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Is John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (JHMM) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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The John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (JHMM - Free Report) made its debut on 09/28/2015, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Mid 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.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.

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.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Because the fund has amassed over $3.72 billion, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend. JHMM is managed by John Hancock. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the John Hancock Dimensional Mid Cap Index.

The John Hancock Dimensional Mid Cap Index comprises of a subset of securities in the U.S. Universe issued by companies whose market capitalizations are between the 200th and 951st largest U.S. company.

Cost & Other Expenses

For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.42%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.11%.

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.

Representing 20.40% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector; Financials and Information Technology round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, United Rentals Inc (URI - Free Report) accounts for about 0.60% of the fund's total assets, followed by Ameriprise Financial Inc (AMP - Free Report) and Hartford Financial Svcs Grp (HIG - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 4.65% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has added about 5.73% and is up roughly 18.85% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 04/11/2024), respectively. JHMM has traded between $44.18 and $57.38 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 18.84% for the trailing three-year period, which makes JHMM a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 675 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

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

Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF (VO - Free Report) tracks CRSP US Mid Cap Index and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH - Free Report) tracks S&P MidCap 400 Index. Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $63.02 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $82.31 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.

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 - Mid 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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