424B2 1 gs-424b2.htm 424B2 gs-424b2.htm

Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2)

Registration Statement No. 333-253421

 

 

GS Finance Corp.

$6,949,000

Underlier-Linked Notes due 2025    

guaranteed by

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

The notes do not bear interest. The amount that you will be paid on your notes on the stated maturity date (June 19, 2025) is based on the lesser performing of the Russell 2000® Index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average® and the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF (ETF) as measured from the trade date (June 16, 2021) to and including the determination date (June 16, 2025).

The return on your notes is linked, in part, to the performance of the ETF, and not to that of the S&P 500® High Beta Index (underlying index) on which the ETF is based.  The ETF employs a “full replication” methodology in seeking to track its underlying index, meaning that it generally will invest in all of the securities comprising its underlying index in proportion to their weightings in its underlying index.  However, under various circumstances, the ETF follows a strategy of “representative sampling”, which means the ETF’s holdings are not the same as those of its underlying index.  The performance of the ETF may significantly diverge from that of its underlying index.

If the final level of each underlier on the determination date is greater than or equal to its initial level (2,314.691 with respect to the Russell 2000® Index, 34,033.67 with respect to the Dow Jones Industrial Average® and $76.47 with respect to the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF), the return on your notes will be positive or zero and will equal the participation rate of 1.12 times the underlier return of the lesser performing underlier.

If the final level of any underlier is less than its initial level, but the final level of each underlier is greater than or equal to 60% of its initial level, you will receive the face amount of your notes.

If the final level of any underlier is less than 60% of its initial level, the return on your notes will be negative and you will lose approximately 1.6667% of the face amount of your notes for every 1% that the final level of the lesser performing underlier has declined below 60% of its initial level. See page PS-3. You could lose a significant portion of the face amount of your notes.

The amount that you will be paid on your notes at maturity is based on the performance of the underlier with the lowest underlier return. The underlier return for each underlier is the percentage increase or decrease in the final level of such underlier from its initial level. On the stated maturity date, for each $1,000 face amount of your notes, you will receive an amount in cash equal to:

if the underlier return of each underlier is greater than or equal to 0% (the final level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial level), the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) $1,000 times (b) the participation rate times (c) the lesser performing underlier return;

if the underlier return of any underlier is less than 0%, but the underlier return of each underlier is greater than or equal to -40% (the final level of any underlier is less than its initial level but the final level of each underlier is greater than or equal to 60% of its initial level), $1,000; or

if the underlier return of any underlier is less than -40% (the final level of any underlier is less than 60% of its initial level), the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) $1,000 times (b) the buffer rate of approximately 1.6667 (see page PS-3) times (c) the sum of the lesser performing underlier return plus 40%. You will receive less than the face amount of your notes.

You should read the disclosure herein to better understand the terms and risks of your investment, including the credit risk of GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. See page PS-11.

The estimated value of your notes at the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date is equal to approximately $977 per $1,000 face amount. For a discussion of the estimated value and the price at which Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC would initially buy or sell your notes, if it makes a market in the notes, see the following page.

Original issue date:

   June 21, 2021

Original issue price:

100% of the face amount

Underwriting discount:

   0.35% of the face amount*

Net proceeds to the issuer:

 99.65% of the face amount

*  See “Supplemental Plan of Distribution; Conflicts of Interest” on page PS-28 for additional information regarding the fees comprising the underwriting discount.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. The notes are not bank deposits and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, nor are they obligations of, or guaranteed by, a bank.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

Pricing Supplement No. 2,899 dated June 16, 2021.

 


 

 

The issue price, underwriting discount and net proceeds listed above relate to the notes we sell initially. We may decide to sell additional notes after the date of this pricing supplement, at issue prices and with underwriting discounts and net proceeds that differ from the amounts set forth above. The return (whether positive or negative) on your investment in notes will depend in part on the issue price you pay for such notes.

GS Finance Corp. may use this prospectus in the initial sale of the notes. In addition, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC or any other affiliate of GS Finance Corp. may use this prospectus in a market-making transaction in a note after its initial sale. Unless GS Finance Corp. or its agent informs the purchaser otherwise in the confirmation of sale, this prospectus is being used in a market-making transaction.

 

Estimated Value of Your Notes

The estimated value of your notes at the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date (as determined by reference to pricing models used by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (GS&Co.) and taking into account our credit spreads) is equal to approximately $977 per $1,000 face amount, which is less than the original issue price. The value of your notes at any time will reflect many factors and cannot be predicted; however, the price (not including GS&Co.s customary bid and ask spreads) at which GS&Co. would initially buy or sell notes (if it makes a market, which it is not obligated to do) and the value that GS&Co. will initially use for account statements and otherwise is equal to approximately the estimated value of your notes at the time of pricing, plus an additional amount (initially equal to $23 per $1,000 face amount).

Prior to October 16, 2021, the price (not including GS&Co.’s customary bid and ask spreads) at which GS&Co. would buy or sell your notes (if it makes a market, which it is not obligated to do) will equal approximately the sum of (a) the then-current estimated value of your notes (as determined by reference to GS&Co.’s pricing models) plus (b) any remaining additional amount (the additional amount will decline to zero on a straight-line basis from the time of pricing through October 15, 2021). On and after October 16, 2021, the price (not including GS&Co.’s customary bid and ask spreads) at which GS&Co. would buy or sell your notes (if it makes a market) will equal approximately the then-current estimated value of your notes determined by reference to such pricing models.

 

About Your Prospectus

The notes are part of the Medium-Term Notes, Series F program of GS Finance Corp. and are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. This prospectus includes this pricing supplement and the accompanying documents listed below. This pricing supplement constitutes a supplement to the documents listed below, does not set forth all of the terms of your notes and therefore should be read in conjunction with such documents:

General terms supplement no. 2,012 dated March 22, 2021

Underlier supplement no. 20 dated May 25, 2021

Prospectus supplement dated March 22, 2021

Prospectus dated March 22, 2021

The information in this pricing supplement supersedes any conflicting information in the documents listed above. In addition, some of the terms or features described in the listed documents may not apply to your notes.

We refer to the notes we are offering by this pricing supplement as the “offered notes” or the “notes”. Each of the offered notes has the terms described below. Please note that in this pricing supplement, references to “GS Finance Corp.”, “we”, “our” and “us” mean only GS Finance Corp. and do not include its subsidiaries or affiliates, references to “The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.”, our parent company, mean only The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and do not include its subsidiaries or affiliates and references to “Goldman Sachs” mean The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. together with its consolidated subsidiaries and affiliates, including us. The notes will be issued under the senior debt indenture, dated as of October 10, 2008, as supplemented by the First Supplemental Indenture, dated as of February 20, 2015, each among us, as issuer, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor, and The Bank of New York Mellon, as trustee. This indenture, as so supplemented and as further supplemented thereafter, is referred to as the “GSFC 2008 indenture” in the accompanying prospectus supplement. The notes will be issued in book-entry form and represented by a master global note.


PS-2


 

 

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

(Terms From Pricing Supplement No. 2,899 Incorporated Into Master Note No. 2)

 

These terms and conditions relate to pricing supplement no. 2,899 dated June 16, 2021 of GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. with respect to the issuance by GS Finance Corp. of its Underlier-Linked Notes due 2025 and the guarantee thereof by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

The provisions below are hereby incorporated into master note no. 2, dated July 1, 2020. References herein to “this note” shall be deemed to refer to “this security” in such master note no. 2, dated July 1, 2020. Certain defined terms may not be capitalized in these terms and conditions even if they are capitalized in master note no. 2, dated July 1, 2020. Defined terms that are not defined in these terms and conditions shall have the meanings indicated in such master note no. 2, dated July 1, 2020, unless the context otherwise requires.

CUSIP / ISIN: 40057HN22 / US40057HN224

Company (Issuer): GS Finance Corp.

Guarantor: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Underliers (each individually, an underlier): the Russell 2000® Index (current Bloomberg symbol: "RTY Index"), or any successor underlier, the Dow Jones Industrial Average® (current Bloomberg symbol: "INDU Index"), or any successor underlier, and the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF (current Bloomberg symbol: “SPHB UP Equity”), or any successor underlier, as each may be modified, replaced or adjusted from time to time as provided herein

Underlying index: with respect to the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, the S&P 500® High Beta Index

Face amount: $6,949,000 in the aggregate on the original issue date; the aggregate face amount may be increased if the company, at its sole option, decides to sell an additional amount on a date subsequent to the trade date

Authorized denominations: $1,000 or any integral multiple of $1,000 in excess thereof

Principal amount:  On the stated maturity date, the company will pay, for each $1,000 of the outstanding face amount, an amount, if any, in cash equal to the cash settlement amount.

Cash settlement amount:

if the final underlier level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level, the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) $1,000 times (b) the upside participation rate times (c) the lesser performing underlier return;

if the final underlier level of any underlier is less than its initial underlier level but the final underlier level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its buffer level, $1,000; or

if the final underlier level of any underlier is less than its buffer level, the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) $1,000 times (b) the buffer rate times (c) the sum of the lesser performing underlier return plus the buffer amount.

Initial underlier level: 2,314.691 with respect to the Russell 2000® Index, 34,033.67 with respect to the Dow Jones Industrial Average® and $76.47 with respect to the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF

Final underlier level: with respect to an underlier, the closing level of such underlier on the determination date, subject to adjustment as provided in “—Consequences of a market disruption event or non-trading day” and “— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier” below

Underlier return: with respect to an underlier, the quotient of (i) its final underlier level minus its initial underlier level divided by (ii) its initial underlier level, expressed as a percentage

Upside participation rate: 112%

Lesser performing underlier return: the underlier return of the lesser performing underlier

Lesser performing underlier: the underlier with the lowest underlier return

Buffer level: for each underlier, 60% of its initial underlier level

Buffer amount: 40%

Buffer rate: for each underlier, the quotient of its initial underlier level divided by its buffer level, which equals approximately 166.67%

PS-3


 

Trade date: June 16, 2021

Original issue date: June 21, 2021

Determination date: June 16, 2025, unless the calculation agent determines that, with respect to any underlier, a market disruption event occurs or is continuing on that day or that day is not otherwise a trading day. In the event the originally scheduled determination date is a non-trading day with respect to any underlier, the determination date will be the first day thereafter that is a trading day for all underliers (the “first qualified trading day”) provided that no market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier on that day. If a market disruption event with respect to an underlier occurs or is continuing on the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day, the determination date will be the first following trading day on which the calculation agent determines that each underlier has had at least one trading day (from and including the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day, as applicable) on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing and the closing level of each underlier will be determined on or prior to the postponed determination date as set forth under “— Consequences of a market disruption event or a non-trading day” below. (In such case, the determination date may differ from the date on which the level of an underlier is determined for the purpose of the calculations to be performed on the determination date.) In no event, however, will the determination date be postponed to a date later than the originally scheduled stated maturity date or, if the originally scheduled stated maturity date is not a business day, later than the first business day after the originally scheduled stated maturity date, either due to the occurrence of serial non-trading days or due to the occurrence of one or more market disruption events. On such last possible determination date, if a market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier that has not yet had such a trading day on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing or if such last possible day is not a trading day with respect to such underlier, that day will nevertheless be the determination date.

Stated maturity date: June 19, 2025, unless that day is not a business day, in which case the stated maturity date will be postponed to the next following business day.  The stated maturity date will also be postponed if the determination date is postponed as described under “— Determination date” above. In such a case, the stated maturity date will be postponed by the same number of business day(s) from but excluding the originally scheduled determination date to and including the actual determination date.

Closing level: on any trading day, (i) with respect to the Russell 2000® Index, the closing level of such underlier or any successor underlier reported by Bloomberg Financial Services, or any successor reporting service the company may select, on such trading day for that underlier (as of the trade date, whereas the underlier sponsor publishes the official closing level of the Russell 2000® Index to six decimal places, Bloomberg Financial Services reports the closing level to fewer decimal places), (ii) with respect to the Dow Jones Industrial Average®, the official closing level of such underlier or any successor underlier published by the underlier sponsor on such trading day for such underlier and (iii) with respect to the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, the closing sale price or last reported sale price, regular way, for such underlier, on a per-share or other unit basis:

 

on the principal national securities exchange on which such underlier is listed for trading on that day, or

 

if such underlier is not listed on any national securities exchange on that day, on any other U.S. national market system that is the primary market for the trading of such underlier.  

If the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF is not listed or traded as described above, then the closing level for such underlier on any day will be the average, as determined by the calculation agent, of the bid prices for such underlier obtained from as many dealers in such underlier selected by the calculation agent as will make those bid prices available to the calculation agent.  The number of dealers need not exceed three and may include the calculation agent or any of its or the company’s affiliates.

 

The closing level of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF is subject to adjustment as described under “— Anti-dilution adjustments” below.

 

Trading day: (i) with respect to the Russell 2000® Index or the Dow Jones Industrial Average®, a day on which the respective principal securities markets for all of its underlier stocks are open for trading, the underlier sponsor is open for business and such underlier is calculated and published by the underlier sponsor and (ii) with respect to the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, a day on which (a) the exchange on which such underlier has its primary listing is open for trading and (b) the price of one share of such underlier is quoted by the exchange on which such underlier has its primary listing.

Successor underlier: with respect to an underlier, any substitute underlier approved by the calculation agent as a successor as provided under “— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier” below

Underlier sponsor: with respect to the Russell 2000® Index or the Dow Jones Industrial Average®, at any time, the person or entity, including any successor sponsor, that determines and publishes such underlier as then in effect.

PS-4


 

The notes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by any underlier sponsor or any affiliate thereof and no underlier sponsor or affiliate thereof makes any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the notes. 

ETF investment advisor: with respect to the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, at any time, the person or entity, including any successor investment advisor, that serves as an investment advisor to such underlier as then in effect

Underlier stocks: with respect to an underlier, at any time, the stocks that comprise such underlier as then in effect, after giving effect to any additions, deletions or substitutions

Market disruption event: (i) With respect to the Russell 2000® Index or the Dow Jones Industrial Average® on any given trading day, any of the following will be a market disruption event:

a suspension, absence or material limitation of trading in underlier stocks constituting 20% or more, by weight, of such underlier on their respective primary markets, in each case for more than two consecutive hours of trading or during the one-half hour before the close of trading in that market, as determined by the calculation agent in its sole discretion,

a suspension, absence or material limitation of trading in option or futures contracts relating to such underlier or to underlier stocks constituting 20% or more, by weight, of such underlier in the respective primary markets for those contracts, in each case for more than two consecutive hours of trading or during the one-half hour before the close of trading in that market, as determined by the calculation agent in its sole discretion, or

underlier stocks constituting 20% or more, by weight, of such underlier, or option or futures contracts, if available, relating to such underlier or to underlier stocks constituting 20% or more, by weight, of such underlier do not trade on what were the respective primary markets for those underlier stocks or contracts, as determined by the calculation agent in its sole discretion,

and, in the case of any of these events, the calculation agent determines in its sole discretion that such event could materially interfere with the ability of the company or any of its affiliates or a similarly situated person to unwind all or a material portion of a hedge that could be effected with respect to this note.

The following events will not be market disruption events:

a limitation on the hours or numbers of days of trading, but only if the limitation results from an announced change in the regular business hours of the relevant market, and

a decision to permanently discontinue trading in option or futures contracts relating to such underlier or to any underlier stock.

For this purpose, an “absence of trading” in the primary securities market on which an underlier stock is traded, or on which option or futures contracts relating to such underlier or an underlier stock are traded, will not include any time when that market is itself closed for trading under ordinary circumstances. In contrast, a suspension or limitation of trading in an underlier stock or in option or futures contracts, if available, relating to such underlier or an underlier stock in the primary market for that stock or those contracts, by reason of:

a price change exceeding limits set by that market,

an imbalance of orders relating to that underlier stock or those contracts, or

a disparity in bid and ask quotes relating to that underlier stock or those contracts,

will constitute a suspension or material limitation of trading in that stock or those contracts in that market.

(ii) With respect to the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, on any given trading day, any of the following will be a market disruption event:

 

a suspension, absence or material limitation of trading in such underlier on its primary market for more than two consecutive hours of trading or during the one-half hour before the close of trading in that market, as determined by the calculation agent in its sole discretion,

 

a suspension, absence or material limitation of trading in option or futures contracts relating to such underlier in the primary market for those contracts for more than two consecutive hours of trading or during the one-half hour before the close of trading in that market, as determined by the calculation agent in its sole discretion, or

 

such underlier does not trade on what was the primary market for such underlier, as determined by the calculation agent in its sole discretion,

and, in the case of any of these events, the calculation agent determines in its sole discretion that the event could materially interfere with the ability of the company or any of its affiliates or a similarly situated person to unwind all or a material portion of a hedge that could be effected with respect to this note.

PS-5


 

The following events will not be market disruption events:

 

a limitation on the hours or numbers of days of trading, but only if the limitation results from an announced change in the regular business hours of the relevant market, and

 

a decision to permanently discontinue trading in option or futures contracts relating to such underlier.

For this purpose, an “absence of trading” in the primary securities market on which shares of such underlier are traded, or on which option or futures contracts, if available, relating to such underlier are traded, will not include any time when that market is itself closed for trading under ordinary circumstances.  In contrast, a suspension or limitation of trading in shares of such underlier or in option or futures contracts, if available, relating to such underlier in the primary market for such underlier or those contracts, by reason of:

 

a price change exceeding limits set by that market,

 

an imbalance of orders relating to the shares of such underlier or those contracts, or

 

a disparity in bid and ask quotes relating to the shares of such underlier or those contracts,

will constitute a suspension or material limitation of trading in shares of such underlier or those contracts in that market.

(iii) A market disruption event with respect to one underlier will not, by itself, constitute a market disruption event for any unaffected underlier.

Consequences of a market disruption event or a non-trading day: With respect to any underlier, if a market disruption event occurs or is continuing on a day that would otherwise be the determination date, or such day is not a trading day, then the determination date will be postponed as described under “— Determination date” above. If the determination date is postponed to the last possible date due to the occurrence of serial non-trading days, the level of each underlier will be the calculation agent’s assessment of such level, in its sole discretion, on such last possible postponed determination date. If the determination date is postponed due to a market disruption event with respect to any underlier, the final underlier level with respect to the determination date will be calculated based on (i) for any underlier that is not affected by a market disruption event on the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day thereafter (if applicable), the closing level of the underlier on that date, (ii) for any underlier that is affected by a market disruption event on the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day thereafter (if applicable), the closing level of the underlier on the first following trading day on which no market disruption event exists for such underlier and (iii) the calculation agent’s assessment, in its sole discretion, of the level of any underlier on the last possible postponed determination date with respect to such underlier as to which a market disruption event continues through the last possible postponed determination date. As a result, this could result in the final underlier level on the determination date of each underlier being determined on different calendar dates. For the avoidance of doubt, once the closing level for an underlier is determined for the determination date, the occurrence of a later market disruption event or non-trading day will not alter such calculation.

Discontinuance or modification of an underlier: (i) If, with respect to the Russell 2000® Index or the Dow Jones Industrial Average®, the underlier sponsor discontinues publication of the underlier and such underlier sponsor or anyone else publishes a substitute underlier that the calculation agent determines is comparable to such underlier and approves as a successor underlier, or if the calculation agent designates a substitute underlier, then the calculation agent will determine the cash settlement amount on the stated maturity date by reference to such successor underlier.If the calculation agent determines that the publication of the underlier is discontinued and there is no successor underlier, the calculation agent will determine the cash settlement amount on the stated maturity date by a computation methodology that the calculation agent determines will as closely as reasonably possible replicate such underlier.If the calculation agent determines that (a) the underlier, the underlier stocks comprising such underlier or the method of calculating such underlier is changed at any time in any respect — including any addition, deletion or substitution and any reweighting or rebalancing of such underlier or the underlier stocks and whether the change is made by the underlier sponsor under its existing policies or following a modification of those policies, is due to the publication of a successor underlier, is due to events affecting one or more of the underlier stocks or their issuers or is due to any other reason — and is not otherwise reflected in the level of the underlier by the underlier sponsor pursuant to the then-current underlier methodology of the underlier or (b) there has been a split or reverse split of the underlier, then the calculation agent will be permitted (but not required) to make such adjustments in such underlier or the method of its calculation as it believes are appropriate to ensure that the levels of such underlier used to determine the cash settlement amount on the stated maturity date is equitable.

(ii) If, with respect to the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, such underlier is delisted from the exchange on which the underlier has its primary listing and the ETF investment advisor or anyone else publishes a substitute underlier

PS-6


 

that the calculation agent determines is comparable to the underlier and approves as a successor underlier, or if the calculation agent designates a substitute underlier, then the calculation agent will determine the cash settlement amount on the stated maturity date by reference to such successor underlier.

If the calculation agent determines that the underlier is delisted or withdrawn from the exchange on which the underlier has its primary listing and there is no successor underlier, the calculation agent will determine the cash settlement amount on the stated maturity date by a computation methodology that the calculation agent determines will as closely as reasonably possible replicate the underlier.

If the calculation agent determines that, the underlier, the underlier stocks comprising such underlier or the method of calculating such underlier is changed at any time in any respect — including any split or reverse split of the underlier, a material change in the investment objective of the underlier and any addition, deletion or substitution and any reweighting or rebalancing of such underlier stocks and whether the change is made by the ETF investment advisor under its existing policies or following a modification of those policies, is due to the publication of a successor underlier, is due to events affecting one or more of the underlier stocks or their issuers or is due to any other reason — then the calculation agent will be permitted (but not required) to make such adjustments in the underlier or the method of its calculation as it believes are appropriate to ensure that the levels of such underlier used to determine the cash settlement amount on the stated maturity date is equitable.

(iii) All determinations and adjustments to be made by the calculation agent with respect to an underlier may be made by the calculation agent in its sole discretion. The calculation agent is not obligated to make any such adjustments.

Anti-dilution adjustments: the calculation agent will have discretion to adjust the closing level of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF if certain events occur (including those described above under “— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier”). In the event that any event other than a delisting or withdrawal from the relevant exchange occurs, the calculation agent shall determine whether and to what extent an adjustment should be made to the level of such underlier or any other term. The calculation agent shall have no obligation to make an adjustment for any such event.

Calculation agent: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (“GS&Co.”)

Tax characterization: The holder, on behalf of itself and any other person having a beneficial interest in this note, hereby agrees with the company (in the absence of a change in law, an administrative determination or a judicial ruling to the contrary) to characterize this note for all U.S. federal income tax purposes as a pre-paid derivative contract in respect of the underliers.

Overdue principal rate: the effective Federal Funds rate


PS-7


 

 

 

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLES

The following examples are provided for purposes of illustration only. They should not be taken as an indication or prediction of future investment results and are intended merely to illustrate the impact that various hypothetical closing levels of the underliers on the determination date could have on the cash settlement amount at maturity assuming all other variables remain constant.

The examples below are based on a range of underlier levels that are entirely hypothetical; no one can predict what the closing level of any underlier will be on any day throughout the life of your notes or what the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier will be on the determination date. The underliers have been highly volatile in the past — meaning that the underlier levels have changed substantially in relatively short periods — and their performance cannot be predicted for any future period.

The information in the following examples reflects hypothetical rates of return on the offered notes assuming that they are purchased on the original issue date at the face amount and held to the stated maturity date. If you sell your notes in a secondary market prior to the stated maturity date, your return will depend upon the market value of your notes at the time of sale, which may be affected by a number of factors that are not reflected in the examples below, such as interest rates, the volatility of the underliers, the creditworthiness of GS Finance Corp., as issuer, and the creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor. In addition, the estimated value of your notes at the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date (as determined by reference to pricing models used by GS&Co.) is less than the original issue price of your notes. For more information on the estimated value of your notes, see “Additional Risk Factors Specific to Your Notes — The Estimated Value of Your Notes At the Time the Terms of Your Notes Are Set On the Trade Date (as Determined By Reference to Pricing Models Used By GS&Co.) Is Less Than the Original Issue Price Of Your Notes” on page PS- 11 of this pricing supplement. The information in the examples also reflects the key terms and assumptions in the box below.

Key Terms and Assumptions

Face amount

$1,000

Upside participation rate

112%

Buffer level

with respect to each underlier, 60% of its initial underlier level

Buffer amount

40%

Buffer rate

approximately 166.67%

 

Neither a market disruption event nor a non-trading day occurs on the originally scheduled determination date

No change in or affecting any underlier, any underlier stock, any policy of the applicable ETF investment advisor or any method by which the applicable underlier sponsor calculates its underlier or the applicable underlying index sponsor calculates its underlying index

 

Notes purchased on original issue date at the face amount and held to the stated maturity date

For these reasons, the actual performance of the underliers over the life of your notes, as well as the amount payable at maturity, if any, may bear little relation to the hypothetical examples shown below or to the historical underlier levels shown elsewhere in this pricing supplement. For information about the underlier levels during recent periods, see “The Underliers — Historical Closing Levels of the Underliers” on page PS-16. Before investing in the notes, you should consult publicly available information to determine the underlier levels between the date of this pricing supplement and the date of your purchase of the notes.

Also, the hypothetical examples shown below do not take into account the effects of applicable taxes. Because of the U.S. tax treatment applicable to your notes, tax liabilities could affect the after-tax rate of return on your notes to a comparatively greater extent than the after-tax return on the underlier stocks.

The levels in the left column of the table below represent hypothetical final underlier levels of the lesser performing underlier and are expressed as percentages of the initial underlier level of the lesser performing underlier. The amounts in the right column represent the hypothetical cash settlement amounts, based on the corresponding hypothetical final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier, and are expressed as percentages of the face amount of a note (rounded to the nearest one-thousandth of a percent). Thus, a hypothetical cash settlement amount of 100.000% means that the value of the cash payment that we would deliver for each $1,000 of the outstanding face amount of the offered notes on the stated maturity date would equal 100.000% of the face amount of a note, based on the corresponding hypothetical final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier and the assumptions noted above.

PS-8


 

 

Hypothetical Final Underlier Level of the Lesser Performing Underlier

(as Percentage of Initial Underlier Level)

Hypothetical Cash Settlement Amount at Maturity

(as Percentage of Face Amount)

 

200.000%

212.000%

 

175.000%

184.000%

 

150.000%

156.000%

 

125.000%

128.000%

 

100.000%

100.000%

 

90.000%

100.000%

 

85.000%

100.000%

 

60.000%

100.000%

 

50.000%

83.333%

 

25.000%

41.667%

 

10.000%

16.667%

 

0.000%

0.000%

If, for example, the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier were determined to be 25.000% of its initial underlier level, the cash settlement amount that we would deliver on your notes at maturity would be approximately 41.667% of the face amount of your notes, as shown in the table above. As a result, if you purchased your notes on the original issue date at the face amount and held them to the stated maturity date, you would lose approximately 58.333% of your investment (if you purchased your notes at a premium to face amount you would lose a correspondingly higher percentage of your investment).

The following chart shows a graphical illustration of the hypothetical cash settlement amounts that we would pay on your notes on the stated maturity date, if the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier were any of the hypothetical levels shown on the horizontal axis. The hypothetical cash settlement amounts in the chart are expressed as percentages of the face amount of your notes and the hypothetical final underlier levels of the lesser performing underlier are expressed as percentages of its initial underlier level. The chart shows that any hypothetical final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier of less than 60.000% (the section left of the 60.000% marker on the horizontal axis) would result in a hypothetical cash settlement amount of less than 100.000% of the face amount of your notes (the section below the 100.000% marker on the vertical axis) and, accordingly, in a loss of principal to the holder of the notes.


PS-9


 

 

 

The cash settlement amounts shown above are entirely hypothetical; they are based on market prices for the underlier stocks that may not be achieved on the determination date and on assumptions that may prove to be erroneous. The actual market value of your notes on the stated maturity date or at any other time, including any time you may wish to sell your notes, may bear little relation to the hypothetical cash settlement amounts shown above, and these amounts should not be viewed as an indication of the financial return on an investment in the offered notes. The hypothetical cash settlement amounts on notes held to the stated maturity date in the examples above assume you purchased your notes at their face amount and have not been adjusted to reflect the actual issue price you pay for your notes. The return on your investment (whether positive or negative) in your notes will be affected by the amount you pay for your notes. If you purchase your notes for a price other than the face amount, the return on your investment will differ from, and may be significantly lower than, the hypothetical returns suggested by the above examples. Please read “Additional Risk Factors Specific to Your Notes — The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors” on page PS-12.

Payments on the notes are economically equivalent to the amounts that would be paid on a combination of other instruments. For example, payments on the notes are economically equivalent to a combination of an interest-bearing bond bought by the holder and one or more options entered into between the holder and us (with one or more implicit option premiums paid over time). The discussion in this paragraph does not modify or affect the terms of the notes or the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the notes, as described elsewhere in this pricing supplement.

We cannot predict the actual final underlier levels or what the market value of your notes will be on any particular trading day, nor can we predict the relationship between the closing levels of the underliers and the market value of your notes at any time prior to the stated maturity date. The actual amount that you will receive, if any, at maturity and the rate of return on the offered notes will depend on the actual final underlier levels determined by the calculation agent as described above.  Moreover, the assumptions on which the hypothetical returns are based may turn out to be inaccurate.  Consequently, the amount of cash to be paid in respect of your notes, if any, on the stated maturity date, if any, may be very different from the information reflected in the examples above.


PS-10


 

ADDITIONAL RISK FACTORS SPECIFIC TO YOUR NOTES

An investment in your notes is subject to the risks described below, as well as the risks and considerations described in the accompanying prospectus, in the accompanying prospectus supplement, under “Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Securities” in the accompanying underlier supplement no. 20 and under “Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Notes” in the accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,012. You should carefully review these risks and considerations as well as the terms of the notes described herein and in the accompanying prospectus, the accompanying prospectus supplement, the accompanying underlier supplement no. 20 and the accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,012. Your notes are a riskier investment than ordinary debt securities. Also, your notes are not equivalent to investing directly in the underlier stocks, i.e., with respect to an underlier to which your notes are linked, the stocks comprising such underlier. You should carefully consider whether the offered notes are appropriate given your particular circumstances.

Risks Related to Structure, Valuation and Secondary Market Sales

The Estimated Value of Your Notes At the Time the Terms of Your Notes Are Set On the Trade Date (as Determined By Reference to Pricing Models Used By GS&Co.) Is Less Than the Original Issue Price Of Your Notes

The original issue price for your notes exceeds the estimated value of your notes as of the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date, as determined by reference to GS&Co.’s pricing models and taking into account our credit spreads. Such estimated value on the trade date is set forth above under “Estimated Value of Your Notes; after the trade date, the estimated value as determined by reference to these models will be affected by changes in market conditions, the creditworthiness of GS Finance Corp., as issuer, the creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor, and other relevant factors. The price at which GS&Co. would initially buy or sell your notes (if GS&Co. makes a market, which it is not obligated to do), and the value that GS&Co. will initially use for account statements and otherwise, also exceeds the estimated value of your notes as determined by reference to these models. As agreed by GS&Co. and the distribution participants, this excess (i.e., the additional amount described under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”) will decline to zero on a straight line basis over the period from the date hereof through the applicable date set forth above under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”. Thereafter, if GS&Co. buys or sells your notes it will do so at prices that reflect the estimated value determined by reference to such pricing models at that time. The price at which GS&Co. will buy or sell your notes at any time also will reflect its then current bid and ask spread for similar sized trades of structured notes.

In estimating the value of your notes as of the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date, as disclosed above under “Estimated Value of Your Notes, GS&Co.’s pricing models consider certain variables, including principally our credit spreads, interest rates (forecasted, current and historical rates), volatility, price-sensitivity analysis and the time to maturity of the notes. These pricing models are proprietary and rely in part on certain assumptions about future events, which may prove to be incorrect. As a result, the actual value you would receive if you sold your notes in the secondary market, if any, to others may differ, perhaps materially, from the estimated value of your notes determined by reference to our models due to, among other things, any differences in pricing models or assumptions used by others. See “The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors” below.

The difference between the estimated value of your notes as of the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date and the original issue price is a result of certain factors, including principally the underwriting discount and commissions, the expenses incurred in creating, documenting and marketing the notes, and an estimate of the difference between the amounts we pay to GS&Co. and the amounts GS&Co. pays to us in connection with your notes. We pay to GS&Co. amounts based on what we would pay to holders of a non-structured note with a similar maturity. In return for such payment, GS&Co. pays to us the amounts we owe under your notes.

In addition to the factors discussed above, the value and quoted price of your notes at any time will reflect many factors and cannot be predicted. If GS&Co. makes a market in the notes, the price quoted by GS&Co. would reflect any changes in market conditions and other relevant factors, including any deterioration in our creditworthiness or perceived creditworthiness or the creditworthiness or perceived creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. These changes may adversely affect the value of your notes, including the price you may receive for your notes in any market making transaction. To the extent that GS&Co. makes a market in the notes, the quoted price will reflect the estimated value determined by reference to GS&Co.’s pricing models at that time, plus or minus its then current bid and ask spread for similar sized trades of structured notes (and subject to the declining excess amount described above).

Furthermore, if you sell your notes, you will likely be charged a commission for secondary market transactions, or the price will likely reflect a dealer discount. This commission or discount will further reduce the proceeds you would receive for your notes in a secondary market sale.

PS-11


 

There is no assurance that GS&Co. or any other party will be willing to purchase your notes at any price and, in this regard, GS&Co. is not obligated to make a market in the notes. See “Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Notes — Your Notes May Not Have an Active Trading Market” on page S-7 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,012.

The Notes Are Subject to the Credit Risk of the Issuer and the Guarantor

Although the return on the notes will be based on the performance of each underlier, the payment of any amount due on the notes is subject to the credit risk of GS Finance Corp., as issuer of the notes, and the credit risk of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. as guarantor of the notes. The notes are our unsecured obligations.  Investors are dependent on our ability to pay all amounts due on the notes, and therefore investors are subject to our credit risk and to changes in the market’s view of our creditworthiness.  Similarly, investors are dependent on the ability of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor of the notes, to pay all amounts due on the notes, and therefore are also subject to its credit risk and to changes in the market’s view of its creditworthiness.  See “Description of the Notes We May Offer — Information About Our Medium-Term Notes, Series F Program — How the Notes Rank Against Other Debt” on page S-5 of the accompanying prospectus supplement and “Description of Debt Securities We May Offer — Guarantee by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.” on page 68 of the accompanying prospectus.

You May Lose Your Entire Investment in the Notes

You can lose your entire investment in the notes. The cash settlement amount on your notes, if any, on the stated maturity date will be based on the performance of the lesser performing of the underliers as measured from their initial underlier levels to their closing levels on the determination date. If the final underlier level of any underlier is less than its buffer level, you will have a loss for each $1,000 of the face amount of your notes equal to the product of (i) $1,000 times (ii) the buffer rate times (iii) the sum of the lesser performing underlier return plus the buffer amount. Thus, you may lose your entire investment in the notes, which would include any premium to face amount you paid when you purchased the notes.

Also, the market price of your notes prior to the stated maturity date may be significantly lower than the purchase price you pay for your notes.  Consequently, if you sell your notes before the stated maturity date, you may receive far less than the amount of your investment in the notes.

The Amount Payable on Your Notes Is Not Linked to the Levels of the Underliers at Any Time Other than the Determination Date

The final underlier level of each underlier will be based on the closing level of such underlier on the determination date (subject to adjustment as described elsewhere in this pricing supplement). Therefore, if the closing level of one underlier dropped precipitously on the determination date, the cash settlement amount for your notes may be significantly less than it would have been had the cash settlement amount been linked to the closing level of the underlier prior to such drop.  Although the actual closing levels of the underliers on the stated maturity date or at other times during the life of your notes may be higher than the closing levels of the underliers on the determination date, you will not benefit from the closing levels of the underliers at any time other than on the determination date.

The Cash Settlement Amount Will Be Based Solely on the Lesser Performing Underlier

The cash settlement amount will be based on the lesser performing underlier without regard to the performance of the other underliers. As a result, you could some or all of your initial investment if the lesser performing underlier return is negative, even if there is an increase in the level of the other underliers. This could be the case even if the other underliers increased by an amount greater than the decrease in the lesser performing underlier.

Your Notes Do Not Bear Interest

You will not receive any interest payments on your notes. As a result, even if the cash settlement amount payable for your notes on the stated maturity date exceeds the face amount of your notes, the overall return you earn on your notes may be less than you would have earned by investing in a non-indexed debt security of comparable maturity that bears interest at a prevailing market rate.

The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors

When we refer to the market value of your notes, we mean the value that you could receive for your notes if you chose to sell them in the open market before the stated maturity date. A number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, will influence the market value of your notes, including:

the levels of the underliers;

the volatility - i.e., the frequency and magnitude of changes - in the closing levels of the underliers;

the dividend rates of the underlier stocks;

economic, financial, regulatory, political, military, public health and other events that affect stock markets generally and the underlier stocks, and which may affect the closing level of the underlier or underliers;

PS-12


 

interest rates and yield rates in the market;

the time remaining until your notes mature; and

our creditworthiness and the creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., whether actual or perceived, and including actual or anticipated upgrades or downgrades in our credit ratings or the credit ratings of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. or changes in other credit measures.

Without limiting the foregoing, the market value of your notes may be negatively impacted by increasing interest rates. Such adverse impact of increasing interest rates could be significantly enhanced in notes with longer-dated maturities, the market values of which are generally more sensitive to increasing interest rates.

These factors may influence the market value of your notes if you sell your notes before maturity, including the price you may receive for your notes in any market making transaction. If you sell your notes prior to maturity, you may receive less than the face amount of your notes. You cannot predict the future performance of the underliers based on their historical performance.

If You Purchase Your Notes at a Premium to Face Amount, the Return on Your Investment Will Be Lower Than the Return on Notes Purchased at Face Amount and the Impact of Certain Key Terms of the Notes Will Be Negatively Affected

The cash settlement amount will not be adjusted based on the issue price you pay for the notes. If you purchase notes at a price that differs from the face amount of the notes, then the return on your investment in such notes held to the stated maturity date will differ from, and may be substantially less than, the return on notes purchased at face amount. If you purchase your notes at a premium to face amount and hold them to the stated maturity date, the return on your investment in the notes will be lower than it would have been had you purchased the notes at face amount or a discount to face amount. In addition, the impact of the buffer level on the return on your investment will depend upon the price you pay for your notes relative to face amount. For example, if the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier is less than its buffer level, you will incur a greater percentage decrease in your investment in the notes than would have been the case for notes purchased at face amount or a discount to face amount.

We May Sell an Additional Aggregate Face Amount of the Notes at a Different Issue Price

At our sole option, we may decide to sell an additional aggregate face amount of the notes subsequent to the date of this pricing supplement. The issue price of the notes in the subsequent sale may differ substantially (higher or lower) from the original issue price you paid as provided on the cover of this pricing supplement.

The Return on Your Notes Will Not Reflect Any Dividends Paid on the ETF or any Underlier Stocks

The return on your notes will not reflect the return you would realize if you actually owned the ETF or underlier stocks and received the distributions paid on the shares of the ETF. You will not receive any dividends that may be paid on any of the underlier stocks by the underlier stock issuers or the shares of the ETF. See “—You Have No Shareholder Rights or Rights to Receive Any Shares of the ETF or Any Underlier Stock” below for additional information.

You Have No Shareholder Rights or Rights to Receive Any Shares of the ETF or Any Underlier Stock

Investing in your notes will not make you a holder of any shares of the ETF or any underlier stocks. Neither you nor any other holder or owner of your notes will have any rights with respect to the ETF or the underlier stocks, including any voting rights, any right to receive dividends or other distributions, any rights to make a claim against the ETF or the underlier stocks or any other rights of a holder of any shares of the ETF or the underlier stocks. Your notes will be paid in cash and you will have no right to receive delivery of any shares of the ETF or any underlier stocks.

Additional Risks Related to the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF

The Policies of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF’s Investment Advisor, Invesco Capital Management LLC, and the Sponsor of Its Underlying Index, MAC Indexing, LLC, Could Affect the Amount Payable on Your Notes and Their Market Value

The Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF’s investment advisor, Invesco Capital Management LLC (the “ETF investment advisor”) may from time to time be called upon to make certain policy decisions or judgments with respect to the implementation of policies of the ETF investment advisor concerning the calculation of the net asset value of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, additions, deletions or substitutions of securities in the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF and the manner in which changes affecting its underlying index are reflected in the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF that could affect the market price of the shares of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, and therefore, the amount payable on your notes on the stated maturity date. The amount payable on your notes

PS-13


 

and their market value could also be affected if the ETF investment advisor changes these policies, for example, by changing the manner in which it calculates the net asset value of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, or if the ETF investment advisor discontinues or suspends calculation or publication of the net asset value of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF, in which case it may become difficult or inappropriate to determine the market value of your notes.

If events such as these occur, the calculation agent — which initially will be GS&Co. — may determine the closing level of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF — and thus the amount payable on the stated maturity date, if any — in a manner, in its sole discretion, it considers appropriate. We describe the discretion that the calculation agent will have in determining the closing level of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF and the amount payable on your notes more fully under “Terms and Conditions — Discontinuance or modification of an underlier” on page PS-7 of this pricing supplement.

In addition, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (the “underlying index sponsor”) owns the underlying index and is responsible for the design and maintenance of its underlying index. The policies of the underlying index sponsor concerning the calculation of its underlying index, including decisions regarding the addition, deletion or substitution of the equity securities included in its underlying index, could affect the level of its underlying index and, consequently, could affect the market prices of shares of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF and, therefore, the amount payable on your notes and their market value.

There is No Assurance That an Active Trading Market Will Continue for the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF or That There Will Be Liquidity in Any Such Trading Market; Further, the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF is Subject to Management Risks, Securities Lending Risks and Custody Risks

Although the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF’s shares are listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “NYSE Arca”) and a number of similar products have been traded on the NYSE Arca or other securities exchanges for varying periods of time, there is no assurance that an active trading market will continue for the shares of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF or that there will be liquidity in the trading market.

In addition, the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF is subject to management risk, which is the risk that the ETF investment advisor’s investment strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. For example, the ETF investment advisor may select up to 10% of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF’s assets to be invested in securities (including other funds) not included in its underlying index and in money market instruments.  The Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF is also not actively managed and may be affected by a general decline in market segments relating to its underlying index. The ETF investment advisor invests in securities included in, or representative of, its underlying index regardless of their investment merits. The ETF investment advisor does not attempt to take defensive positions in declining markets. In addition, the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF’s investment advisor may be permitted to engage in securities lending with respect to a portion of an Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF's total assets, which could subject the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF to the risk that the borrower of such loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all.

In addition, the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF is subject to custody risk, which refers to the risks in the process of clearing and settling trades and to the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories.

Further, the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF is subject to listing standards adopted by NYSE Arca. There can be no assurance that the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF will continue to meet the applicable listing requirements, or that the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF will not be delisted.

The Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF and Its Underlying Index are Different and the Performance of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF May Not Correlate With the Performance of Its Underlying Index

Although the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF generally will invest at least 90% of its total assets in the securities that comprise its underlying index, the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF may not hold all or substantially all of the equity securities included in its underlying index and may hold securities or assets not included in its underlying index. For example, it is possible that the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF may not always fully replicate the performance of its underlying index due to unavailability of certain index constituents in the secondary market or due to other extraordinary circumstances (e.g., if trading in a security has been halted). Further, although the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF seeks to track the performance of its underlying index, the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of its underlying index due to, among other things, transaction costs.

In addition, the performance of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF will reflect additional transaction costs and fees that are not included in the calculation of its underlying index and this may increase the tracking error of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF. Also, corporate actions with respect to the sample of equity securities (such as

PS-14


 

mergers and spin-offs) may impact the performance differential between the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF and its underlying index. Finally, because the shares of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF are traded on NYSE Arca and are subject to market supply and investor demand, the market value of one share of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF may differ from the net asset value per share of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF.

For all of the foregoing reasons, the performance of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF may not correlate with the performance of its underlying index. Consequently, the return on the notes will not be the same as investing directly in the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF or in its underlying index or in the underlier stocks or in its underlying index stocks, and will not be the same as investing in a debt security with a payment at maturity linked to the performance of its underlying index.

Your Investment in the Notes Will Be Subject to Risks Associated With Beta Investing

The Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF seeks to track investment results, before fees and expenses, of the S&P 500® High Beta Index.  The S&P 500® High Beta Index is designed to measure the performance of the 100 constituents in the S&P 500® Index with the highest sensitivity to market movements, or beta. Beta investing entails investing in securities that are more volatile based on historical market index data. The Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF may be more volatile since it seeks to have exposure to the most volatile securities. Volatile stocks may be subject to sharp swings in value, and may change unpredictably, affecting the value of such equity securities and, consequently, the level of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF and your investment in the notes.

Risks Related to Tax

The Tax Consequences of an Investment in Your Notes Are Uncertain

The tax consequences of an investment in your notes are uncertain, both as to the timing and character of any inclusion in income in respect of your notes.

The Internal Revenue Service announced on December 7, 2007 that it is considering issuing guidance regarding the tax treatment of an instrument such as your notes, and any such guidance could adversely affect the value and the tax treatment of your notes. Among other things, the Internal Revenue Service may decide to require the holders to accrue ordinary income on a current basis and recognize ordinary income on payment at maturity, and could subject non-U.S. investors to withholding tax. Furthermore, in 2007, legislation was introduced in Congress that, if enacted, would have required holders that acquired instruments such as your notes after the bill was enacted to accrue interest income over the term of such instruments even though there will be no interest payments over the term of such instruments. It is not possible to predict whether a similar or identical bill will be enacted in the future, or whether any such bill would affect the tax treatment of your notes. We describe these developments in more detail under “Supplemental Discussion of U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences – United States Holders – Possible Change in Law” below. You should consult your tax advisor about this matter. Except to the extent otherwise provided by law, GS Finance Corp. intends to continue treating the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes in accordance with the treatment described under “Supplemental Discussion of U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” below unless and until such time as Congress, the Treasury Department or the Internal Revenue Service determine that some other treatment is more appropriate. Please also consult your tax advisor concerning the U.S. federal income tax and any other applicable tax consequences to you of owning your notes in your particular circumstances.

Your Notes May Be Subject to the Constructive Ownership Rules

There exists a risk that the constructive ownership rules of Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code could apply to all or a portion of your notes. If all or a portion of your notes were subject to the constructive ownership rules, then all or a portion of any long-term capital gain that you realize upon the sale, exchange or maturity of your notes would be re-characterized as ordinary income (and you would be subject to an interest charge on deferred tax liability with respect to such re-characterized capital gain) to the extent that such capital gain exceeds the amount of “net underlying long-term capital gain” (as defined in Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code). Because the application of the constructive ownership rules is unclear you are strongly urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the possible application of the constructive ownership rules to your investment in the notes.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding May Apply to Payments on Your Notes, Including as a Result of the Failure of the Bank or Broker Through Which You Hold the Notes to Provide Information to Tax Authorities

Please see the discussion under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding” in the accompanying prospectus for a description of the applicability of FATCA to payments made on your notes.


PS-15


 

 

THE UNDERLIERS

Russell 2000® Index

The Russell 2000® Index measures the composite price performance of stocks of 2,000 companies incorporated in the U.S., its territories and certain “benefit-driven incorporation countries.” The Russell 2000® Index is designed to track the performance of the small capitalization segment of the U.S. equity market. For more details about the Russell 2000® Index, the underlier sponsor and license agreement between the underlier sponsor and the issuer, see “The Underliers - Russell 2000® Index” on page S-87 of the accompanying underlier supplement no. 20.

The Russell 2000® Index is a trademark of FTSE Russell (“Russell”) and has been licensed for use by GS Finance Corp. The notes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Russell, and Russell makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the notes.

Dow Jones Industrial Average®

The Dow Jones Industrial Average® is a price-weighted index composed of 30 stocks that measures the performance of some of the largest U.S. companies selected at the discretion of an Averages Committee that selects the underlier components as the largest and leading stocks of the sectors that are representative of the U.S. equity market, excluding the transportation and utilities industries. For more details about the Dow Jones Industrial Average® , the underlier sponsor and license agreement between the underlier sponsor and the issuer, see “The Underliers - Dow Jones Industrial Average®” on page S-19 of the accompanying underlier supplement no. 20.

S&P is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC (“S&P”) and Dow Jones®, DJIA®, The Dow® and Dow Jones Industrial Average® are trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”). The trademarks have been licensed to S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and its affiliates and have been sublicensed for certain purposes by GS Finance Corp. The “Dow Jones Industrial Average®” is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and/or its affiliates, and has been licensed for use by GS Finance Corp. The notes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones®, S&P or any of their respective affiliates (collectively, “S&P Dow Jones Indices”). S&P Dow Jones Indices make no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the notes or any members of the public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the notes particularly or the ability of the Dow Jones Industrial Average® to track general market performance.

Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF

The shares of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF (the “ETF”) are issued by the Invesco Exchange-Traded Fund Trust II (the “trust”), a registered investment company.

The ETF seeks to track the investment results, before fees and expenses, of the total return version of the S&P 500® High Beta Index (the “index”);

Invesco Capital Management LLC currently serves as the investment advisor to the ETF (the “investment advisor”);

The ETF’s shares trade on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol “SPHB”;

The trust’s SEC CIK Number is 0001378872;

The ETF’s inception date was May 5, 2011; and

The ETF’s shares are issued or redeemed only in creation units of 10,000 shares or multiples thereof.

We obtained the following fee information from the investment advisor website without independent verification.  The investment advisor is entitled to receive a unitary management fee from the ETF based on a percentage of the ETF’s average daily net assets at an annual rate of 0.25%.  The ETF may invest in money market funds that are managed by affiliates of the investment advisor.  The indirect portion of the management fee that the ETF will incur through such investments is in addition to the unitary management fee.  The investment advisor has agreed to waive the fees that it receives under the unitary management fee in an amount equal to the indirect management fees that the ETF incurs through its investments in affiliated money market funds through at least August 31, 2022.

Out of the unitary management fee, the investment advisor pays substantially all expenses of the ETF, including the cost of transfer agency, custody, fund administration, legal, audit and other services, except for advisory fees, distribution fees, if any, brokerage expenses, taxes, interest, litigation expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, if any, and other extraordinary expenses.  As of March 31, 2020, the expense ratio of the ETF was 0.25% per annum.

PS-16


 

For additional information regarding the trust or the investment advisor, please consult the reports (including the Annual Report to Shareholders on Form N-CSR for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2020) and other information the trust files with the SEC.  In addition, information regarding the ETF, including its top portfolio holdings, may be obtained from other sources including, but not limited to, press releases, newspaper articles, other publicly available documents, and the investment advisor website at invesco.com/us/financial-products/etfs/product-detail?audienceType=Institutional&ticker=SPHB.  We are not incorporating by reference the website, the sources listed above or any material they include in this pricing supplement.

Investment Objective

The ETF uses an “indexing” investment approach to seek to track investment results, before fees and expenses, of the index.  S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“S&P”) compiles, maintains and calculates the index.  For more information on the index, see “The S&P 500® High Beta Index” below.

The ETF generally will invest at least 90% of its total assets in the securities that comprise the index (the “index securities”).  The ETF employs a “full replication” methodology in seeking to track the index, meaning that it generally will invest in all of the securities comprising the index in proportion to their weightings in the index.  However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to purchase all of the index securities in the same weightings at which they are reflected in the index.  In those circumstances, the ETF may purchase a sample of index securities.  A “sampling” methodology means that the investment advisor uses a quantitative analysis to select securities from the index universe to obtain a representative sample of securities that have, in the aggregate, investment characteristics similar to the index in terms of key risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics.  These include industry weightings, market capitalization, return variability, earnings valuation, yield and other financial characteristics of securities.  When employing a sampling methodology, the investment advisor bases the quantity of holdings in the ETF on a number of factors, including asset size of the ETF, and generally expects the ETF to hold less than the total number of securities in the index.  However, the investment advisor reserves the right to invest the ETF in as many securities as it believes necessary to achieve the ETF’s investment objective.

There also may be instances in which the investment advisor may choose to (i) overweight or underweight a security in the ETF compared to its weight in the index, (ii) purchase securities not contained in the index that the investment advisor believes are appropriate to substitute for certain securities in the index or (iii) utilize various combinations of other available investment techniques in seeking to track the index. The ETF may sell securities included in the index in anticipation of their removal from the index, or purchase securities not included in the index in anticipation of their addition to the index.  

The ETF, after investing at least 90% of its total assets in index securities, may invest its remaining assets in securities (including other funds) not included in the index and in money market instruments, including repurchase agreements and other funds, including affiliated funds, that invest exclusively in money market instruments (subject to applicable limitations under the Investment Company Act of 1940, or exemptions therefrom), convertible securities, structured notes (notes on which the amount of principal repayment and interest payments is based on the movement of one or more specified factors, such as the movement of a particular security or securities index) and in futures contracts, options and options on futures contracts.  The ETF may use options, futures contracts, convertible securities and structured notes to seek performance that corresponds to the index, and to manage cash flows.  

The ETF’s investment objective constitutes non-fundamental policies that the Board of Trustees of the trust may change without shareholder approval, upon 60 days’ prior written notice to shareholders.

Notwithstanding the ETF’s investment objective, the return on your notes will not reflect any dividends paid on the ETF shares, on the securities purchased by the ETF or on the securities that comprise the index.

PS-17


 

 

Top Ten Holdings and Weights and Sector Weights

The following tables display the top holdings and weights and sector weights of the ETF. We obtained the information in the tables below from the ETF website without independent verification.

Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF Top Ten Holdings as of June 14, 2021

ETF Stock Issuer

Percentage (%)

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd

1.53%

Occidental Petroleum Corp

1.51%

Caesars Entertainment Inc

1.47%

Carnival Corp

1.40%

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd

1.34%

United Airlines Holdings Inc

1.34%

DXC Technology Co

1.29%

Devon Energy Corp

1.29%

Diamondback Energy Inc

1.28%

Beoing Co

1.27%

Total

13.72%

Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF Weighting by Sector as of June 14, 2021

Sectorǂ

Percentage (%)*

Financials

19.46%

Energy

18.64%

Consumer Discretionary

18.75%

Industrials

9.50%

Information Technology

19.89%

Real Estate

6.63%

Materials

4.35%

Health Care

1.05%

Communication Services

1.76%

Consumer Staples

0.00%

Investment Companies

0.00%

Total

100.03%

 

ǂ Sector designations are determined by the investment advisor using criteria it has selected or developed.  ETF investment advisors and index sponsors may use very different standards for determining sector designations.  In addition, many companies operate in a number of sectors, but are listed in only one sector and the basis on which that sector is selected may also differ.  As a result, sector comparisons between ETFs and indices or between indices with different index sponsors may reflect differences in methodology as well as actual differences in the sector composition of the relevant ETFs or indices.

* Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Correlation

The investment advisor seeks correlation over time of 0.95 or better between the ETF’s performance and the performance of the index (a figure of 1.00 would represent perfect correlation).  Another means of evaluating the relationship between the returns of the ETF and the index is to assess the “tracking error” between the two. Tracking error refers to the variation between the ETF’s annual return and the return of the index, expressed in terms of standard deviation. The ETF seeks to have a tracking error of less than 5%, measured on a monthly basis over a one-year period by taking the standard deviation of the difference in the ETF’s return versus the index’s returns. Since the ETF uses an indexing approach to try to achieve its investment objective, the ETF will not take temporary defensive positions during periods of adverse market, economic or other conditions.

Although the investment advisor seeks to track the performance of the index as closely as possible (i.e., achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of the index), the ETF’s return may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of the index for a number of reasons.  For example, the ETF incurs operating expenses not applicable to the index and incurs costs in buying and selling securities, especially when rebalancing the ETF’s securities holdings to reflect changes in the composition of the index.  Furthermore, if the ETF used a sampling

PS-18


 

approach, it may result in returns that are not as well-correlated with the return of the index as would be the case if the ETF purchased all of the securities in the index in the proportions represented in the index.  In addition, the performance of the ETF and the index may vary due to asset valuation differences and differences between the ETF’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions, costs or liquidity constraints.  

For the period ended May 31, 2021, the investment advisor website gave the following performance figures for market price of an ETF share (based on the midpoint of the bid/ask spread at 4:00 p.m. ET) and the index: ETF — year to date, 35.44%; 1 year on an annualized basis, 105.01%; 3 years on an annualized basis, 22.92%; 5 years on an annualized basis, 22.24%; since inception on May 5, 2011 on an annualized basis, 13.71%; index — year to date, 35.53%; 1 year on an annualized basis, 105.38%; 3 years on an annualized basis, 23.17%; 5 years on an annualized basis, 22.55%; since the ETF’s inception on May 5, 2011 on an annualized basis, 14.00%.

Industry Concentration Policy

In following its methodology, the index from time to time may be concentrated to a significant degree in securities of issuers located in a single industry or sector.  To the extent that the index concentrates in the securities of issuers in a particular industry or sector, the ETF will also concentrate its investments to approximately the same extent.

Share Prices and the Secondary Market

The ETF issues and redeems shares at net asset value only with authorized participants and only in large blocks of 10,000 shares (each, a “creation unit”) or multiples thereof, in exchange for a deposit or delivery of a basket of securities. Except when aggregated in creation units, the shares are not redeemable securities of the ETF.  

S&P 500® High Beta Index

The S&P 500® High Beta Index, which we also refer to in this description as the “index”:

is an equity index, and therefore cannot be invested in directly;

does not file reports with the SEC because it is not an issuer;

has a launch date of April 4, 2011, with a base value of 1,000 as of its base date, November 16, 1990; and

is sponsored by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“S&P”).

The S&P 500® High Beta Index is designed to measure the performance of the 100 constituents in the S&P 500® Index that are most sensitive to changes in market returns. The S&P 500® Index includes a representative sample of 500 companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. Sensitivity to changes in market returns is measured by the beta of an individual stock. Beta is a measure of relative risk and is the rate of change of a security's price. The beta for each security is calculated using the security’s trailing past-year price returns versus the daily price returns of the S&P 500® Index over the same period, both measured in U.S. dollars. Constituents are assigned index weights proportional to their betas.

As of June 7, 2021, the 100 companies included in the S&P 500® High Beta Index were divided into eleven Global Industry Classification Sectors. The Global Industry Classification Sectors include (with the approximate percentage currently included in such sectors indicated in parentheses): Communication Services (1.80%), Consumer Discretionary (19.1%), Consumer Staples (0.86%), Energy (18.20%), Financials (20.00%), Health Care (1.00%), Industrials (9.80%), Information Technology (19.30%), Materials (4.50%), Real Estate (6.40%) and Utilities (0.00%).  (Sector designations are determined by the index sponsor using criteria it has selected or developed. Index sponsors may use very different standards for determining sector designations. In addition, many companies operate in a number of sectors, but are listed in only one sector and the basis on which that sector is selected may also differ. As a result, sector comparisons between indices with different index sponsors may reflect differences in methodology as well as actual differences in the sector composition of the indices.)

Additional information regarding the S&P 500® High Beta Index and the S&P 500® Index may be obtained from the following websites: spglobal.com/spdji/en/indices/strategy/sp-500-high-beta-index, spglobal.com/spdji/en/indices/equity/sp-500 and spglobal.com/spdji/. We are not incorporating by reference the websites or any material they include in this pricing supplement.

Construction of the S&P 500® High Beta Index

To be eligible for inclusion in the S&P 500® High Beta Index, a stock must be a constituent of the S&P 500® Index.  For more information about the S&P 500® Index, see “The S&P 500® Index” below.

PS-19


 

Approaches

There are two steps in the creation of the S&P 500® High Beta Index.  The first is the selection of the companies; the second is the weighting of the constituents, which is based on their betas.

Constituent Selection

Using trailing daily price changes over the prior 252 trading days, the S&P 500® Index constituents’ betas are calculated. Constituents are then ranked in descending order of their betas. The top 100 securities form the S&P 500® High Beta Index. S&P 500® Index constituents with fewer than 252 days of daily price history are not included in the eligible universe.

Constituent Weightings

At each rebalancing, the weight of each constituent is set proportional to its beta.  Beta is defined as the slope of the regression line of the security’s trailing past-year price returns versus the daily price returns of the S&P 500® Index over the same period.  

Calculation of the S&P 500® High Beta Index

The S&P 500® High Beta Index is calculated as the index market value divided by the divisor using the divisor methodology used in all S&P equity indices, including the S&P 500® Index. See “The S&P 500® Index” below for more information.

The ETF tracks the performance of the total return version of the S&P 500® High Beta Index.  A total return index represents the total return earned in a portfolio that tracks the price return index and reinvests dividend income in the overall index, not in the specific stock paying the dividend. The difference between the price return calculation and the total return calculation is that, with respect to the price return calculation, changes in the index level reflect changes in stock prices, whereas with respect to the total return calculation of the S&P 500® High Beta Index, changes in the index level reflect both movements in stock prices and the reinvestment of dividend income. Notwithstanding the ETF’s investment objective, the return on your notes will not reflect any dividends paid on the ETF shares, on the securities purchased by the ETF or on the securities that comprise the S&P 500® High Beta Index.

The total return version of the S&P 500® High Beta Index is calculated from the price return version of the S&P 500® High Beta Index in the same way that the total return version of the S&P 500® Index is calculated from the price return version of the S&P 500® Index. See “The S&P 500® Index” below for more information.

Maintenance of the S&P 500® High Beta Index

The S&P 500® High Beta Index is rebalanced after the close on the third Friday of each February, May, August and November.  The rebalancing reference date is after the close on the last trading dates of January, April, July and October, respectively.  The constituents’ shares for the S&P 500® High Beta Index are calculated using the closing prices on the Wednesday prior to the second Friday of the rebalancing month as the reference price.

Adjustments are made to the S&P 500® High Beta Index in the event of certain corporate actions relating to the stocks included in the S&P 500® High Beta Index, such as spin-offs, rights offerings, stock splits and special dividends, as specified below.

Spin-Offs

The spun-off company is added to the S&P 500® High Beta Index, at a zero price, at the market close of the day before the ex-date (with no divisor adjustment).  The spun-off company is then removed after at least one day of regular way trading (with a divisor adjustment).

PS-20


 

Several additional types of corporate actions, and their related treatment, are listed in the table below.

Corporate Action

Adjustment Made to the S&P 500® High Beta Index

Divisor Adjustment Required?

Rights Offering

The price is adjusted to the price of the parent company minus (the price of the rights offering/rights ratio). Index shares change so that the company’s weight remains the same as its weight before the rights offering.

No

Stock Split

Index shares are multiplied by and the price is divided by the split factor.

No

Share Issuance or Share Repurchase

None.  Actual shares outstanding of the company play no role in the daily index calculation.

No

Special Dividends

The price of the stock making the special dividend payment is reduced by the per share special dividend amount after the close of trading on the day before the dividend ex-date.

Yes

Delisting, Acquisition or Any Other Corporate Action Resulting in the Deletion of the Stock from the S&P 500® Index

The stock is dropped from the S&P 500® High Beta Index. This will cause the weights of the rest of the stocks in the S&P 500® High Beta Index to change proportionately. Additions are made to the S&P 500® High Beta Index only at the time of the quarterly rebalancing.

Yes

Constituent Change

Except for spin-offs, there are no intra-rebalancing additions.

Deletions due to delistings, acquisition or any other corporate event resulting in the deletion of the stock from the S&P 500® High Beta Index causes the weights of the rest of the stocks in the S&P 500® High Beta Index to change. Relative weights stay the same.  Constituents removed from the S&P 500® Index are also removed from the S&P 500® High Beta Index.

Yes

 

In cases where there is no achievable market price for a stock being deleted, it can be removed at a zero or minimal price at the index committee’s discretion, in recognition of the constraints faced by investors in trading bankrupt or suspended stocks.

Other changes to the S&P 500® High Beta Index are made on an as-needed basis, following the guidelines of the S&P 500® Index. See “The S&P 500® Index” below for more information.

S&P 500® Index

The S&P 500® Index includes a representative sample of 500 companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy and is intended to provide a performance benchmark for the large-cap U.S. equity markets. For more details about the S&P 500® Index, the underlier sponsor and license agreement between the underlier sponsor and the issuer, see “The Underliers - S&P 500® Index” on page S-119 of the accompanying underlier supplement no. 20.

 

 

 

PS-21


 

 

 

Historical Closing Levels of the Underliers

The closing levels of the underliers have fluctuated in the past and may, in the future, experience significant fluctuations. In particular, the underliers have recently experienced extreme and unusual volatility. Any historical upward or downward trend in the closing level of any underlier during the period shown below is not an indication that such underlier is more or less likely to increase or decrease at any time during the life of your notes.

You should not take the historical closing levels of an underlier as an indication of the future performance of an underlier, including because of the recent volatility described above. We cannot give you any assurance that the future performance of any underlier or the underlier stocks will result in you receiving the outstanding face amount of your notes on the stated maturity date.

Neither we nor any of our affiliates make any representation to you as to the performance of the underliers. Before investing in the offered notes, you should consult publicly available information to determine the relevant underlier levels between the date of this pricing supplement and the date of your purchase of the offered notes and, given the recent volatility described above, you should pay particular attention to recent levels of the underliers. The actual performance of an underlier over the life of the offered notes, as well as the cash settlement amount at maturity may bear little relation to the historical levels shown below.

The graphs below show the daily historical closing levels of each underlier from January 1, 2016 through June 16, 2021. As a result, the following graphs do not reflect the global financial crisis which began in 2008, which had a materially negative impact on the price of most equity securities and, as a result, the level of most equity indices and most equity ETFs. We obtained the levels in the graphs below from Bloomberg Financial Services, without independent verification. Although the official closing levels of the Russell 2000® Index are published to six decimal places by its underlier sponsor, Bloomberg Financial Services reports the levels of the Russell 2000® Index to fewer decimal places.

Historical Performance of the Russell 2000® Index

 


PS-22


 

 

Historical Performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average®

 

Historical Performance of the Invesco S&P 500® High Beta ETF


PS-23


 

 

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCUSSION OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

The following section supplements the discussion of U.S. federal income taxation in the accompanying prospectus supplement.

The following section is the opinion of Sidley Austin LLP, counsel to GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. In addition, it is the opinion of Sidley Austin LLP that the characterization of the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes that will be required under the terms of the notes, as discussed below, is a reasonable interpretation of current law.

This section does not apply to you if you are a member of a class of holders subject to special rules, such as:

a dealer in securities or currencies;

a trader in securities that elects to use a mark-to-market method of accounting for your securities holdings;

a bank;

a life insurance company;

a tax exempt organization;

a partnership;

a regulated investment company;

an accrual method taxpayer subject to special tax accounting rules as a result of its use of financial statements;

a person that owns a note as a hedge or that is hedged against interest rate risks;

a person that owns a note as part of a straddle or conversion transaction for tax purposes; or

a United States holder (as defined below) whose functional currency for tax purposes is not the U.S. dollar.

Although this section is based on the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, its legislative history, existing and proposed regulations under the Internal Revenue Code, published rulings and court decisions, all as currently in effect, no statutory, judicial or administrative authority directly addresses how your notes should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as a result, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of your investment in your notes are uncertain. Moreover, these laws are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis.

 

You should consult your tax advisor concerning the U.S. federal income tax and any other applicable tax consequences of your investments in the notes, including the application of state, local or other tax laws and the possible effects of changes in federal or other tax laws.

United States Holders

This section applies to you only if you are a United States holder that holds your notes as a capital asset for tax purposes. You are a United States holder if you are a beneficial owner of each of your notes and you are:

a citizen or resident of the United States;

a domestic corporation;

an estate whose income is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or

a trust if a United States court can exercise primary supervision over the trust’s administration and one or more United States persons are authorized to control all substantial decisions of the trust.

Tax Treatment. You will be obligated pursuant to the terms of the notes — in the absence of a change in law, an administrative determination or a judicial ruling to the contrary — to characterize your notes for all tax purposes as pre-paid derivative contracts in respect of the underliers. Except as otherwise stated below, the discussion herein assumes that the notes will be so treated.

Upon the sale, exchange or maturity of your notes, you should recognize capital gain or loss equal to the difference, if any, between the amount of cash you receive at such time and your tax basis in your notes. Your tax basis in the notes will generally be equal to the amount that you paid for the notes. If you hold your notes for more than one year, the gain or loss generally will be long-term capital gain or loss. If you hold your notes for one year or less, the gain or loss generally will be short-term capital gain or loss. Short-term capital gains are generally subject to tax at the marginal tax rates applicable to ordinary income.

In addition, the constructive ownership rules of Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code could possibly apply to all or a portion of your notes. If all or a portion of your notes were subject to the constructive ownership rules, then all or a portion of any long-term capital gain that you realize upon the sale, exchange or maturity of your notes would be re-characterized as ordinary income (and you would be subject to an interest charge on deferred tax

PS-24


 

liability with respect to such re-characterized capital gain) to the extent that such capital gain exceeds the amount of “net underlying long-term capital gain” (as defined in Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code). Because the application of the constructive ownership rules is unclear you are strongly urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the possible application of the constructive ownership rules to your investment in the notes.

No statutory, judicial or administrative authority directly discusses how your notes should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of your investment in the notes are uncertain and alternative characterizations are possible. Accordingly, we urge you to consult your tax advisor in determining the tax consequences of an investment in your notes in your particular circumstances, including the application of state, local or other tax laws and the possible effects of changes in federal or other tax laws.

Alternative Treatments. There is no judicial or administrative authority discussing how your notes should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Therefore, the Internal Revenue Service might assert that a treatment other than that described above is more appropriate. For example, the Internal Revenue Service could treat your notes as a single debt instrument subject to special rules governing contingent payment debt instruments. Under those rules, the amount of interest you are required to take into account for each accrual period would be determined by constructing a projected payment schedule for the notes and applying rules similar to those for accruing original issue discount on a hypothetical noncontingent debt instrument with that projected payment schedule. This method is applied by first determining the comparable yield – i.e., the yield at which we would issue a noncontingent fixed rate debt instrument with terms and conditions similar to your notes – and then determining a payment schedule as of the issue date that would produce the comparable yield. These rules may have the effect of requiring you to include interest in income in respect of your notes prior to your receipt of cash attributable to that income.

If the rules governing contingent payment debt instruments apply, any gain you recognize upon the sale, exchange or maturity of your notes would be treated as ordinary interest income. Any loss you recognize at that time would be ordinary loss to the extent of interest you included as income in the current or previous taxable years in respect of your notes, and, thereafter, capital loss.

If the rules governing contingent payment debt instruments apply, special rules would apply to a person who purchases notes at a price other than the adjusted issue price as determined for tax purposes.

It is also possible that your notes could be treated in the manner described above, except that any gain or loss that you recognize at maturity would be treated as ordinary gain or loss. You should consult your tax advisor as to the tax consequences of such characterization and any possible alternative characterizations of your notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

It is possible that the Internal Revenue Service could seek to characterize your notes in a manner that results in tax consequences to you that are different from those described above. You should consult your tax advisor as to the tax consequences of any possible alternative characterizations of your notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Possible Change in Law

On December 7, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service released a notice stating that the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are actively considering issuing guidance regarding the proper U.S. federal income tax treatment of an instrument such as the offered notes, including whether holders should be required to accrue ordinary income on a current basis and whether gain or loss should be ordinary or capital. It is not possible to determine what guidance they will ultimately issue, if any. It is possible, however, that under such guidance, holders of the notes will ultimately be required to accrue income currently and this could be applied on a retroactive basis. The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are also considering other relevant issues, including whether foreign holders of such instruments should be subject to withholding tax on any deemed income accruals and whether the special “constructive ownership rules” of Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code might be applied to such instruments. Except to the extent otherwise provided by law, we intend to continue treating the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes in accordance with the treatment described above under “Tax Treatment” unless and until such time as Congress, the Treasury Department or the Internal Revenue Service determine that some other treatment is more appropriate.

Furthermore, in 2007, legislation was introduced in Congress that, if enacted, would have required holders that acquired instruments such as your notes after the bill was enacted to accrue interest income over the term of such instruments even though there will be no interest payments over the term of such instruments. It is not possible to predict whether a similar or identical bill will be enacted in the future, or whether any such bill would affect the tax treatment of your notes.

It is impossible to predict what any such legislation or administrative or regulatory guidance might provide, and whether the effective date of any legislation or guidance will affect notes that were issued before the date that such

PS-25


 

legislation or guidance is issued. You are urged to consult your tax advisor as to the possibility that any legislative or administrative action may adversely affect the tax treatment of your notes.

Backup Withholding and Information Reporting

You will be subject to generally applicable information reporting and backup withholding requirements as discussed in the accompanying prospectus under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — Backup Withholding and Information Reporting — United States Holders” with respect to payments on your notes and, notwithstanding that we do not intend to treat the notes as debt for tax purposes, we intend to backup withhold on such payments with respect to your notes unless you comply with the requirements necessary to avoid backup withholding on debt instruments (in which case you will not be subject to such backup withholding) as set forth under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — United States Holders” in the accompanying prospectus. Please see the discussion under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — Backup Withholding and Information Reporting—United States Holders” in the accompanying prospectus for a description of the applicability of the backup withholding and information reporting rules to payments made on your notes.

Non-United States Holders

This section applies to you only if you are a non-United States holder. You are a non-United States holder if you are the beneficial owner of notes and are, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

a nonresident alien individual;

a foreign corporation; or

an estate or trust that in either case is not subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis on income or gain from the notes.

You will be subject to generally applicable information reporting and backup withholding requirements as discussed in the accompanying prospectus under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — Backup Withholding and Information Reporting — Non-United States Holders” with respect to payments on your notes at maturity and, notwithstanding that we do not intend to treat the notes as debt for tax purposes, we intend to backup withhold on such payments with respect to your notes unless you comply with the requirements necessary to avoid backup withholding on debt instruments (in which case you will not be subject to such backup withholding) as set forth under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — Non-United States Holders” in the accompanying prospectus.

As discussed above, alternative characterizations of the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes are possible. Should an alternative characterization of the notes, by reason of a change or clarification of the law, by regulation or otherwise, cause payments at maturity with respect to the notes to become subject to withholding tax, we will withhold tax at the applicable statutory rate and we will not make payments of any additional amounts. Prospective non-United States holders of the notes should consult their tax advisors in this regard.

Furthermore, on December 7, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2008-2 soliciting comments from the public on various issues, including whether instruments such as your notes should be subject to withholding. It is therefore possible that rules will be issued in the future, possibly with retroactive effect, that would cause payments on your notes to be subject to withholding, even if you comply with certification requirements as to your foreign status.

In addition, the Treasury Department has issued regulations under which amounts paid or deemed paid on certain financial instruments (“871(m) financial instruments”) that are treated as attributable to U.S.-source dividends could be treated, in whole or in part depending on the circumstances, as a “dividend equivalent” payment that is subject to tax at a rate of 30% (or a lower rate under an applicable treaty), which in the case of any amounts you receive upon the sale, exchange or maturity of your notes, could be collected via withholding. If these regulations were to apply to the notes, we may be required to withhold such taxes if any U.S.-source dividends are paid on the ETF or on the stocks included in the Russell 2000® Index or the Dow Jones Industrial Average® during the term of the notes. We could also require you to make certifications (e.g., an applicable Internal Revenue Service Form W-8) prior to the maturity of the notes in order to avoid or minimize withholding obligations, and we could withhold accordingly (subject to your potential right to claim a refund from the Internal Revenue Service) if such certifications were not received or were not satisfactory. If withholding was required, we would not be required to pay any additional amounts with respect to amounts so withheld. These regulations generally will apply to 871(m) financial instruments (or a combination of financial instruments treated as having been entered into in connection with each other) issued (or significantly modified and treated as retired and reissued) on or after January 1, 2023, but will also apply to certain 871(m) financial instruments (or a combination of financial instruments treated as having been entered into in connection with each other) that have a delta (as defined in the applicable Treasury regulations) of one and are issued (or significantly modified and treated as retired and reissued) on or after January 1, 2017.  In addition, these regulations will not apply to financial instruments that reference a “qualified index” (as defined in the regulations).  

PS-26


 

We have determined that, as of the issue date of your notes, your notes will not be subject to withholding under these rules.  In certain limited circumstances, however, you should be aware that it is possible for non-United States holders to be liable for tax under these rules with respect to a combination of transactions treated as having been entered into in connection with each other even when no withholding is required.  You should consult your tax advisor concerning these regulations, subsequent official guidance and regarding any other possible alternative characterizations of your notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding

Pursuant to Treasury regulations, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) withholding (as described in “United States Taxation—Taxation of Debt Securities—Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding” in the accompanying prospectus) will generally apply to obligations that are issued on or after July 1, 2014; therefore, the notes will generally be subject to the FATCA withholding rules.


PS-27


 

 

SUPPLEMENTAL PLAN OF DISTRIBUTION; CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

See “Supplemental Plan of Distribution” on page S-36 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,012 and “Plan of Distribution — Conflicts of Interest” on page 129 of the accompanying prospectus. GS Finance Corp. estimates that its share of the total offering expenses, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions, will be approximately $10,000.

GS Finance Corp. will sell to GS&Co., and GS&Co. will purchase from GS Finance Corp., the aggregate face amount of the offered notes specified on the front cover of this pricing supplement. GS&Co. proposes initially to offer the notes to the public at the original issue price set forth on the cover page of this pricing supplement, and to certain securities dealers at such price less a concession not in excess of 0.35% of the face amount. GS&Co. will pay a fee of 0.1% from the concession to Axio Financial LLC in connection with its marketing efforts related to the offered notes.  GS&Co. is an affiliate of GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and, as such, will have a “conflict of interest” in this offering of notes within the meaning of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) Rule 5121. Consequently, this offering of notes will be conducted in compliance with the provisions of FINRA Rule 5121. GS&Co. will not be permitted to sell notes in this offering to an account over which it exercises discretionary authority without the prior specific written approval of the account holder. We have been advised that GS&Co. will also pay a fee in connection with the distribution of the notes to SIMON Markets LLC, a broker-dealer affiliated with GS Finance Corp.

We will deliver the notes against payment therefor in New York, New York on June 21, 2021. Under Rule 15c6-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, trades in the secondary market generally are required to settle in two business days, unless the parties to any such trade expressly agree otherwise. Accordingly, purchasers who wish to trade notes on any date prior to two business days before delivery will be required to specify alternative settlement arrangements to prevent a failed settlement.

We have been advised by GS&Co. that it intends to make a market in the notes. However, neither GS&Co. nor any of our other affiliates that makes a market is obligated to do so and any of them may stop doing so at any time without notice. No assurance can be given as to the liquidity or trading market for the notes.

The notes will not be listed on any securities exchange or interdealer quotation system.

 

 

PS-28


 

 

VALIDITY OF THE NOTES AND GUARANTEE

In the opinion of Sidley Austin llp, as counsel to GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., when the notes offered by this pricing supplement have been executed and issued by GS Finance Corp., such notes have been authenticated by the trustee pursuant to the indenture, and such notes have been delivered against payment as contemplated herein, (a) such notes will be valid and binding obligations of GS Finance Corp., enforceable in accordance with their terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally, concepts of reasonableness and equitable principles of general applicability (including, without limitation, concepts of good faith, fair dealing and the lack of bad faith), provided that such counsel expresses no opinion as to the effect of fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer or similar provision of applicable law on the conclusions expressed above and (b) the guarantee with respect to such notes will be a valid and binding obligation of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., enforceable in accordance with its terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws affecting creditors' rights generally, concepts of reasonableness and equitable principles of general applicability (including, without limitation, concepts of good faith, fair dealing and the lack of bad faith), provided that such counsel expresses no opinion as to the effect of fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer or similar provision of applicable law on the conclusions expressed above. This opinion is given as of the date hereof and is limited to the laws of the State of New York and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware as in effect on the date hereof. In addition, this opinion is subject to customary assumptions about the trustee’s authorization, execution and delivery of the indenture and the genuineness of signatures and certain factual matters, all as stated in the letter of such counsel dated February 23, 2021, which has been filed as Exhibit 5.6 to the registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. on February 23, 2021.

 

PS-29


 

 

We have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained or incorporated by reference in this pricing supplement the accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,012, the accompanying underlier supplement no. 20, the accompanying prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you. This pricing supplement, the accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,012, the accompanying underlier supplement no. 20, the accompanying prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus is an offer to sell only the notes offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so. The information contained in this pricing supplement, the accompanying general terms supplement no. 2,012, the accompanying underlier supplement no. 20, the accompanying prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus is current only as of the respective dates of such documents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

$6,949,000

 

 

GS Finance Corp.

 

 

Underlier-Linked Notes due 2025

 

guaranteed by


The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

 

 


Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC