497K 1 d155089d497k.htm GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST Goldman Sachs Variable Insurance Trust
Summary
Prospectus

April 30, 2021
GOLDMAN SACHS VARIABLE INSURANCE TRUST
Goldman Sachs International Equity Insights Fund – Service Shares
Before you invest, you may want to review the Goldman Sachs International Equity Insights Fund (the “Fund”) Prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s Prospectus, reports to shareholders and other information about the Fund online at http://www.gsamfunds.com/vitfunds. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 800-621-2550 or by sending an e-mail request to gs-funds-document-requests@gs.com. The Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), both dated April 30, 2021, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
Beginning on or after January 1, 2021, you may not receive paper copies of the Fund’s annual and semi-annual shareholder reports from the insurance company that offers your variable insurance contract or your financial intermediary, unless you specifically request paper copies of the reports from the insurance company or from your financial intermediary. Instead, the reports will be made available on a website, and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report.
If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. At any time, you may elect to receive reports and certain communications from the insurance company electronically by contracting your insurance company or financial intermediary.
You may elect to receive all future shareholder reports in paper free of charge. You can inform the insurance company or your financial intermediary that you wish to receive paper copies of reports. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all Goldman Sachs Funds available under your contract and may apply to all funds held with your financial intermediary.
Investment Objective
The Goldman Sachs International Equity Insights Fund (the “Fund”) seeks long-term growth of capital.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold and sell Service Shares of the Fund. This table does not reflect the fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option. Had those fees and expenses been included, overall fees and expenses would be higher.
 

 

2    Summary Prospectus — Goldman Sachs International Equity Insights Fund – Service Shares
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
  Service
Management Fees 0.81%
Distribution and Service (12b-1) Fees 0.25%
Other Expenses1 0.56%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 1.62%
Expense Limitation2 (0.50)%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Expense Limitation 1.12%
1 The Fund's “Other Expenses” have been restated to reflect expenses expected to be incurred during the current fiscal year.
2 The Investment Adviser has agreed to reduce or limit “Other Expenses” (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses, transfer agency fees and expenses, taxes, interest, brokerage fees, expenses of shareholder meetings, litigation and indemnification, and extraordinary expenses) to 0.044% of the Fund’s average daily net assets through at least April 30, 2022, and prior to such date the Investment Adviser may not terminate the arrangement without the approval of the Board of Trustees.
Expense Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. This Example does not reflect the fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option. Had those fees and expenses been included, the costs shown below would be higher. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in Service Shares of the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your Service Shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that the Example incorporates any applicable fee waiver and/or expense limitation arrangements for only the first year). Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
  1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Service Shares $114 $462 $834 $1,880
    
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs when it buys and sells securities or instruments (i.e., “turns over” its portfolio). A high rate of portfolio turnover may result in increased transaction costs, including brokerage commissions, which must be borne by the Fund and its shareholders. These costs are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example above, but are reflected in the Fund’s performance. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020 was 175% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Strategy
The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes (measured at the time of purchase) (“Net Assets”) in a broadly diversified portfolio of equity investments of non-U.S. issuers.
The Fund intends to have investments economically tied to at least three countries not including the United States and may invest in the securities economically tied to emerging market countries. The Fund seeks broad representation of large-cap and mid-cap issuers across major countries and sectors of the international economy, with some exposure to small-cap issuers.
The portfolio management team uses a bottom-up stock selection strategy to manage the Fund.
The Fund uses a quantitative style of management, in combination with a qualitative overlay, that emphasizes fundamentally-based stock selection, careful portfolio construction and efficient implementation. The Fund’s investments are selected using fundamental research and a variety of quantitative techniques based on certain investment themes, including, among others, Fundamental Mispricings, High Quality Business Models, Sentiment Analysis and Market Themes & Trends. Fundamental Mispricings seeks to identify high-quality businesses trading at a fair price, which the Investment Adviser believes leads to strong performance over the long-run. High Quality Business Models seeks to identify companies that are generating high-quality revenues with sustainable business models and aligned management incentives. Sentiment Analysis seeks to identify stocks experiencing improvements in their overall market sentiment. Market Themes and Trends seeks to identify companies positively positioned to benefit from themes and trends in the market and macroeconomic environment. The Fund may make investment decisions that deviate from those generated by the Investment Adviser’s proprietary models, at the discretion of the Investment Adviser. In addition, the Investment Adviser may, in its discretion, make changes to its quantitative techniques, or use other quantitative techniques that are based on the Investment Adviser’s proprietary research.
The Fund seeks to maximize its expected return, while maintaining risk, style and capitalization characteristics similar to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (“MSCI”) Europe, Australasia, Far East (“EAFE”) Standard Index (Net, USD, Unhedged). The MSCI EAFE Standard Index (Net, USD, Unhedged) is designed to measure equity market performance of the large and mid capitalization segments of developed markets, excluding the U.S. and Canada.
The Fund may also invest in fixed income securities that are considered to be cash equivalents.
The Fund’s benchmark index is the MSCI EAFE Standard Index (Net, USD, Unhedged).
Principal Risks of the Fund
Loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) or any government agency. The Fund should not be relied upon as a complete investment program. There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objective. Investments in the Fund involve substantial risks which prospective investors should consider carefully before investing. The Fund's principal risks are presented below in alphabetical order, and not in the order of importance or potential exposure.

 

3    Summary Prospectus — Goldman Sachs International Equity Insights Fund – Service Shares
Foreign and Emerging Countries Risk.  Foreign securities may be subject to risk of loss because of more or less foreign government regulation; less public information; less stringent investor protections; less stringent accounting, corporate governance, financial reporting and disclosure standards; and less economic, political and social stability in the countries in which the Fund invests. The imposition of exchange controls (including repatriation restrictions), sanctions, confiscations, trade restrictions (including tariffs) and other government restrictions by the United States and other governments, or from problems in share registration, settlement or custody, may also result in losses. Foreign risk also involves the risk of negative foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, which may cause the value of securities denominated in such foreign currency (or other instruments through which the Fund has exposure to foreign currencies) to decline in value. Currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time. These risks may be more pronounced in connection with the Fund’s investments in securities of issuers located in, or otherwise economically tied to, emerging countries.
Investment Style Risk.  Different investment styles (e.g., “growth”, “value” or “quantitative”) tend to shift in and out of favor depending upon market and economic conditions and investor sentiment. The Fund may outperform or underperform other funds that invest in similar asset classes but employ different investment styles.
Large Shareholder Transactions Risk. The Fund may experience adverse effects when certain large shareholders purchase or redeem large amounts of shares of the Fund. Such large shareholder redemptions, which may occur rapidly or unexpectedly, may cause the Fund to sell portfolio securities at times when it would not otherwise do so, which may negatively impact the Fund’s net asset value (“NAV”) and liquidity. Similarly, large Fund share purchases may adversely affect the Fund’s performance to the extent that the Fund is delayed in investing new cash or otherwise maintains a larger cash position than it ordinarily would. These transactions may also increase transaction costs. In addition, a large redemption could result in the Fund’s current expenses being allocated over a smaller asset base, leading to an increase in the Fund’s expense ratio.
Management Risk. A strategy used by the Investment Adviser may fail to produce the intended results. The Investment Adviser attempts to execute a complex strategy for the Fund using proprietary quantitative models. Investments selected using these models may perform differently than expected as a result of the factors used in the models, the weight placed on each factor, changes from the factors’ historical trends, and technical issues in the construction and implementation of the models (including, for example, data problems and/or software issues). There is no guarantee that the Investment Adviser’s use of these quantitative models will result in effective investment decisions for the Fund. Additionally, commonality of holdings across quantitative money managers may amplify losses.
Market Risk. The value of the securities in which the Fund  invests may go up or down in response to the prospects of individual companies, particular sectors or governments and/or general economic conditions throughout the world due to increasingly interconnected global economies and financial markets. Events such as war, acts of terrorism, social unrest, natural disasters, the spread of infectious illness or other public health threats could also significantly impact the Fund and its investments.
Mid-Cap and Small-Cap Risk.  Investments in mid-capitalization and small-capitalization companies involve greater risks than those associated with larger, more established companies. These securities may be subject to more abrupt or erratic price movements and may lack sufficient market liquidity, and these issuers often face greater business risks.
Portfolio Turnover Rate Risk.  A high rate of portfolio turnover (100% or more) involves correspondingly greater expenses  which must be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.
Stock Risk.  Stock prices have historically risen and fallen in periodic cycles. U.S.and foreign stock markets have experienced periods of substantial price volatility in the past and may do so again in the future.
Performance
The bar chart and table below provide an indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing: (a) changes in the performance of the Fund’s Service Shares from year to year; and (b) how the average annual total returns of the Fund’s Service Shares compare to those of a broad-based securities market index. Since the Fund’s inception through April 22, 2018, the Fund had been known as the Goldman Sachs Strategic International Equity Fund, and certain of its strategies differed. Performance information set forth below prior to April 23, 2018 reflects the Fund’s former strategies. The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. Performance reflects applicable fee waivers and/or expense limitations in effect during the periods shown. In addition, performance reflects Fund level expenses but does not reflect the fees and expenses associated with any variable annuity contract or variable life insurance policy that uses the Fund as an investment option for any contract or policy. Had performance reflected all of those fees and expenses, performance would have been reduced. Updated performance information is available at no cost at www.gsamfunds.com/vit or by calling the phone number on the back cover of the Prospectus.
CALENDAR YEAR

During the periods shown in the chart above: Returns Quarter ended
Best Quarter Return 16.69% June 30, 2020
Worst Quarter Return -24.30% March 31, 2020
    
AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURN
    
For the period ended December 31, 2020 1 Year 5 Years 10 Years
Service Shares (Inception 1/9/2006) 6.53% 5.20% 4.28%
MSCI EAFE Standard Index (Net, USD, Unhedged; reflects no deduction for fees or expenses) 7.79% 7.44% 5.50%

 

4    Summary Prospectus — Goldman Sachs International Equity Insights Fund – Service Shares
Portfolio Management
Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. is the investment adviser for the Fund (the “Investment Adviser” or “GSAM”).
Portfolio Managers:  Len Ioffe, CFA, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, has managed the Fund since 2018; Dennis Walsh, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, has managed the Fund since 2021; Osman Ali, CFA, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, has managed the Fund since 2018; and Takashi Suwabe, Managing Director and Senior Portfolio Manager, has managed the Fund since 2018.
Buying and Selling Fund Shares
Fund shares are not sold directly to the public. Fund shares may be purchased and redeemed by separate accounts that fund variable annuity and variable life insurance contracts issued by participating insurance companies. Orders received from separate accounts to purchase or redeem Fund shares are effected on business days. Individual investors may purchase or redeem Fund shares indirectly through variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance policies offered through the separate accounts.
Tax Information
Provided that the Fund and separate accounts investing in the Fund satisfy applicable tax requirements, the Fund will not be subject to federal tax. Special tax rules apply to life insurance companies, variable annuity contracts and variable life insurance contracts. For information on federal income taxation of owners of variable annuity or variable life insurance contracts, see the prospectus for the applicable contract.
Payments to Broker-Dealers and
Other Financial Intermediaries
The Fund and/or its related companies may pay participating insurance companies and securities dealers for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the insurance company and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your insurance company’s website for more information.
 
VITINTSUMS-21