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Is John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap ETF (JHSC) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Making its debut on 11/08/2017, smart beta exchange traded fund John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap ETF (JHSC - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other 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
JHSC is managed by John Hancock, and this fund has amassed over $566.07 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the JOHN HANCOCK DIMENSIONAL SMALL CAP INDEX.
The John Hancock Dimensional Small Cap Index is designed to comprise a subset of securities in the U.S. Universe issued by companies whose market capitalizations are smaller than the 750th largest U.S. company but excluding the smallest 4% of U.S. companies at the time of reconstitution.
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.
Annual operating expenses for JHSC are 0.42%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.06%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For JHSC, it has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector --about 22.8% of the portfolio --while Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Nextracker Inc Cl A (NXT) accounts for about 0.55% of the fund's total assets, followed by Commvault Systems Inc (CVLT) and Planet Fitness Inc Cl A (PLNT).
JHSC's top 10 holdings account for about 5.11% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, JHSC has lost about -0.01%, and was up about 6.96% in the last one year (as of 08/11/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $32.47 and $43.65.
The ETF has a beta of 1.03 and standard deviation of 20.17% for the trailing three-year period. With about 465 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (VB) tracks CRSP US Small Cap Index and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. Vanguard Small-Cap ETF has $63.12 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $80.47 billion. VB has an expense ratio of 0.05% and IJR changes 0.06%.
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 - Small 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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Is John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap ETF (JHSC) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 11/08/2017, smart beta exchange traded fund John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap ETF (JHSC - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
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.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other 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
JHSC is managed by John Hancock, and this fund has amassed over $566.07 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the JOHN HANCOCK DIMENSIONAL SMALL CAP INDEX.
The John Hancock Dimensional Small Cap Index is designed to comprise a subset of securities in the U.S. Universe issued by companies whose market capitalizations are smaller than the 750th largest U.S. company but excluding the smallest 4% of U.S. companies at the time of reconstitution.
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.
Annual operating expenses for JHSC are 0.42%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.06%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For JHSC, it has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector --about 22.8% of the portfolio --while Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Nextracker Inc Cl A (NXT) accounts for about 0.55% of the fund's total assets, followed by Commvault Systems Inc (CVLT) and Planet Fitness Inc Cl A (PLNT).
JHSC's top 10 holdings account for about 5.11% of its total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, JHSC has lost about -0.01%, and was up about 6.96% in the last one year (as of 08/11/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $32.47 and $43.65.
The ETF has a beta of 1.03 and standard deviation of 20.17% for the trailing three-year period. With about 465 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Small-Cap ETF (VB) tracks CRSP US Small Cap Index and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. Vanguard Small-Cap ETF has $63.12 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $80.47 billion. VB has an expense ratio of 0.05% and IJR changes 0.06%.
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 - Small 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.