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Should JPMorgan BetaBuilders U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (BBSC) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Small Cap Value segment of the US equity market, look no further than the JPMorgan BetaBuilders U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (BBSC - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 11/16/2020.

The fund is sponsored by J.P. Morgan. It has amassed assets over $676.79 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Value segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Value

There's a lot of potential to investing in small cap companies, but with market capitalization below $2 billion, that high potential comes with even higher risk.

Value stocks have lower than average price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios. They also have lower than average sales and earnings growth rates. Looking at their long-term performance, value stocks have outperformed growth stocks in almost all markets. They are however likely to underperform growth stocks in strong bull markets.

Costs

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.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.09%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.73%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector--about 20.10% of the portfolio. Industrials and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Jpmorgan Us Govt Mmkt Fun accounts for about 0.85% of total assets, followed by Wayfair Inc- Class A (W - Free Report) and Carvana Co Common Stock (CVNA - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 3.83% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

BBSC seeks to match the performance of the MORNINGSTAR US SML CP TRG MRK EXP EXT ID before fees and expenses. The Morningstar US Small Cap Target Market Exposure Extended Index is a free-float adjusted, market-cap weighted index that targets small cap securities traded in the U.S.

The ETF has lost about -0.31% so far this year and is down about -2.54% in the last one year (as of 11/09/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $48.58 and $60.95.

The ETF has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 23.34% for the trailing three-year period. With about 907 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

JPMorgan BetaBuilders U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, BBSC is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Value segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF (IWN - Free Report) and the Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF (VBR - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Value ETF has $10.14 billion in assets, Vanguard Small-Cap Value ETF has $23.37 billion. IWN has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBR charges 0.07%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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