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Should John Hancock Multifactor Large Cap ETF (JHML) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The John Hancock Multifactor Large Cap ETF (JHML - Free Report) was launched on 09/28/2015, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by John Hancock. It has amassed assets over $699.70 million, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Companies that fall in the large cap category tend to have a market capitalization above $10 billion. They tend to be stable companies with predictable cash flows and are usually less volatile than mid and small cap companies.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.29%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.39%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 23% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 3.37% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 14.43% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

JHML seeks to match the performance of the John Hancock Dimensional Large Cap Index before fees and expenses. The John Hancock Dimensional Large Cap Index comprises of a subset of securities in the U.S. Universe issued by companies whose market capitalizations are larger than that of the 801st largest U.S. company.

The ETF has gained about 16.25% so far this year and is up roughly 37.62% in the last one year (as of 06/11/2021). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $37.26 and $54.24.

The ETF has a beta of 1.03 and standard deviation of 23.06% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 785 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

John Hancock Multifactor Large Cap ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, JHML is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $279.52 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $362.50 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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