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Is JPMorgan Diversified Return U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF (JPME) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Launched on 05/11/2016, the JPMorgan Diversified Return U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF (JPME - 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?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.

Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

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.

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 sponsored by J.P. Morgan. It has amassed assets over $365.84 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Russell Midcap Diversified Factor Index.

The JP Morgan Diversified Factor US Mid Cap Equity Index utilizes a rules-based approach that combines risk-based portfolio construction with multi-factor security selection, including value, quality and momentum factors.

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.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.24%.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.02%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

JPME's heaviest allocation is in the Healthcare sector, which is about 12.5% of the portfolio. Its Industrials and Consumer Staples round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Ciena Corp Common Stock (CIEN) accounts for about 0.53% of the fund's total assets, followed by Quanta Services Inc (PWR) and Ubiquiti Inc (UI).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 4.55% of JPME's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the JPMorgan Diversified Return U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF has added roughly 4.75% so far, and is up roughly 4.36% over the last 12 months (as of 11/05/2025). JPME has traded between $89.28 $110.92 in this past 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 0.96 and standard deviation of 15.01% for the trailing three-year period. With about 355 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

JPMorgan Diversified Return U.S. Mid Cap Equity 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) tracks CRSP US Mid Cap Index and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) tracks S&P MidCap 400 Index. Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $88.03 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $98.92 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH changes 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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