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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) was launched on 09/28/2015, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer 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.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

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.

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.

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 managed by John Hancock. JHMM has been able to amass assets over $2.29 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

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 JHMM are 0.41%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.01%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.

Representing 16.20% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Industrials and Financials round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB - Free Report) accounts for about 0.47% of the fund's total assets, followed by Parker Hannifin Corp (PH - Free Report) and Nucor Corp (NUE - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 4.3% of JHMM's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF has lost about -18.93% so far, and is down about -13.50% over the last 12 months (as of 07/04/2022). JHMM has traded between $42.94 and $56.63 in this past 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 26.51% for the trailing three-year period, which makes JHMM a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 667 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 $46.92 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P MidCap ETF has $56.45 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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