rose, particularly in areas typically associated with lower gas prices, such as autos and restaurants. However, this did not fully offset the negative impact on the U.S. energy industry and industrials companies. As a result, energy was the worst performing sector in the S&P® 500 Index by a wide margin during the Reporting Period, followed by materials, utilities and industrials. Conversely, more consumer-oriented sectors, including consumer discretionary, health care, information technology and consumer staples were the best performing sectors in the S&P® 500 Index during the Reporting Period.
Within the U.S. equity market, there was significant disparity in performance not only among sectors but also among the various capitalization and style segments. Large-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell 1000® Index, posted modestly positive returns, while mid-cap stocks and small-cap stocks, as measured by the Russell Midcap® Index and Russell 2000® Index, respectively, generated negative returns. Large-cap stocks were most successful relative to small-cap stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. From a style perspective, growth-oriented stocks significantly outpaced value-oriented stocks across the capitalization spectrum. Growth outperformed relative to value during the Reporting Period primarily due to stronger performance of the growth-oriented information technology sector. (All as measured by the Russell Investments indices.)
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
What key factors were responsible for the Fund’s performance during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, stock selection driven by our quantitative model and five of its six investment themes contributed positively to the Fund’s relative returns, but the Fund underperformed the S&P 500® Index. During the Reporting Period, certain stock positions detracted from the Fund’s relative performance.
What impact did the Fund’s investment themes have on performance during the Reporting Period?
As expected, and in keeping with our investment approach, our quantitative model and its six investment themes — Valuation, Profitability, Quality, Management, Momentum and Sentiment — had the greatest impact on relative performance. We use these themes to take a long-term view of market patterns and look for inefficiencies, selecting stocks for the Fund and overweighting or underweighting the ones chosen by the model. Over time and by design, the performance of any one of the model’s investment themes tends to have a low correlation with the model’s other themes, demonstrating the diversification benefit of the Fund’s theme-driven quantitative model. The variance in performance supports our research indicating that the diversification provided by the Fund’s different investment themes is a significant investment advantage over the long term, even though the Fund may experience underperformance in the short term. Of course, diversification does not protect an investor from market risk nor does it ensure a profit.
During the Reporting Period, five of our six investment themes contributed positively to the Fund’s relative performance. The Momentum theme contributed most positively to the Fund’s relative performance during the Reporting Period, followed by Sentiment, Quality, Profitability and Management. The Momentum theme seeks to predict drifts in stock prices caused by delayed investor reaction to company-specific information and information about related companies. The Sentiment theme reflects selected investment views and decisions of individuals and financial intermediaries. The Quality theme assesses both firm and financial quality. The Profitability theme assesses whether a company is earning more than its cost of capital. The Management theme assesses the characteristics, policies and strategic decisions of company managements.
Only the Valuation theme detracted from the Fund’s relative performance during the Reporting Period. The Valuation theme attempts to capture potential mispricings of securities, typically by comparing a measure of the company’s intrinsic value to its market value.
How did the Fund’s sector and industry allocations affect relative performance?
In constructing the Fund’s portfolio, we focus on picking stocks rather than making industry or sector bets. Consequently, the Fund is similar to its benchmark, the S&P 500® Index, in terms of its industry and sector allocation and style. We manage the Fund’s industry and sector exposure by including industry factors in our risk model and by explicitly penalizing industry and sector deviations from the benchmark index in optimization. Sector weights or changes in sector weights generally do not have a meaningful impact on relative performance.
Did stock selection help or hurt Fund performance during the Reporting Period?
We seek to outpace the S&P 500® Index by overweighting stocks that we expect to outperform and underweighting those that we think may lag. We also build positions based on our thematic views. For example, the Fund aims to hold a basket of stocks with more favorable Momentum characteristics than the benchmark index. During the Reporting Period, stock selection overall detracted from the Fund’s relative performance.
Stock selection in the information technology, consumer staples and materials sectors detracted most from the Fund’s results relative to the S&P 500® Index. Partially offsetting these detractors was effective stock selection in the energy, industrials and health care sectors, which contributed positively to the Fund’s results relative to its benchmark index during the Reporting Period.
Which individual positions detracted from the Fund’s results during the Reporting Period?
Detracting most from the Fund’s results relative to its benchmark index were overweight positions in telecommunications company CenturyLink, diversified chemicals manufacturer LyondellBasell Industries and infrastructure software provider Rackspace Hosting. We chose to overweight CenturyLink and Rackspace Hosting due to our positive views on Sentiment and Quality. The Fund had an overweight position in LyondellBasell Industries given our positive views on Valuation and Quality.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Which individual stock positions contributed the most to the Fund’s relative returns during the Reporting Period?
The Fund benefited most from overweight positions in oil refiners Valero Energy and Tesoro and oil and gas services and equipment company Cameron International. We chose to overweight Valero Energy and Tesoro due to our positive views on Momentum and Sentiment. The Fund was overweight Cameron International given our positive views on Sentiment.
How did the Fund use derivatives during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, we did not use derivatives as part of an active management strategy to add value to the Fund’s results. However, we used equity index futures contracts, on an opportunistic basis, to equitize the Fund’s excess cash holdings. In other words, we put the Fund’s excess cash holdings to work by using them as collateral for the purchase of stock futures.
Did you make any enhancements to your quantitative models during the Reporting Period?
We continuously look for ways to improve our investment process. We made no significant changes to our quantitative models during the first quarter of 2015. In the second quarter of 2015, we made a number of enhancements across a variety of investment themes. First, we made two enhancements to our Sentiment theme. The first enhancement was in the U.S., Europe and Japan investment regions, where we introduced a signal that uses the credit default swap (“CDS”) spread of a company as an early indicator of potential stock price swings. We use data on single-name CDS spreads for more than 300 companies on a daily basis to arrive at our views. The second enhancement was in the U.S. investment region, where we introduced a signal that uses stock options data of a company as a potential indicator of stock mispricing. Due to fewer restrictions on leverage and short-selling, options markets typically incorporate information more efficiently than equity markets. Due to the broad availability of options data on U.S. equities, we can form views on the majority of stocks in our investment universe using this signal.
We also enhanced our Profitability theme in the U.S. by introducing a signal that analyzes web traffic data of companies to provide an insight into future revenues. We analyze this information for more than 1,700 stocks in the U.S., spanning across various sectors.
Additionally, we expanded the scope of signals within our global linkages theme. We extended an economic linkage signal, which analyzes patent data, from the U.S. and Japan to Europe. We analyze more than 3.5 million patents globally to establish the economic linkages between companies in various industries. We believe these linkages help predict price movements across similar companies more accurately.
We made no significant changes to our quantitative models during the third quarter of 2015. During the fourth quarter of 2015, we made a number of enhancements across a variety of investment themes. We enhanced our Management theme in the U.S., Europe and Emerging Markets investment regions by expanding the scope of an existing signal that looks at managements’ personal transactions in the stock of their respective company. Corporate executives purchasing or selling shares can potentially signal their conviction in the company’s stock when assessed under the right circumstances. We obtain and analyze this information through regulatory filings for more than 7,500 companies globally. We expanded the scope of two signals within our Global Linkages theme. Firstly, we extended a signal, which analyzes patent data to identify economically linked companies, to all investment regions. We now analyze about 40 million patents from various patent offices for more than 3,000 companies globally to establish the economic linkages between stocks of various industries. We also extended a signal that establishes economic linkages between companies in the automotive supply chain from Japan to the U.S. and Europe investment regions. We take a differentiated, region-specific approach and analyze the potential relationships between the stock returns of suppliers and manufacturers multiple levels down the supply chain. Lastly, we extended a signal within our Profitability theme from the U.S. to the Emerging Markets and Japan investment regions. The signal analyzes web traffic data, which we believe can potentially forecast corporate revenue growth. We analyze this information for about 4,000 companies spanning across various sectors.
What was the Fund’s sector positioning relative to its benchmark index at the end of the Reporting Period?
As of December 31, 2015, the Fund was overweight the consumer discretionary, energy and materials sectors relative to the S&P 500® Index. The Fund was underweight industrials, information technology, utilities and health care and was rather neutrally weighted in consumer staples, financials and telecommunication services compared to the benchmark index on the same date.
Were there any changes to the Fund’s portfolio management team during the Reporting Period?
During the Reporting Period, one Vice President left the Equity Alpha team. Quantitative Investment Strategies employs a globally integrated team of more than 90 professionals, with an additional 90-plus professionals dedicated to trading, information technology and development of analytical tools.
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
What is your strategy going forward for the Fund?
Looking ahead, we continue to believe that less expensive stocks should outpace more expensive stocks, and stocks with good momentum are likely to outperform those with poor momentum. We intend to maintain our focus on seeking companies about which fundamental research analysts are becoming more positive as well as profitable companies with sustainable earnings and a track record of using their capital to enhance shareholder value. As such, we anticipate remaining fully invested with long-term performance likely to be the result of stock selection rather than sector or capitalization allocations.
We stand behind our investment philosophy that sound economic investment principles, coupled with a disciplined quantitative approach, can provide strong, uncorrelated returns over the long term. Our research agenda is robust, and we continue to enhance our existing models, add new proprietary forecasting signals and improve our trading execution as we seek to provide the most value to our shareholders.
Changes to the Fund’s Portfolio Management Team after the Reporting Period
After the close of the Reporting Period, on February 5, 2016, Ron Hua, Chief Investment Officer of Equity Alpha Strategies for the Quantitative Investment Strategies (“QIS”) Team, announced his intention to retire from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”). As such, effective that date, Mr. Hua no longer had portfolio management responsibilities for the Fund. Effective February 5, 2016, joining Fund portfolio managers Len Ioffe, Osman Ali and Dennis Walsh is Armen Avanessians, the Chief Investment Officer of GSAM’s QIS Team, overseeing research, portfolio management and implementation for all QIS investment strategies globally. As always, the Quantitative Investment Strategies platform is organized into a series of specialist portfolio management teams that focus on generating and implementing investment ideas within their area of expertise. Investment decisions are made by these portfolio management teams, rather than by one portfolio manager or committee. Ultimate accountability for the Fund resides with the senior portfolio managers dedicated to each Team strategy, who oversee their respective research, portfolio management and implementation processes.
5
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Index Definitions
The S&P 500® Index (with dividends reinvested) is the Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Index of 500 stocks, an unmanaged index of common stock prices. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell 2000® Index (with dividends reinvested) is an unmanaged index of common stock prices that measures the performance of the 2000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000® Index. The figures for the Index do not include any deduction for fees, expenses or taxes. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell Midcap® Index measures the performance of the 800 smallest companies in the Russell 1000® Index, which represent approximately 25% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 1000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
The Russell 1000® Index measures the performance of the 1,000 largest companies in the Russell 3000® Index, which represents approximately 92% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index. It is not possible to invest directly in an index.
6
FUND BASICS
U.S. Equity Insights Fund
as of December 31, 2015
STANDARDIZED TOTAL RETURNS1
For the period ended 12/31/15 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | Inception Date | |||||||||||||
Institutional | -0.20 | % | 13.71 | % | 6.16 | % | 5.39 | % | 02/13/98 | |||||||||
Service | -0.41 | 13.49 | N/A | 5.66 | 01/09/06 |
1 | The Standardized Total Returns are average annual total returns as of the most recent calendar quarter-end. They assume reinvestment of all distributions at net asset value (“NAV”). Because Institutional and Service Shares do not involve a sales charge, such a charge is not applied to their Standardized Total Returns. |
Total return figures in the above chart represent past performance and do not indicate future results, which will vary. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate and, therefore, an investor’s shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the total return figures in the above chart. Please visit www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns. Performance reflects fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In their absence, performance would be reduced.
EXPENSE RATIOS2
Net Expense Ratio (Current) | Gross Expense Ratio (Before Waivers) | |||||||
Institutional | 0.65 | % | 0.71 | % | ||||
Service | 0.86 | 0.96 |
2 | The expense ratios of the Fund, both current (net of any fee waivers or expense limitations) and before waivers (gross of any fee waivers or expense limitations) are as set forth above according to the most recent publicly available Prospectuses for the Fund and may differ from the expense ratios disclosed in the Financial Highlights in this report. Pursuant to a contractual arrangement, the Fund’s waivers and/or expense limitations will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016 and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangements without the approval of the Fund’s Board of Trustees. If these arrangements are discontinued in the future, the expense ratios may change without shareholder approval. |
TOP TEN HOLDINGS AS OF 12/31/153
Holding | % of Net Assets | Line of Business | ||||
Apple, Inc. | 4.3% | Technology Hardware & Equipment | ||||
JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 2.2 | Banks | ||||
Verizon Communications, Inc. | 2.1 | Telecommunication Services | ||||
The Home Depot, Inc. | 2.0 | Retailing | ||||
Pfizer, Inc. | 1.9 | Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences | ||||
PepsiCo, Inc. | 1.8 | Food, Beverage & Tobacco | ||||
Cisco Systems, Inc. | 1.8 | Technology Hardware & Equipment | ||||
Comcast Corp. Class A | 1.7 | Media | ||||
Amgen, Inc. | 1.7 | Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences | ||||
Bank of America Corp. | 1.7 | Banks |
3 | The top 10 holdings may not be representative of the Fund’s future investments. |
7
FUND BASICS
FUND vs. BENCHMARK SECTOR ALLOCATIONS4
As of December 31, 2015
4 | The Fund is actively managed and, as such, its composition may differ over time. Consequently, the Fund’s overall sector allocations may differ from percentages contained in the graph above. The graph categorizes investments using Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”), however, the sector classifications used by the portfolio management team may differ from GICS. The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of total market value (excluding investments in the securities lending reinvestment vehicle, if any). Underlying sector allocations of Exchange Traded Funds and Investment Companies held by the Fund are not reflected in the graph above. Investments in the securities lending reinvestment vehicle represented 0.2% of the Fund’s net assets at December 31, 2015. The graph depicts the Fund’s investments but may not represent the Fund’s market exposure due to the exclusion of certain derivatives, if any, as listed in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. |
8
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Performance Summary
December 31, 2015
The following graph shows the value, as of December 31, 2015, of a $10,000 investment made on January 1, 2006 in the Institutional Shares at NAV. For comparative purposes, the performance of the Fund’s benchmark, the S&P 500® Index (with distributions reinvested), is shown. This performance data represents past performance and should not be considered indicative of future performance, which will fluctuate with changes in market conditions. These performance fluctuations will cause an investor’s shares, when redeemed, to be worth more or less than their original cost. Performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown, and in their absence, performance would be reduced. Performance of Service Shares will vary from Institutional Shares due to differences in class specific fees. In addition to the Investment Adviser’s decisions regarding issuer/industry investment selection and allocation, other factors may affect Fund performance. These factors include, but are not limited to, Fund operating fees and expenses, portfolio turnover, and subscription and redemption cash flows affecting the Fund.
U.S. Equity Insights Fund’s 10 Year Performance
Performance of a $10,000 investment, with distributions reinvested, from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2015.
Average Annual Total Return through December 31, 2015 | One Year | Five Years | Ten Years | Since Inception | ||||
Institutional (Commenced February 13, 1998) | -0.20% | 13.71% | 6.16% | 5.39% | ||||
Service (Commenced January 9, 2006) | -0.41% | 13.49% | N/A | 5.66% |
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GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Schedule of Investments
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – 98.2% | ||||||||
| Automobiles & Components – 0.3% |
| ||||||
33,130 | Johnson Controls, Inc. | $ | 1,308,304 | |||||
|
| |||||||
| Banks – 6.9% |
| ||||||
384,198 | Bank of America Corp.(a) | 6,466,052 | ||||||
43,997 | Citigroup, Inc. | 2,276,845 | ||||||
128,133 | JPMorgan Chase & Co. | 8,460,622 | ||||||
168,775 | KeyCorp | 2,226,142 | ||||||
105,124 | SunTrust Banks, Inc. | 4,503,512 | ||||||
32,924 | Synovus Financial Corp. | 1,066,079 | ||||||
38,882 | Wells Fargo & Co. | 2,113,626 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
27,112,878 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Capital Goods – 6.7% |
| ||||||
5,491 | Acuity Brands, Inc. | 1,283,796 | ||||||
73,988 | Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. | 1,915,549 | ||||||
8,562 | B/E Aerospace, Inc. | 362,772 | ||||||
35,138 | General Dynamics Corp. | 4,826,556 | ||||||
77,368 | General Electric Co. | 2,410,013 | ||||||
42,985 | HD Supply Holdings, Inc.* | 1,290,840 | ||||||
56,489 | Honeywell International, Inc. | 5,850,566 | ||||||
6,318 | Masco Corp. | 178,799 | ||||||
8,466 | Northrop Grumman Corp. | 1,598,465 | ||||||
32,240 | Raytheon Co. | 4,014,847 | ||||||
3,362 | Rockwell Automation, Inc. | 344,975 | ||||||
27,197 | Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. Class A* | 1,361,754 | ||||||
7,224 | Watsco, Inc. | 846,147 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
26,285,079 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Commercial & Professional Services – 0.1% |
| ||||||
5,605 | Robert Half International, Inc. | 264,220 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Durables & Apparel – 1.8% |
| ||||||
10,957 | Carter’s, Inc. | 975,502 | ||||||
6,573 | D.R. Horton, Inc. | 210,533 | ||||||
38,023 | Leggett & Platt, Inc. | 1,597,727 | ||||||
21,757 | Mohawk Industries, Inc.* | 4,120,558 | ||||||
1,700 | Tempur Sealy International, Inc.* | 119,782 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
7,024,102 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Consumer Services – 2.4% |
| ||||||
87,307 | Carnival Corp. | 4,756,485 | ||||||
61,523 | Yum! Brands, Inc. | 4,494,255 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
9,250,740 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Diversified Financials – 4.9% |
| ||||||
2,962 | Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.* | 473,209 | ||||||
70,662 | Ally Financial, Inc.* | 1,317,140 | ||||||
7,765 | Ameriprise Financial, Inc. | 826,351 | ||||||
11,221 | Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. Class B* | 1,481,621 | ||||||
63,236 | Capital One Financial Corp. | 4,564,375 | ||||||
69,016 | E*TRADE Financial Corp.* | 2,045,634 | ||||||
5,911 | Federated Investors, Inc. Class B | 169,350 | ||||||
14,599 | MSCI, Inc. | 1,053,026 | ||||||
14,873 | Nasdaq, Inc. | 865,163 | ||||||
46,353 | SEI Investments Co. | 2,428,897 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Diversified Financials – (continued) |
| ||||||
11,176 | Synchrony Financial* | $ | 339,862 | |||||
58,346 | The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. | 2,405,022 | ||||||
42,156 | The Charles Schwab Corp. | 1,388,197 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
19,357,847 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Energy – 7.8% |
| ||||||
38,413 | Baker Hughes, Inc. | 1,772,760 | ||||||
19,384 | CVR Energy, Inc.(b) | 762,760 | ||||||
40,733 | Exxon Mobil Corp. | 3,175,137 | ||||||
93,174 | HollyFrontier Corp. | 3,716,711 | ||||||
88,458 | Marathon Petroleum Corp. | 4,585,663 | ||||||
37,178 | PBF Energy, Inc. Class A | 1,368,522 | ||||||
58,626 | Phillips 66 | 4,795,607 | ||||||
20,543 | Tesoro Corp. | 2,164,616 | ||||||
44,738 | The Williams Companies, Inc. | 1,149,767 | ||||||
65,810 | Valero Energy Corp. | 4,653,425 | ||||||
62,040 | World Fuel Services Corp. | 2,386,058 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
30,531,026 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food & Staples Retailing – 1.7% |
| ||||||
65,963 | CVS Health Corp. | 6,449,202 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
| Food, Beverage & Tobacco – 8.4% |
| ||||||
110,294 | Altria Group, Inc. | 6,420,214 | ||||||
30,660 | Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc. | 1,509,698 | ||||||
108,644 | ConAgra Foods, Inc. | 4,580,431 | ||||||
38,295 | Flowers Foods, Inc. | 822,960 | ||||||
52,619 | General Mills, Inc. | 3,034,012 | ||||||
72,390 | PepsiCo, Inc. | 7,233,209 | ||||||
67,753 | The Kraft Heinz Co. | 4,929,708 | ||||||
81,122 | Tyson Foods, Inc. Class A | 4,326,236 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
32,856,468 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Health Care Equipment & Services – 6.7% |
| ||||||
42,969 | AmerisourceBergen Corp. | 4,456,315 | ||||||
3,646 | Anthem, Inc. | 508,398 | ||||||
22,292 | C. R. Bard, Inc. | 4,222,996 | ||||||
1,035 | Cigna Corp. | 151,452 | ||||||
60,229 | Express Scripts Holding Co.* | 5,264,617 | ||||||
100,509 | Hologic, Inc.* | 3,888,693 | ||||||
25,807 | McKesson Corp. | 5,089,915 | ||||||
24,190 | Sirona Dental Systems, Inc.* | 2,650,498 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
26,232,884 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Household & Personal Products – 0.5% |
| ||||||
10,401 | Church & Dwight Co., Inc. | 882,837 | ||||||
3,828 | The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc. Class A | 337,094 | ||||||
10,317 | The Procter & Gamble Co. | 819,273 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
2,039,204 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Insurance – 3.4% |
| ||||||
78,296 | Lincoln National Corp. | 3,935,157 | ||||||
42,333 | Reinsurance Group of America, Inc. | 3,621,588 | ||||||
10,542 | The Allstate Corp. | 654,553 | ||||||
|
|
10 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Insurance – (continued) |
| ||||||
42,242 | The Travelers Companies, Inc. | $ | 4,767,432 | |||||
7,224 | XL Group PLC | 283,036 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
13,261,766 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Materials – 3.8% |
| ||||||
4,867 | International Paper Co. | 183,486 | ||||||
26,570 | LyondellBasell Industries NV Class A | 2,308,933 | ||||||
101,142 | Nucor Corp. | 4,076,023 | ||||||
106,630 | Steel Dynamics, Inc. | 1,905,478 | ||||||
16,383 | The Sherwin-Williams Co. | 4,253,027 | ||||||
50,538 | WestRock Co. | 2,305,543 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
15,032,490 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Media – 3.5% |
| ||||||
118,768 | Comcast Corp. Class A | 6,702,078 | ||||||
48,987 | Liberty Global PLC Series C* | 1,997,200 | ||||||
141,189 | The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. | 3,286,880 | ||||||
6,439 | Time Warner Cable, Inc. | 1,195,014 | ||||||
5,598 | Time Warner, Inc. | 362,023 | ||||||
9,880 | Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. Class A | 268,341 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
13,811,536 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences – 7.0% |
| ||||||
40,984 | Amgen, Inc. | 6,652,933 | ||||||
10,370 | Incyte Corp.* | 1,124,627 | ||||||
16,555 | Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 1,025,251 | ||||||
43,013 | Johnson & Johnson | 4,418,295 | ||||||
228,604 | Pfizer, Inc. | 7,379,337 | ||||||
3,827 | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 2,077,563 | ||||||
13,581 | Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. | 1,926,465 | ||||||
10,419 | United Therapeutics Corp.* | 1,631,720 | ||||||
3,409 | Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.* | 428,954 | ||||||
18,189 | Zoetis, Inc. | 871,617 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
27,536,762 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Real Estate – 1.5% |
| ||||||
49,226 | Apartment Investment & Management Co. Class A (REIT) | 1,970,517 | ||||||
20,854 | CBRE Group, Inc. Class A* | 721,131 | ||||||
13,425 | Equity Commonwealth (REIT)* | 372,275 | ||||||
30,663 | Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. (REIT) | 2,044,302 | ||||||
6,583 | Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc. (REIT) | 183,008 | ||||||
8,046 | Post Properties, Inc. (REIT) | 476,001 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
5,767,234 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Retailing – 8.2% |
| ||||||
8,901 | Amazon.com, Inc.* | 6,016,097 | ||||||
5,829 | AutoZone, Inc.* | 4,324,594 | ||||||
1,574 | Expedia, Inc. | 195,648 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Retailing – (continued) |
| ||||||
73,520 | Lowe’s Companies, Inc. | $ | 5,590,461 | |||||
8,978 | Netflix, Inc.* | 1,026,904 | ||||||
17,467 | O’Reilly Automotive, Inc.* | 4,426,487 | ||||||
20,010 | Target Corp. | 1,452,926 | ||||||
58,077 | The Home Depot, Inc. | 7,680,683 | ||||||
1,117 | The Priceline Group, Inc.* | 1,424,119 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
32,137,919 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Semiconductors & Semiconductor Equipment – 0.4% |
| ||||||
3,749 | Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. | 142,462 | ||||||
13,532 | Texas Instruments, Inc. | 741,689 | ||||||
17,685 | Xilinx, Inc. | 830,664 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
1,714,815 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Software & Services – 8.8% |
| ||||||
14,797 | Accenture PLC Class A | 1,546,287 | ||||||
6,293 | Alphabet, Inc. Class A* | 4,896,017 | ||||||
6,494 | Alphabet, Inc. Class C* | 4,928,167 | ||||||
2,254 | Citrix Systems, Inc.* | 170,515 | ||||||
163,977 | eBay, Inc.* | 4,506,088 | ||||||
47,076 | Facebook, Inc. Class A* | 4,926,974 | ||||||
4,651 | Fiserv, Inc.* | 425,380 | ||||||
2,053 | Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. | 160,257 | ||||||
102,293 | Microsoft Corp. | 5,675,216 | ||||||
77,881 | Rackspace Hosting, Inc.* | 1,971,947 | ||||||
15,861 | Total System Services, Inc. | 789,878 | ||||||
81,119 | Vantiv, Inc. Class A* | 3,846,663 | ||||||
17,601 | Yahoo!, Inc.* | 585,409 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
34,428,798 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Technology Hardware & Equipment – 9.1% |
| ||||||
160,923 | Apple, Inc. | 16,938,755 | ||||||
36,419 | Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. | 334,326 | ||||||
259,672 | Cisco Systems, Inc. | 7,051,393 | ||||||
31,437 | F5 Networks, Inc.* | 3,048,131 | ||||||
168,241 | Flextronics International Ltd.* | 1,885,982 | ||||||
30,562 | Ingram Micro, Inc. Class A | 928,474 | ||||||
144,516 | Juniper Networks, Inc. | 3,988,642 | ||||||
26,032 | QUALCOMM, Inc. | 1,301,209 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
35,476,912 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Telecommunication Services – 2.2% |
| ||||||
18,894 | AT&T, Inc. | 650,143 | ||||||
174,382 | Verizon Communications, Inc. | 8,059,936 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
8,710,079 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| Transportation – 0.9% |
| ||||||
50,452 | Delta Air Lines, Inc. | 2,557,412 | ||||||
5,349 | JetBlue Airways Corp.* | 121,155 | ||||||
15,337 | Southwest Airlines Co. | 660,411 | ||||||
2,537 | Union Pacific Corp. | 198,393 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
3,537,371 | ||||||||
|
|
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 11 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Schedule of Investments (continued)
December 31, 2015
Shares | Description | Value | ||||||
Common Stocks – (continued) | ||||||||
| Utilities – 1.2% |
| ||||||
111,946 | Calpine Corp.* | $ | 1,619,859 | |||||
8,625 | NextEra Energy, Inc. | 896,051 | ||||||
171,361 | NRG Energy, Inc. | 2,016,919 | ||||||
|
| |||||||
4,532,829 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||
| TOTAL INVESTMENTS BEFORE SECURITIES LENDING REINVESTMENT VEHICLE | | ||||||
(Cost $366,668,463) | $ | 384,660,465 | ||||||
|
|
Shares | Distribution Rate | Value | ||||||
Securities Lending Reinvestment Vehicle(c)(d) – 0.2% | ||||||||
Goldman Sachs Financial Square Money Market Fund — FST Shares |
| |||||||
754,400 | 0.285 | % | $ | 754,400 | ||||
(Cost $754,400) | ||||||||
| ||||||||
TOTAL INVESTMENTS – 98.4% | ||||||||
(Cost $367,422,863) | $ | 385,414,865 | ||||||
| ||||||||
OTHER ASSETS IN EXCESS OF LIABILITIES – 1.6% |
| 6,353,826 | ||||||
| ||||||||
NET ASSETS – 100.0% | $ | 391,768,691 | ||||||
|
The percentage shown for each investment category reflects the value of investments in that category as a percentage of net assets. | ||
* | Non-income producing security. | |
(a) | All or a portion of security is segregated as collateral for initial margin requirements on futures transactions. | |
(b) | All or a portion of security is on loan. | |
(c) | Represents an affiliated issuer. | |
(d) | Variable rate security. Interest rate or distribution rate disclosed is that which is in effect on December 31, 2015. |
Investment Abbreviation: | ||
REIT | —Real Estate Investment Trust |
ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT INFORMATION
FUTURES CONTRACTS — At December 31, 2015, the Fund had the following futures contracts:
Type | Number of Contracts Long (Short) | Expiration Date | Current Value | Unrealized Gain (Loss) | ||||||||||
S&P 500 E-Mini Index | 41 | March 2016 | $ | 4,172,570 | $ | (3,621 | ) |
12 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Statement of Assets and Liabilities
December 31, 2015
Assets: | ||||
Investments in unaffiliated issuers, at value (cost $366,668,463)(a) | $ | 384,660,465 | ||
Investments in affiliated securities lending reinvestment vehicle, at value which equals cost | 754,400 | |||
Cash | 8,480,898 | |||
Receivables: | ||||
Dividends | 318,861 | |||
Fund shares sold | 63,507 | |||
Reimbursement from investment adviser | 61,529 | |||
Securities lending income | 243 | |||
Total assets | 394,339,903 | |||
Liabilities: | ||||
Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | 39,358 | |||
Payables: | ||||
Fund shares redeemed | 861,437 | |||
Payable upon return of securities loaned | 754,400 | |||
Management fees | 208,782 | |||
Distribution and Service fees and Transfer Agency fees | 28,794 | |||
Accrued expenses and other liabilities | 678,441 | |||
Total liabilities | 2,571,212 | |||
Net Assets: | ||||
Paid-in capital | 374,599,721 | |||
Undistributed net investment income | 451,593 | |||
Accumulated net realized loss | (1,271,004 | ) | ||
Net unrealized gain | 17,988,381 | |||
NET ASSETS | $ | 391,768,691 | ||
Net Assets: | ||||
Institutional | $ | 269,238,183 | ||
Service | 122,530,508 | |||
Total Net Assets | $ | 391,768,691 | ||
Shares of beneficial interest outstanding $0.001 par value (unlimited shares authorized): | ||||
Institutional | 16,108,068 | |||
Service | 7,306,110 | |||
Net asset value, offering and redemption price per share: | ||||
Institutional | $16.71 | |||
Service | 16.77 |
(a) Includes loaned securities having a market value of $724,040.
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 13 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Statement of Operations
December 31, 2015
Investment income: | ||||
Dividends (net of foreign taxes withheld of $371) | $ | 8,160,829 | ||
Securities lending income — affiliated issuer | 5,439 | |||
Total investment income | 8,166,268 | |||
Expenses: | ||||
Management fees | 2,624,070 | |||
Distribution and Service fees — Service Class | 327,547 | |||
Professional fees | 98,336 | |||
Printing and mailing costs | 86,920 | |||
Transfer Agency fees(a) | 84,641 | |||
Custody, accounting and administrative services | 62,343 | |||
Trustee fees | 27,088 | |||
Other | 40,031 | |||
Total expenses | 3,350,976 | |||
Less — expense reductions | (359,920 | ) | ||
Net expenses | 2,991,056 | |||
NET INVESTMENT INCOME | 5,175,212 | |||
Realized and unrealized gain (loss): | ||||
Net realized gain from: | ||||
Investments | 11,170,805 | |||
Futures contracts | 97,816 | |||
Net change in unrealized loss on: | ||||
Investments | (17,246,642 | ) | ||
Futures contracts | (61,666 | ) | ||
Net realized and unrealized loss | (6,039,687 | ) | ||
NET DECREASE IN NET ASSETS RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS | $ | (864,475 | ) |
(a) Institutional and Service Shares incurred Transfer Agency fees of $58,439 and $26,202, respectively.
14 | The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Statement of Change in Net Assets
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||
From operations: | ||||||||
Net investment income | $ | 5,175,212 | $ | 5,004,324 | ||||
Net realized gain | 11,268,621 | 72,598,144 | ||||||
Net change in unrealized loss | (17,308,308 | ) | (11,611,740 | ) | ||||
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations | (864,475 | ) | 65,990,728 | |||||
Distributions to shareholders: | ||||||||
From net investment income | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (3,792,329 | ) | (4,217,304 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (1,391,634 | ) | (1,534,479 | ) | ||||
From net realized gains | ||||||||
Institutional Shares | (16,773,187 | ) | (13,420,480 | ) | ||||
Service Shares | (7,603,702 | ) | (5,920,765 | ) | ||||
Total distributions to shareholders | (29,560,852 | ) | (25,093,028 | ) | ||||
From share transactions: | ||||||||
Proceeds from sales of shares | 19,987,592 | 22,870,188 | ||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 29,560,852 | 25,093,028 | ||||||
Cost of shares redeemed | (78,448,750 | ) | (71,104,168 | ) | ||||
Net decrease in net assets resulting from share transactions | (28,900,306 | ) | (23,140,952 | ) | ||||
TOTAL INCREASE (DECREASE) | (59,325,633 | ) | 17,756,748 | |||||
Net assets: | ||||||||
Beginning of year | 451,094,324 | 433,337,576 | ||||||
End of year | $ | 391,768,691 | $ | 451,094,324 | ||||
Undistributed net investment income | $ | 451,593 | $ | 472,171 |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 15 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Financial Highlights
Selected Data for a Share Outstanding Throughout Each Year
Income (loss) from investment operations | Distributions to shareholders | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year - Share Class | Net asset value, beginning of year | Net investment income(a) | Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) | Total from investment operations | From net investment income | From net realized gains | Total distributions | Net asset value, end of year | Total return(b) | Net assets, year (in 000s) | Ratio of net expenses to average net assets | Ratio of total expenses to average net assets | Ratio of net investment income to average net assets | Portfolio turnover rate(c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Institutional | $ | 18.12 | $ | 0.23 | $ | (0.27 | ) | $ | (0.04 | ) | $ | (0.25 | ) | $ | (1.12 | ) | $ | (1.37 | ) | $ | 16.71 | (0.20 | )% | $ | 269,238 | 0.64 | % | 0.71 | % | 1.29 | % | 200 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
2015 - Service | 18.17 | 0.20 | (0.28 | ) | (0.08 | ) | (0.20 | ) | (1.12 | ) | (1.32 | ) | 16.77 | (0.41 | ) | 122,531 | 0.85 | 0.96 | 1.08 | 200 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Institutional | 16.52 | 0.21 | 2.47 | 2.68 | (0.26 | ) | (0.82 | ) | (1.08 | ) | 18.12 | 16.37 | 312,370 | 0.65 | 0.71 | 1.21 | 214 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 - Service | 16.55 | 0.18 | 2.47 | 2.65 | (0.21 | ) | (0.82 | ) | (1.03 | ) | 18.17 | 16.18 | 138,725 | 0.86 | 0.96 | 1.01 | 214 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Institutional | 12.14 | 0.20 | 4.35 | 4.55 | (0.17 | ) | — | (0.17 | ) | 16.52 | 37.52 | 307,589 | 0.65 | 0.71 | 1.36 | 207 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 - Service | 12.16 | 0.17 | 4.35 | 4.52 | (0.13 | ) | — | (0.13 | ) | 16.55 | 37.23 | 125,748 | 0.86 | 0.96 | 1.15 | 207 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Institutional | 10.80 | 0.20 | 1.36 | (d) | 1.56 | (0.22 | ) | — | (0.22 | ) | 12.14 | 14.42 | (d) | 262,759 | 0.64 | 0.72 | 1.71 | 134 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2012 - Service | 10.82 | 0.18 | 1.35 | (d) | 1.53 | (0.19 | ) | — | (0.19 | ) | 12.16 | 14.10 | (d) | 99,892 | 0.85 | 0.97 | 1.51 | 134 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Institutional | 10.57 | 0.18 | (e) | 0.25 | 0.43 | (0.20 | ) | — | (0.20 | ) | 10.80 | 4.05 | 273,555 | 0.64 | 0.70 | 1.69 | (e) | 51 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2011 - Service | 10.58 | 0.16 | (e) | 0.25 | 0.41 | (0.17 | ) | — | (0.17 | ) | 10.82 | 3.90 | 99,711 | 0.85 | 0.95 | 1.48 | (e) | 51 |
(a) | Calculated based on the average shares outstanding methodology. |
(b) | Assumes investment at the net asset value at the beginning of the year, reinvestment of all distributions, and a complete redemption of the investment at the net asset value at the end of the year. |
(c) | The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate is calculated in accordance with regulatory requirements, without regard to transactions involving short term investments and certain derivatives. If such transactions were included, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate may be higher. |
(d) | Reflects payment from affiliate relating to certain investment transactions which amounted to $0.01 per share and 0.07% of average net assets. Excluding such payment, the total return would have been 14.32% and 14.01%, respectively. |
(e) | Reflects income recognized from special dividends which amounted to $0.02 per share and 0.17% of average net assets. |
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements. | 16 |
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements
December 31, 2015
1. ORGANIZATION
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (the “Trust” or “VIT”) is a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Act”), as an open-end management investment company. The Trust includes the Goldman Sachs U.S. Equity Insights Fund (the “Fund”). The Fund is a diversified portfolio under the Act offering two classes of shares — Institutional and Service Shares. Shares of the Trust are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies.
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. (“GSAM”), an affiliate of Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“Goldman Sachs”), serves as investment adviser to the Fund pursuant to a management agreement (the “Agreement”) with the Trust.
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and require management to make estimates and assumptions that may affect the reported amounts and disclosures. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions.
A. Investment Valuation — The Fund’s valuation policy is to value investments at fair value.
B. Investment Income and Investments — Investment income includes interest income and dividend income, net of any foreign withholding taxes, less any amounts reclaimable. Interest income is accrued daily and adjusted for amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts. Dividend income is recognized on ex-dividend date or, for certain foreign securities, as soon as such information is obtained subsequent to the ex-dividend date. Investment transactions are reflected on trade date. Realized gains and losses are calculated using identified cost. Investment transactions are recorded on the following business day for daily net asset value (“NAV”) calculations. Any foreign capital gains tax is accrued daily based upon net unrealized gains, and is payable upon sale of such investments.
Distributions received from the Fund’s investments in United States (“U.S.”) real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) may be characterized as ordinary income, net capital gain or a return of capital. A return of capital is recorded by the Fund as a reduction to the cost basis of the REIT.
For derivative contracts, realized gains and losses are recorded upon settlement of the contract.
C. Class Allocations and Expenses — Investment income, realized and unrealized gain (loss), and non-class specific expenses of the Fund are allocated daily based upon the proportion of net assets of each class. Non-class specific expenses directly incurred by a Fund are charged to that Fund, while such expenses incurred by the Trust are allocated across the applicable Funds on a straight-line and/or pro-rata basis depending upon the nature of the expenses. Class specific expenses, where applicable, are borne by the respective share classes and include Distribution and Service and Transfer Agency fees.
D. Federal Taxes and Distributions to Shareholders — It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies (mutual funds) and to distribute each year substantially all of its investment company taxable income and capital gains to its shareholders. Accordingly, the Fund is not required to make any provisions for the payment of federal income tax. Distributions to shareholders are recorded on the ex-dividend date. Income and capital gains distributions, if any, are declared and paid annually.
Net capital losses are carried forward to future fiscal years and may be used to the extent allowed by the Code to offset any future capital gains. Losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses. Utilization of capital loss carryforwards will reduce the requirement of future capital gains distributions.
The characterization of distributions to shareholders for financial reporting purposes is determined in accordance with federal income tax rules, which may differ from GAAP. The source of the Fund’s distributions may be shown in the accompanying financial statements as either from net investment income, net realized gain or capital. Certain components of the Fund’s net assets on the Statement of Assets and Liabilities reflect permanent GAAP/tax differences based on the appropriate tax character.
17
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS
The fair value of a financial instrument is the amount that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (i.e., the exit price). GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The levels used for classifying investments are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in these investments. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are described below:
Level 1 — Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible at the measurement date for identical, unrestricted assets or liabilities;
Level 2 — Quoted prices in markets that are not active or financial instruments for which significant inputs are observable (including, but not limited to, quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, volatility and credit spreads), either directly or indirectly;
Level 3 — Prices or valuations that require significant unobservable inputs (including GSAM’s assumptions in determining fair value measurement).
Changes in valuation techniques may result in transfers into or out of an assigned level within the hierarchy. In accordance with the Fund’s policy, transfers between different levels of the fair value hierarchy resulting from such changes are deemed to have occurred as of the beginning of the reporting period.
The Board of Trustees (“Trustees”) has approved Valuation Procedures that govern the valuation of the portfolio investments held by the Fund, including investments for which market quotations are not readily available. The Trustees have delegated to GSAM day-to-day responsibility for implementing and maintaining internal controls and procedures related to the valuation of the Fund’s portfolio investments. To assess the continuing appropriateness of pricing sources and methodologies, GSAM regularly performs price verification procedures and issues challenges as necessary to third party pricing vendors or brokers, and any differences are reviewed in accordance with the Valuation Procedures.
A. Level 1 and Level 2 Fair Value Investments — The valuation techniques and significant inputs used in determining the fair values for investments classified as Level 1 and Level 2 are as follows:
Equity Securities — Equity securities traded on a U.S. securities exchange or the NASDAQ system, or those located on certain foreign exchanges, including but not limited to the Americas, are valued daily at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded. If there is no sale or official closing price or such price is believed by GSAM to not represent fair value, equity securities are valued at the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions. To the extent these investments are actively traded, they are classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy, otherwise they are generally classified as Level 2.
Unlisted equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last sale price on the valuation date, or if no sale occurs, at the last bid price. Securities traded on certain foreign securities exchanges are valued daily at fair value determined by an independent fair value service (if available) under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees and consistent with applicable regulatory guidance. The independent fair value service takes into account multiple factors including, but not limited to, movements in the securities markets, certain depositary receipts, futures contracts and foreign currency exchange rates that have occurred subsequent to the close of the foreign securities exchange. These investments are generally classified as Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy.
Money Market Funds — Investments in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Money Market Fund (“Underlying Fund”) are valued at the NAV of the FST Share class on the day of valuation. These investments are generally classified as Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. For information regarding an Underlying Fund’s accounting policies and investment holdings, please see the Underlying Fund’s shareholder report.
Derivative Contracts — A derivative is an instrument whose value is derived from underlying assets, indices, reference rates or a combination of these factors. The Fund enters into derivative transactions to hedge against changes in interest rates, securities prices, and/or currency exchange rates, to increase total return, or to gain access to certain markets or attain exposure to other underliers.
18
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
3. INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS (continued)
Exchange-traded derivatives, including futures and options contracts, are valued at the last sale or settlement price and typically fall within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy. Over-the-counter (“OTC”) and centrally cleared derivatives are valued using market transactions and other market evidence, including market-based inputs to models, calibration to market-clearing transactions, broker or dealer quotations, or other alternative pricing sources. Where models are used, the selection of a particular model to value OTC and centrally cleared derivatives depends upon the contractual terms of, and specific risks inherent in, the instrument, as well as the availability of pricing information in the market. Valuation models require a variety of inputs, including contractual terms, market prices, yield curves, credit curves, measures of volatility, voluntary and involuntary prepayment rates, loss severity rates and correlations of such inputs. For OTC and centrally cleared derivatives that trade in liquid markets, model inputs can generally be verified and model selection does not involve significant management judgment. OTC and centrally cleared derivatives are classified within Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy when significant inputs are corroborated by market evidence.
i. Futures Contracts — Futures contracts are contracts to buy or sell a standardized quantity of a specified commodity or security and are valued based on exchanged settlement prices or independent market quotes. Futures contracts are valued at the last settlement price, or in the absence of a sale, the last bid price for long positions and at the last ask price for short positions, at the end of each day on the board of trade or exchange upon which they are traded. Upon entering into a futures contract, the Fund deposits cash or securities in an account on behalf of the broker in an amount sufficient to meet the initial margin requirement. Subsequent payments are made or received by the Fund equal to the daily change in the contract value and are recorded as variation margin receivable or payable with a corresponding offset to unrealized gains or losses.
B. Level 3 Fair Value Investments — To the extent that significant inputs to valuation models and other alternative pricing sources are unobservable, or if quotations are not readily available, or if GSAM believes that such quotations do not accurately reflect fair value, the fair value of the Fund’s investments may be determined under Valuation Procedures approved by the Trustees. GSAM, consistent with its procedures and applicable regulatory guidance, may make an adjustment to the most recent valuation prices of either domestic or foreign securities in light of significant events to reflect what it believes to be the fair value of the securities at the time of determining a Fund’s NAV. Significant events which could affect a large number of securities in a particular market may include, but are not limited to: significant fluctuations in U.S. or foreign markets; market dislocations; market disruptions; or unscheduled market closings. Significant events which could also affect a single issuer may include, but are not limited to: corporate actions such as reorganizations, mergers and buy-outs; ratings downgrades; and bankruptcies.
C. Fair Value Hierarchy — The following is a summary of the Fund’s investments and derivatives classified in the fair value hierarchy as of December 31, 2015:
Investment Type | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | |||||||||
Assets | ||||||||||||
Common Stock(a) | ||||||||||||
North America | $ | 384,660,465 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Securities Lending Reinvestment Vehicle | 754,400 | — | — | |||||||||
Total | $ | 385,414,865 | $ | — | $ | — | ||||||
Derivative Type | ||||||||||||
Liabilities(b) | ||||||||||||
Futures Contracts | $ | (3,621 | ) | $ | — | $ | — |
(a) | Amounts are disclosed by continent to highlight the impact of time zone differences between local market close and the calculation of NAV. Security valuations are based on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, which may differ from country of domicile. |
(b) | Amount shown represents unrealized gain (loss) at fiscal year end. |
For further information regarding security characteristics, see the Schedule of Investments.
19
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
4. INVESTMENTS IN DERIVATIVES
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the gross value of derivative contracts as of December 31, 2015. These instruments were used as part of the Fund’s investment strategies and to obtain and/or manage exposure related to the risks below. The values in the table below exclude the effects of cash collateral received or posted pursuant to these derivative contracts, and therefore are not representative of the Fund’s net exposure.
Risk | Statement of Assets and Liabilities | Assets | Statement of Assets and Liabilities | Liabilities(a) | ||||||
Equity | — | $— | Variation margin on certain derivative contracts | $(3,621) |
(a) | Includes unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts described in the Additional Investment Information section of the Schedule of Investments. Only current day’s variation margin is reported within the Statement of Assets and Liabilities. |
The following table sets forth, by certain risk types, the Fund’s gains (losses) related to these derivatives and their indicative volumes for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015. These gains (losses) should be considered in the context that these derivative contracts may have been executed to create investment opportunities and /or economically hedge certain investments, and accordingly, certain gains (losses) on such derivative contracts may offset certain (losses) gains attributable to investments. These gains (losses) are included in “Net realized gain (loss)” or “Net change in unrealized gain (loss)” on the Statement of Operations:
Risk | Statement of Operations | Net Realized Gain (Loss) | Net Change in Unrealized Gain (Loss) | Average Number of Contracts(a) | ||||||||||
Equity | Net realized gain (loss) from futures contracts/Net change in unrealized gain (loss) on futures contracts | $ | 97,816 | $ | (61,666 | ) | 41 |
(a) | Average number of contracts is based on the average of month end balances at fiscal year end. |
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS
A. Management Agreement — Under the Agreement, GSAM manages the Fund, subject to the general supervision of the Trustees.
As compensation for the services rendered pursuant to the Agreement, the assumption of the expenses related thereto and administration of the Fund’s business affairs, including providing facilities, GSAM is entitled to a management fee, accrued daily and paid monthly, equal to an annual percentage rate of the Fund’s average daily net assets.
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, contractual and effective net management fees with GSAM were at the following rates:
Contractual Management Rate | ||||||||||||||||||||
First $1 billion | Next $1 billion | Next $3 billion | Next $3 billion | Over $8 billion | Effective Rate | |||||||||||||||
0.62% | 0.59 | % | 0.56 | % | 0.55 | % | 0.54 | % | 0.62 | % |
B. Distribution and Service Plan — The Trust, on behalf of the Service Shares of the Fund, has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan (the “Plan”). Under the Plan, Goldman Sachs, which serves as distributor (the “Distributor”), is entitled to a fee accrued daily and paid monthly, for distribution services and personal and account maintenance services, which may then be paid by Goldman Sachs to authorized dealers, equal to, on an annual basis, 0.25% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service Shares. Goldman Sachs has agreed to waive distribution and service fees so as not to exceed an annual rate of 0.21% of the Fund’s average daily net assets attributable to Service Shares. The distribution and service fee waiver will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date Goldman Sachs may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the
20
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
5. AGREEMENTS AND AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS (continued)
Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs waived $52,408 in distribution and service fees for the Fund’s Services Shares.
C. Transfer Agency Agreement — Goldman Sachs also serves as the transfer agent of the Fund for a fee pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement. The fees charged for such transfer agency services are accrued daily and paid monthly at an annual rate of 0.02% of the average daily net assets of Institutional and Service Shares.
D. Other Expense Agreements and Affiliated Transactions — GSAM has agreed to limit certain “Other Expenses” of the Fund (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, shareholder meeting, litigation, indemnification and extraordinary expenses) to the extent such expenses exceed, on an annual basis, a percentage rate of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Such Other Expense reimbursements, if any, are accrued daily and paid monthly. In addition, the Fund is not obligated to reimburse GSAM for prior fiscal year expense reimbursements, if any. The Other Expense limitation as an annual percentage rate of average daily net assets for the Fund is 0.004%. The Other Expense limitation will remain in place through at least April 30, 2016, and prior to such date GSAM may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Trustees. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, GSAM reimbursed $297,793 to the Fund. In addition, the Fund has entered into certain offset arrangements with the custodian and the transfer agent, which may result in a reduction of the Fund’s expenses and are received irrespective of the application of the “Other Expense” limitation described above. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, custody fee credits were $9,719.
E. Line of Credit Facility — As of December 31, 2015, the Fund participated in a $1,205,000,000 committed, unsecured revolving line of credit facility (the “facility”) together with other funds of the Trust and certain registered investment companies having management agreements with GSAM or its affiliates (“Other Borrowers”). Pursuant to the terms of the facility, the Fund and Other Borrowers could increase the credit amount by up to an additional $115,000,000, for a total of up to $1,320,000,000. This facility is to be used for temporary emergency purposes, or to allow for an orderly liquidation of securities to meet redemption requests. The interest rate on borrowings is based on the federal funds rate. The facility also requires a fee to be paid by the Fund based on the amount of the commitment that has not been utilized. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, the Fund did not have any borrowings under the facility.
F. Other Transactions with Affiliates — For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, Goldman Sachs earned $289 in brokerage commissions from portfolio transactions, including futures transactions executed with Goldman Sachs as the Futures Commission Merchant, on behalf of the Fund.
6. PORTFOLIO SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS
The cost of purchases and proceeds from sales and maturities of long-term securities for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, were $825,446,568 and $876,605,663, respectively.
7. SECURITIES LENDING
Pursuant to exemptive relief granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the terms and conditions contained therein, the Fund may lend its securities through a securities lending agent, Goldman Sachs Agency Lending (“GSAL”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, to certain qualified borrowers including Goldman Sachs and affiliates. In accordance with the Fund’s securities lending procedures, the Fund receives cash collateral at least equal to the market value of the securities on loan. The market value of the loaned securities is determined at the close of business of the Fund, at their last sale price or official closing price on the principal exchange or system on which they are traded, and any additional required collateral is delivered to the Fund on the next business day. As with other extensions of credit, the Fund may experience delay in the recovery of its securities or incur a loss should the borrower of the securities breach its agreement with the Fund or become insolvent at a time when the collateral is
21
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
7. SECURITIES LENDING (continued)
insufficient to cover the cost of repurchasing securities on loan. Dividend income received from securities on loan may not be subject to withholding taxes and therefore withholding taxes paid may differ from the amounts listed in the Statement of Operations. Loans of securities are terminable at any time and as such 1) the remaining contractual maturities of the outstanding securities lending transactions are considered to be overnight and continuous and 2) the borrower, after notice, is required to return borrowed securities within the standard time period for settlement of securities transactions.
The Fund invests the cash collateral received in connection with securities lending transactions in the Goldman Sachs Financial Square Money Market Fund (“Money Market Fund”), an affiliated series of the Trust. The Money Market Fund is registered under the Act as an open end investment company, is subject to Rule 2a-7 under the Act, and is managed by GSAM, for which GSAM may receive an investment advisory fee of up to 0.205% on an annualized basis of the average daily net assets of the Money Market Fund.
In the event of a default by a borrower with respect to any loan, GSAL will exercise any and all remedies provided under the applicable borrower agreement to make the Fund whole. These remedies include purchasing replacement securities by applying the collateral held from the defaulting broker against the purchase cost of the replacement securities. If, despite such efforts by GSAL to exercise these remedies, the Fund sustains losses as a result of a borrower’s default, GSAL indemnifies the Fund by purchasing replacement securities at GSAL’s expense, or paying the Fund an amount equal to the market value of the replacement securities, subject to an exclusion for any shortfalls resulting from a loss of value in the cash collateral pool due to reinvestment risk and a requirement that the Fund agrees to assign rights to the collateral to GSAL for purpose of using the collateral to cover purchase of replacement securities as more fully described in the Securities Lending Agency Agreement. The Fund’s loaned securities were all subject to enforceable Securities Lending Agreements and the value of the collateral is at least equal to the value of the cash received. The value of loaned securities and cash collateral at period end are disclosed in the Fund’s Statement of Assets and Liabilities.
Both the Fund and GSAL received compensation relating to the lending of the Fund’s securities. The amount earned by the Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, is reported under Investment Income on the Statement of Operations.
The table below details securities lending activity with affiliates of Goldman Sachs:
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 | ||||||||||
Earnings of GSAL Relating to Securities Loaned | Amounts Received by the Funds from Lending to Goldman Sachs | Amounts Payable to Goldman Sachs Upon Return of Securities Loaned as of December 31, 2015 | ||||||||
$591 | $ | 3,282 | $ | 340,300 |
The following table provides information about the Fund’s investment in the Money Market Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015:
Market Value 12/31/14 | Purchases at Cost | Proceeds from Sales | Market Value 12/31/15 | |||||||||||
$3,689,655 | $ | 27,398,802 | $ | (30,334,057 | ) | $ | 754,400 |
22
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
8. TAX INFORMATION
The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2015, was as follows:
2014 | 2015 | |||||||
Distributions paid from: | ||||||||
Ordinary income | $ | 7,929,353 | $ | 13,481,690 | ||||
Net long-term capital gains | 17,163,675 | 16,079,162 | ||||||
Total taxable distributions | $ | 25,093,028 | $ | 29,560,852 |
As of December 31, 2015, the components of accumulated earnings (losses) on a tax-basis were as follows:
Undistributed ordinary income — net | $ | 492,277 | ||
Undistributed long-term capital gains | 32,335 | |||
Total undistributed earnings | $ | 524,612 | ||
Timing differences (Post October Loss Deferral/Deferred REITs Distributions) | (179,979 | ) | ||
Unrealized gains — net | 16,824,337 | |||
Total accumulated gains — net | $ | 17,168,970 |
As of December 31, 2015, the Fund’s aggregate security unrealized gains and losses based on cost for U.S. federal income tax purposes were as follows:
Tax cost | $ | 368,590,528 | ||
Gross unrealized gain | 27,177,015 | |||
Gross unrealized loss | (10,352,678 | ) | ||
Net unrealized security gain | $ | 16,824,337 |
The difference between GAAP-basis and tax-basis unrealized gains (losses) is attributable primarily to wash sales and net mark to market gains (losses) on regulated futures contracts.
In order to present certain components of the Fund’s capital accounts on a tax-basis, the Fund has reclassified $11,827 from undistributed net investment income to accumulated net realized gain (loss). This reclassification has no impact on the net asset value of the Fund and results primarily from differences in the tax treatment of underlying fund investments.
GSAM has reviewed the Fund’s tax positions for all open tax years (the current and prior three years, as applicable) and has concluded that no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. Such open tax years remain subject to examination and adjustment by tax authorities.
9. OTHER RISKS
The Fund’s risks include, but are not limited to, the following:
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk — The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders, such as other funds, participating insurance companies, accounts and Goldman Sachs affiliates, purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s NAV and liquidity. These transactions may also accelerate the realization of taxable income to shareholders if such sales of investments resulted in gains, and may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in
23
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Notes to Financial Statements (continued)
December 31, 2015
9. OTHER RISKS (continued)
the Fund’s expense ratio. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash and is required to maintain a larger cash position than it ordinarily would.
Liquidity Risk — The Fund may make investments that are illiquid or that may become less liquid in response to market developments or adverse investor perceptions. Illiquid investments may be more difficult to value. Liquidity risk may also refer to the risk that a Fund will not be able to pay redemption proceeds within the allowable time period because of unusual market conditions, an unusually high volume of redemption requests, or other reasons. To meet redemption requests, the Fund may be forced to sell investments at an unfavorable time and/or under unfavorable conditions.
Market and Credit Risks — In the normal course of business, the Fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk). Additionally, the Fund may also be exposed to credit risk in the event that an issuer or guarantor fails to perform or that an institution or entity with which the Fund has unsettled or open transactions defaults.
10. INDEMNIFICATIONS
Under the Trust’s organizational documents, its Trustees, officers, employees and agents are indemnified, to the extent permitted by the Act and state law, against certain liabilities that may arise out of performance of their duties to the Fund. Additionally, in the course of business, the Fund enters into contracts that contain a variety of indemnification clauses. The Fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown, as this would involve future claims that may be made against the Fund that have not yet occurred. However, GSAM believes the risk of loss under these arrangements to be remote.
11. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Subsequent events after the Statement of Assets and Liabilities date have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued. GSAM has concluded that there is no impact requiring adjustment or disclosure in the financial statements.
24
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
12. SUMMARY OF SHARE TRANSACTIONS
Share activity is as follows:
For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015 | For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2014 | |||||||||||||||
Shares | Dollars | Shares | Dollars | |||||||||||||
Institutional Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 430,772 | $ | 7,764,027 | 437,552 | $ | 7,758,962 | ||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 1,232,945 | 20,565,516 | 995,922 | 17,637,784 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (2,794,030 | ) | (50,484,586 | ) | (2,816,880 | ) | (49,300,263 | ) | ||||||||
(1,130,313 | ) | (22,155,043 | ) | (1,383,406 | ) | (23,903,517 | ) | |||||||||
Service Shares | ||||||||||||||||
Shares sold | 671,118 | 12,223,565 | 867,890 | 15,111,226 | ||||||||||||
Reinvestment of distributions | 537,356 | 8,995,336 | 420,014 | 7,455,244 | ||||||||||||
Shares redeemed | (1,538,497 | ) | (27,964,164 | ) | (1,248,597 | ) | (21,803,905 | ) | ||||||||
(330,023 | ) | (6,745,263 | ) | 39,307 | 762,565 | |||||||||||
NET DECREASE | (1,460,336 | ) | $ | (28,900,306 | ) | (1,344,099 | ) | $ | (23,140,952 | ) |
25
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Goldman Sachs U.S. Equity Insights Fund:
In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Goldman Sachs U.S. Equity Insights Fund (the “Fund”), a fund of Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust, at December 31, 2015, and the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of securities at December 31, 2015 by correspondence with the custodian, brokers and transfer agent of the underlying fund and the application of alternative auditing procedures where confirmation of securities purchased had not been received, provide a reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 17, 2016
26
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Fund Expenses — Six Month Period Ended December 31, 2015 (Unaudited) |
As a shareholder of Institutional or Service Shares of the Fund, you incur ongoing costs, including management fees, distribution and service (12b-1) fees (with respect to Service Shares) and other Fund expenses. This example is intended to help you understand your ongoing costs (in dollars) of investing in the Institutional Shares and Service Shares of the Fund and to compare these costs with the ongoing costs of investing in other mutual funds.
The example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the period and held for the entire period from July 1, 2015 through December 31, 2015, which represents a period of 184 days of a 365 day year.
Actual Expenses — The first line under each share class in the table below provides information about actual account values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600 account value divided by $1,000=8.6), then multiply the result by the number in the first line under the heading entitled “Expenses Paid” to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this period.
Hypothetical Example for Comparison Purposes — The second line under each share class in the table below provides information about hypothetical account values and hypothetical expenses based on the Fund’s actual net expense ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not the Fund’s actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of investing in the Fund and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your ongoing costs only. As a shareholder of the Fund you do not incur any transaction costs, such as sales charges, redemption fees, or exchange fees, but shareholders of other funds may incur such costs. The second line of the table is useful in comparing ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of owning different funds whose shareholders may incur transaction costs.
Share Class | Beginning Account Value 07/01/15 | Ending Account Value 12/31/15 | Expenses Paid for the 6 Months Ended 12/31/15* | |||||||||
Institutional | ||||||||||||
Actual | $ | 1,000 | $ | 997.50 | $ | 3.22 | ||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,021.98 | + | 3.26 | ||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||
Actual | 1,000 | 996.50 | 4.28 | |||||||||
Hypothetical 5% return | 1,000 | 1,020.92 | + | 4.33 |
* | Expenses are calculated using the Fund’s annualized net expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of net assets for the six months ended December 31, 2015. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the annualized net expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the most recent fiscal half year; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the fiscal year. The annualized net expense ratios for the period were 0.64% and 0.85% for Institutional and Service Shares, respectively. |
+ | Hypothetical expenses are based on the Fund’s actual annualized net expense ratios and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses. |
27
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Ashok N. Bakhru Age: 73 | Chairman of the Board of Trustees | Since 1996 (Trustee since 1991) | Mr. Bakhru is retired. He was formerly Director, Apollo Investment Corporation (a business development company) (2008-2013); President, ABN Associates (a management and financial consulting firm) (1994-1996 and 1998-2012); Trustee, Scholarship America (1998-2005); Trustee, Institute for Higher Education Policy (2003-2008); Director, Private Equity Investors — III and IV (1998-2007), and Equity-Linked Investors II (April 2002-2007).
Chairman of the Board of Trustees — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Kathryn A. Cassidy Age: 61 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Ms. Cassidy is retired. Formerly, she was Advisor to the Chairman (May 2014-December 2014); and Senior Vice President and Treasurer (2008-2014), General Electric Company & General Electric Capital Corporation (technology and financial services companies).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
John P. Coblentz, Jr. Age: 74 | Trustee | Since 2003 | Mr. Coblentz is retired. Formerly, he was Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (1975-2003); Director, Emerging Markets Group, Ltd. (2004-2006); and Director, Elderhostel, Inc. (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Diana M. Daniels Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Daniels is retired. Formerly, she was Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, The Washington Post Company (1991-2006). Ms. Daniels is a Trustee Emeritus and serves as a Presidential Councillor of Cornell University (2013-Present); Member, Advisory Board, Psychology Without Borders (international humanitarian aid organization) (2007-Present), and former Member of the Legal Advisory Board, New York Stock Exchange (2003-2006) and of the Corporate Advisory Board, Standish Mellon Management Advisors (2006-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Joseph P. LoRusso Age: 58 | Trustee | Since 2010 | Mr. LoRusso is retired. Formerly, he was President, Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. (“FIIS”) (2002-2008); Director, FIIS (2002-2008); Director, Fidelity Investments Institutional Operations Company (2003-2007); Executive Officer, Fidelity Distributors Corporation (2007-2008).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Herbert J. Markley Age: 65 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Markley is retired. Formerly, he was Executive Vice President, Deere & Company (an agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer) (2007-2009); and President, Agricultural Division, Deere & Company (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
Jessica Palmer Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 2007 | Ms. Palmer is retired. She is Director, Emerson Center for the Arts and Culture (2011-Present); and was formerly a Consultant, Citigroup Human Resources Department (2007-2008); Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking (previously, Salomon Smith Barney/Salomon Brothers) (1984-2006). Ms. Palmer was a Member of the Board of Trustees of Indian Mountain School (private elementary and secondary school) (2004-2009).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
28
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Independent Trustees
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
Richard P. Strubel Age: 76 | Trustee | Since 1987 | Mr. Strubel is retired. Formerly, he served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Northern Funds (a family of retail and institutional mutual funds managed by Northern Trust Investments, Inc.) (2008-2014) and Trustee (1982-2014); Director, Cardean Learning Group (provider of educational services via the internet) (2003-2008); and Director, Gildan Activewear Inc. (a clothing marketing and manufacturing company) (2000-2014). He serves as Trustee Emeritus, The University of Chicago (1987-Present).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 139 | None | |||||||
Roy W. Templin Age: 55 | Trustee | Since 2013 | Mr. Templin is retired. He is Chairman of the Board of Directors, Con-Way Incorporated (2014-Present); and was formerly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Whirlpool Corporation (an appliance manufacturer and marketer) (2004-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Con-Way Incorporated (a transportation, logistics and supply-chain management services company) | |||||||
Gregory G. Weaver Age: 64 | Trustee | Since 2015 | Mr. Weaver is retired. He is Director, Verizon Communications Inc. (2015-Present); and was formerly Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Deloitte & Touche LLP (a professional services firm) (2001-2005 and 2012-2014); and Member of the Board of Directors, Deloitte & Touche LLP (2006-2012).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | Verizon Communications Inc. | |||||||
29
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Interested Trustees*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held with the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | Number of Portfolios in Fund Complex Overseen by Trustee3 | Other Directorships Held by Trustee4 | |||||||
James A. McNamara Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993- April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | 138 | None | |||||||
Alan A. Shuch Age: 66 | Trustee | Since 1990 | Advisory Director — GSAM (May 1999-Present); Consultant to GSAM (December 1994-May 1999); and Limited Partner, Goldman Sachs (December 1994-May 1999).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex. | 114 | None | |||||||
* | These persons are considered to be “Interested Trustees” because they hold positions with Goldman Sachs and own securities issued by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. Each Interested Trustee holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
1 | Each Trustee may be contacted by writing to the Trustee, c/o Goldman Sachs, 200 West Street, New York, New York, 10282, Attn: Caroline Kraus. Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Each Trustee holds office for an indefinite term until the earliest of: (a) the election of his or her successor; (b) the date the Trustee resigns or is removed by the Board of Trustees or shareholders, in accordance with the Trust’s Declaration of Trust; (c) December 31st of the year in which the Trustee turns 74 years of age, subject to waiver by a majority of the Trustees (in accordance with the current resolutions of the Board of Trustees, which may be changed by the Trustees without shareholder vote); or (d) the termination of the Trust. By resolution of the Board of Trustees determining that an extension of service would be beneficial to the Trust, the retirement age has been extended with respect to Richard P. Strubel. |
3 | The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex includes the Trust and Goldman Sachs Trust (“GST”). As of December 31, 2015, the Trust consisted of 14 portfolios and GST consisted of 100 portfolios (91 of which offered shares to the public). The Goldman Sachs Fund Complex also includes, with respect to Messrs. Bakhru, Coblentz and Strubel, Goldman Sachs Trust II (“GSTII”), Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc. (“GSBDC”), Goldman Sachs MLP Income Opportunities Fund (“GSMLP”), Goldman Sachs MLP and Energy Renaissance Fund (“GSMER”) and Goldman Sachs ETF Trust (“GSETF”), and with respect to Mr. McNamara, GSTII, GSMLP, GSMER and GSETF. GSTII consisted of eight portfolios (six of which offered shares to the public). GSBDC, GSMLP and GSMER each consisted of one portfolio. GSETF consisted of 14 portfolios (three of which offered shares to the public). |
4 | This column includes only directorships of companies required to report to the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (i.e., “public companies”) or other investment companies registered under the Act. |
Additional information about the Trustees is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States of America): 1-800-526-7384.
30
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Trustees and Officers (Unaudited) (continued)
Officers of the Trust*
Name, Address and Age1 | Position(s) Held With the Trust | Term of Office and | Principal Occupation(s) During Past 5 Years | |||
James A. McNamara 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 53 | President and Trustee | Since 2007 | Managing Director, Goldman Sachs (December 1998-Present); Director of Institutional Fund Sales, GSAM (April 1998-December 2000); and Senior Vice President and Manager, Dreyfus Institutional Service Corporation (January 1993-April 1998).
President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-November 2007); and Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (2001-2007).
Trustee — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2007-Present and December 2002-May 2004). | |||
Caroline L. Kraus 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 38 | Secretary | Since 2012 | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-Present); Associate General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (2012-Present); Assistant General Counsel, Goldman Sachs (August 2006-December 2011); and Associate, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, LLP (2002-2006).
Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (August 2012-Present); and Assistant Secretary — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (June 2012-August 2012). | |||
Scott M. McHugh 200 West Street New York, NY 10282 Age: 44 | Principal Financial Officer, Senior Vice President and Treasurer | Since 2009 (Principal | Vice President, Goldman Sachs (February 2007-Present); Assistant Treasurer of certain mutual funds administered by DWS Scudder (2005-2007); and Director (2005-2007), Vice President (2000-2005), and Assistant Vice President (1998-2000); Deutsche Asset Management or its predecessor (1998-2007).
Principal Financial Officer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2013-Present); Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (October 2009-Present); Senior Vice President — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (November 2009-Present); and Assistant Treasurer — Goldman Sachs Fund Complex (May 2007-October 2009). | |||
* | Represents a partial list of officers of the Trust. Additional information about all the officers is available in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, which can be obtained from Goldman Sachs free of charge by calling this toll-free number (in the United States): 1-800-526-7384. |
1 | Information is provided as of December 31, 2015. |
2 | Officers hold office at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees or until their successors are duly elected and qualified. Each officer holds comparable positions with certain other companies of which Goldman Sachs, GSAM or an affiliate thereof is the investment adviser, administrator and/or distributor. |
31
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST U.S. EQUITY INSIGHTS FUND
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust — Tax Information (Unaudited)
For the year ended December 31, 2015, 67.21% of the dividends paid from net investment company taxable income by the U.S. Equity Insights Fund qualify for the dividends received deduction available to corporations.
Pursuant to Section 852 of the Internal Revenue Code, the U.S. Equity Insights Fund designates $16,079,162, or, if different, the maximum amount allowable, as capital gain dividends paid during the year ended December 31, 2015.
32
TRUSTEES | OFFICERS | |
Ashok N. Bakhru, Chairman | James A. McNamara, President | |
Kathryn A. Cassidy | Scott M. McHugh, Principal Financial Officer, | |
Diana M. Daniels | Senior Vice President, and Treasurer | |
Herbert J. Markley | Caroline L. Kraus, Secretary | |
James A. McNamara | ||
Jessica Palmer | ||
Alan A. Shuch | ||
Roy W. Templin | ||
Gregory G. Weaver |
GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.
Distributor and Transfer Agent
GOLDMAN SACHS ASSET MANAGEMENT, L.P.
Investment Adviser
200 West Street, New York
New York 10282
Visit our web site at www.GSAMFUNDS.com to obtain the most recent month-end returns.
The reports concerning the Fund included in this shareholder report may contain certain forward-looking statements about the factors that may affect the performance of the Fund in the future. These statements are based on Fund management’s predictions and expectations concerning certain future events and their expected impact on the Fund, such as performance of the economy as a whole and of specific industry sectors, changes in the levels of interest rates, the impact of developing world events, and other factors that may influence the future performance of the Fund. Management believes these forward-looking statements to be reasonable, although they are inherently uncertain and difficult to predict. Actual events may cause adjustments in portfolio management strategies from those currently expected to be employed.
A description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies relating to portfolio securities and information regarding how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities for the 12-month period ended December 31 is available (i) without charge, upon request by calling 1-800-621-2550; and (ii) on the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) web site at http://www.sec.gov.
The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. The Fund’s Form N-Qs are available on the SEC’s web site at http://www.sec.gov within 60 days after the Fund’s first and third fiscal quarters. The Fund’s Form N-Qs may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. and information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may also be obtained by calling 1-800-SEC-0330. Form N-Qs may be obtained upon request and without charge by calling 1-800-621-2550.
The website links provided are for your convenience only and are not an endorsement or recommendation by GSAM of any of these websites or the products or services offered. GSAM is not responsible for the accuracy and validity of the content of these websites.
Fund holdings and allocations shown are as of December 31, 2015 and may not be representative of future investments. Fund holdings should not be relied on in making investment decisions and should not be construed as research or investment advice regarding particular securities. Current and future holdings are subject to risk.
References to indices, benchmarks or other measures of relative market performance over a specified period of time are provided for your information only and do not imply that the portfolio will achieve similar results. The index composition may not reflect the manner in which a portfolio is constructed. While an adviser seeks to design a portfolio which reflects appropriate risk and return features, portfolio characteristics may deviate from those of the benchmark.
The Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS”) was developed by and is the exclusive property and a service mark of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (“MSCI”) and Standard & Poor’s, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. (“S&P”) and is licensed for use by Goldman Sachs. Neither MSCI, S&P nor any other party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to such standard or classification (or the results to be obtained by the use thereof), and all such parties hereby expressly disclaim all warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose with respect to any of such standard or classification. Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall MSCI, S&P, any of their affiliates or any third party involved in making or compiling the GICS or any GICS classifications have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, consequential or any other damages (including lost profits) even if notified of the possibility of such damages.
The portfolio risk management process includes an effort to monitor and manage risk, but does not imply low risk.
Shares of the Goldman Sachs VIT Funds are offered to separate accounts of participating life insurance companies for the purpose of funding variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies. Shares of the Fund are not offered directly to the general public. The variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies are described in the separate prospectuses issued by participating insurance companies. You should refer to those prospectuses for information about surrender charges, mortality and expense risk fees and other charges that may be assessed by participating insurance companies under the variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance policies. Such fees or charges, if any, may affect the return you may realize with respect to your investments. Ask your representative for more complete information. Please consider a fund’s objectives, risks and charges and expenses, and read the prospectus carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other information about the Fund.
This material is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors unless preceded or accompanied by a current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable. Investors should consider a Fund’s objective, risks, and charges and expenses, and read the summary prospectus, if available, and/or the Prospectus carefully before investing or sending money. The summary prospectus, if available, and the Prospectus contain this and other information about a Fund and may be obtained from your Authorized Institution or from Goldman, Sachs & Co. by calling 1-800-621-2550.
This report is prepared for the general information of contract owners and is not an offer of shares of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust: Goldman Sachs U.S. Equity Insights Fund.
© 2016 Goldman Sachs. All rights reserved.
VITUSAR-16/29868-TEMPL-02/2016
ITEM 2. | CODE OF ETHICS. |
(a) | As of the end of the period covered by this report, the registrant has adopted a code of ethics that applies to the registrant’s principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller, or persons performing similar functions, regardless of whether these individuals are employed by the registrant or a third party (the “Code of Ethics”). |
(b) | During the period covered by this report, no amendments were made to the provisions of the Code of Ethics. |
(c) | During the period covered by this report, the registrant did not grant any waivers, including an implicit waiver, from any provision of the Code of Ethics. |
(d) | A copy of the Code of Ethics is available as provided in Item 12(a)(1) of this report. |
ITEM 3. | AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT. |
The registrant’s board of trustees has determined that the registrant has at least one “audit committee financial expert” (as defined in Item 3 of Form N-CSR) serving on its audit committee. Gregory G. Weaver is the “audit committee financial expert” and is “independent” (as each term is defined in Item 3 of Form N-CSR). |
ITEM 4. | PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES. |
Item 4 — Principal Accountant Fees and Services for the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust (“GSVIT”):
Table 1 – Items 4(a) - 4(d)
2015 | 2014 | Description of Services Rendered | ||||||||
Audit Fees: | ||||||||||
• PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) | $ | 442,044 | $ | 397,853 | Financial statement audits. | |||||
Audit-Related Fees | ||||||||||
PwC | $ | 10,000 | $ | — | Other attest services. | |||||
Tax Fees | ||||||||||
PwC | $ | 116,270 | $ | 99,816 | Tax compliance services provided in connection with the preparation and review of the Registrant’s tax returns. |
Items 4(b)(c) & (d) Table 2. Non-Audit Services to the GSVIT’s * that were pre-approved by the GSVIT’s Audit Committee pursuant to Rule 2-01(c)(7)(ii) of Regulation S-X
2015 | 2014 | Description of Services Rendered | ||||||||
Audit-Related Fees | ||||||||||
PwC | $ | 1,653,616 | $ | 1,486,420 | Internal control review performed in accordance with Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements No. 16 and Semi-Annual Updates related to withholding tax accrual for non-US Jurisdictions. These fees are borne by the Funds’ adviser. |
* | These include the advisor (excluding sub-advisors) and any entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with the advisor that provides ongoing services to the registrant (hereinafter referred to as “service affiliates”). |
Item 4(e)(1) — Audit Committee Pre Approval Policies and Procedures
Pre-Approval of Audit and Non-Audit Services Provided to the Funds of the Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust. The Audit and Non-Audit Services Pre-Approval Policy (the “Policy”) adopted by the Audit Committee of GSVIT sets forth the procedures and the conditions pursuant to which services performed by an independent auditor for GSVIT may be pre-approved. Services may be pre-approved specifically by the Audit Committee as a whole or, in certain circumstances, by the Audit Committee Chairman or the person designated as the Audit Committee Financial Expert. In addition, subject to specified cost limitations, certain services may be pre-approved under the provisions of the Policy. The Policy provides that the Audit Committee will consider whether the services provided by an independent auditor are consistent with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules on auditor independence. The Policy provides for periodic review and pre-approval by the Audit Committee of the services that may be provided by the independent auditor.
De Minimis Waiver. The pre-approval requirements of the Policy may be waived with respect to the provision of non-audit services that are permissible for an independent auditor to perform, provided (1) the aggregate amount of all such services provided constitutes no more than five percent of the total amount of revenues subject to pre-approval that was paid to the independent auditors during the fiscal year in which the services are provided; (2) such services were not recognized by GSVIT at the time of the engagement to be non-audit services; and (3) such services are promptly brought to the attention of the Audit Committee and approved prior to the completion of the audit by the Audit Committee or by one or more members of the Audit Committee to whom authority to grant such approvals has been delegated by the Audit Committee, pursuant to the pre-approval provisions of the Policy.
Pre-Approval of Non-Audit Services Provided to GSVIT’s Investment Advisers. The Policy provides that, in addition to requiring pre-approval of audit and non-audit services provided to GSVIT, the Audit Committee will pre-approve those non-audit services provided to GSVIT’s investment advisers (and entities controlling, controlled by or under common control with the investment advisers that provide ongoing services to GSVIT) where the engagement relates directly to the operations or financial reporting of GSVIT.
Item 4(e)(2) — 0% of the audit-related fees, tax fees and other fees listed in Table 1 were approved by GSVIT’s Audit Committee pursuant to the “de minimis” exception of Rule 2-01(c)(7)(i)(C) of Regulation S-X. In addition, 0% of the non-audit services to the GSVIT’s service affiliates listed in Table 2 were approved by GSVIT’s Audit Committee pursuant to the “de minimis” exception of Rule 2-01(c)(7)(i)(C) of Regulation S-X.
Item 4(f) — Not applicable.
Items 4(g) Aggregate Non-Audit Fees Disclosure
The aggregate non-audit fees billed to GSVIT for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2014 by PwC were approximately $126,270 and $99,816, respectively.
The aggregate non-audit fees billed to GSVIT’s adviser and service affiliates for non-audit services for the twelve months ended December 31, 2014 and December 31, 2013 by PwC were approximately $10.2 million and $9.8 million, respectively. The figures for these entities are not yet available for the twelve months ended December 31, 2015. With regard to the aggregate non-audit fees billed to GSVIT’s adviser and service affiliates, the 2014 and 2013 amounts include fees for non-audit services required to be pre-approved [see Table 2] and fees for non-audit services that did not require pre-approval since they did not directly relate to GSVIT’s operations or financial reporting.
Items 4(h) — GSVIT’s Audit Committee has considered whether the provision of non-audit services to GSVIT’s investment advisor and service affiliates that did not require pre-approval pursuant to paragraph (c)(7)(ii) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X is compatible with maintaining the auditor’s independence.
ITEM 5. | AUDIT COMMITTEE OF LISTED REGISTRANTS. |
Not applicable.
ITEM 6. | SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS |
Schedule of Investments is included as part of the Reports to Shareholders filed under Item 1.
ITEM 7. | DISCLOSURE OF PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES. |
Not applicable.
ITEM 8. | PORTFOLIO MANAGERS OF CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES |
Not applicable.
ITEM 9. | PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS |
Not applicable.
ITEM 10. | SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS. |
There have been no material changes to the procedures by which shareholders may recommend nominees to the registrant’s board of trustees.
ITEM 11. | CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES. |
(a) | The registrant’s principal executive and principal financial officers or persons performing similar functions have concluded that the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”)) are effective as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of this report that includes the disclosure required by this paragraph, based on the evaluation of these controls and procedures required by Rule 30a-3(b) under the 1940 Act and 15d-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. |
(b) | There were no changes in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act) that occurred during the registrant’s second fiscal quarter of the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. |
ITEM 12. | EXHIBITS. |
(a)(1) | Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust’s Code of Ethics for Principal Executive and Senior Financial Officers is incorporated by reference to Exhibit 12(a)(1) of the registrant’s Form N-CSR filed on February 27, 2015. | |||
(a)(2) | Exhibit 99.CERT | Certifications pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 filed herewith | ||
Exhibit 99.906CERT | Certifications pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 filed herewith |
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
/s/ James A. McNamara | ||
By: James A. McNamara | ||
Chief Executive Officer of | ||
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust | ||
Date: February 26, 2016 |
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
/s/ James A. McNamara | ||
By: James A. McNamara | ||
Chief Executive Officer of | ||
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust | ||
Date: February 26, 2016 | ||
/s/ Scott McHugh | ||
By: Scott McHugh | ||
Principal Financial Officer of | ||
Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust | ||
Date: February 26, 2016 |