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Is John Hancock Multifactor Large Cap ETF (JHML) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The John Hancock Multifactor Large Cap ETF (JHML - Free Report) was launched on 09/28/2015, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by John Hancock. It has amassed assets over $736.02 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. 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.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.29% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.24%.

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.

JHML's heaviest allocation is in the Information Technology sector, which is about 22.60% of the portfolio. Its Healthcare and Financials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 3.97% of total assets, followed by Apple Inc (AAPL - Free Report) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN - Free Report) .

JHML's top 10 holdings account for about 16.6% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -14.33% and is down about -12.72% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 11/22/2022), respectively. JHML has traded between $45.43 and $59.70 during this last 52-week period.

JHML has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 25.10% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 780 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

John Hancock Multifactor Large Cap ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index. IShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $301.18 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $375.74 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Blend.

Bottom Line

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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