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

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

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

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.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by John Hancock. JHMM has been able to amass assets over $2.51 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the John Hancock Dimensional Mid Cap Index before fees and expenses.

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

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.41% for JHMM, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.78%.

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 18.30% of the portfolio. Industrials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Parker Hannifin Corp (PH - Free Report) accounts for about 0.43% of the fund's total assets, followed by United Rentals Inc (URI - Free Report) and Laboratory Crp Of Amer Hldgs (LH - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 2.08% of JHMM's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, JHMM has lost about -6.89%, and was up about 9.71% in the last one year (as of 03/04/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $47.33 and $56.63.

The fund has a beta of 1.11 and standard deviation of 25.22% for the trailing three-year period, which makes JHMM a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 673 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 MidCap ETF (VO - Free Report) tracks CRSP US Mid Cap Index and the iShares Core S&P MidCap ETF (IJH - Free Report) tracks S&P MidCap 400 Index. Vanguard MidCap ETF has $53 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P MidCap ETF has $64.75 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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