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

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

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

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.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

JHML is managed by John Hancock, and this fund has amassed over $744.08 million, which makes 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

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

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

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 23.70% of the portfolio. Financials and Industrials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Microsoft Corp (MSFT - Free Report) accounts for about 4.52% 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 19.11% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 16.04% and is up about 12.87% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 12/11/2023), respectively. JHML has traded between $48.55 and $56.80 during this last 52-week period.

JHML has a beta of 1.01 and standard deviation of 17.08% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 781 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 $381.68 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $444.91 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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