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Should Janus Henderson Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha ETF (JSMD) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The Janus Henderson Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha ETF (JSMD - Free Report) was launched on 02/23/2016, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Janus Henderson. It has amassed assets over $343.29 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap Growth

With more potential comes more risk, and small cap companies, with market capitalization below $2 billion, epitomizes this way of thinking.

While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.

Costs

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 this ETF are 0.30%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.45%.

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 to the Industrials sector--about 25% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Medpace Holdings Inc. (MEDP - Free Report) accounts for about 3.93% of total assets, followed by Charles River Laboratories International Inc. (CRL - Free Report) and Shockwave Medical Inc (SWAV - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 27.43% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

JSMD seeks to match the performance of the Janus Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha Index before fees and expenses. The Janus Henderson Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha Index selects small- and medium-sized capitalization stocks that are poised for smart growth by evaluating each company performance in three critical areas: growth, profitability, and capital efficiency.

The ETF return is roughly 2.02% so far this year and is up about 20.42% in the last one year (as of 04/30/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $54.25 and $69.92.

The ETF has a beta of 1.15 and standard deviation of 23.09% for the trailing three-year period. With about 256 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Janus Henderson Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, JSMD is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Growth area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO - Free Report) and the Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $10.72 billion in assets, Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF has $16.64 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBK 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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