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Is JPMorgan Diversified Return International Equity ETF (JPIN) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Broad Developed World ETFs category of the market, the JPMorgan Diversified Return International Equity ETF (JPIN - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 11/06/2014.

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.

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.

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 managed by J.P. Morgan. JPIN has been able to amass assets over $722.95 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Developed World ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the FTSE Developed ex North America Diversified Factor Index.

The JP Morgan Diversified Factor International Equity Index utilizes a rules-based approach combining risk-weighted portfolio construction with multi-factor security screening based on value, quality and momentum factors.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for JPIN are 0.37%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 6.56%.

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.

Taking into account individual holdings, Jpmorgan Prime Var 12/49 accounts for about 0.74% of the fund's total assets, followed by Shell Plc Common Stock (SHEL - Free Report) and Astrazeneca Plc Common (AZN - Free Report) .

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 5.12% of JPIN's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -16.65% so far this year and is down about -18.36% in the last one year (as of 09/13/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $46.81 and $63.76.

The fund has a beta of 0.77 and standard deviation of 20.62% for the trailing three-year period, which makes JPIN a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 483 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

JPMorgan Diversified Return International Equity ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Developed World ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS - Free Report) tracks FTSE Global All Cap ex US Index and the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (VEA - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed All Cap ex US Index. Vanguard Total International Stock ETF has $47.07 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF has $94.02 billion. VXUS has an expense ratio of 0.07% and VEA 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 Broad Developed World ETFs.

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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