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Is John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (JHMM) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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Launched on 09/28/2015, the John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF (JHMM - 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?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.

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.

Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.

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 John Hancock. JHMM has been able to amass assets over $3.33 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the John Hancock Dimensional Mid Cap Index.

The John Hancock Dimensional Mid Cap Index comprises of a subset of securities in the U.S. Universe issued by companies whose market capitalizations are between the 200th and 951st largest U.S. company.

Cost & Other Expenses

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for JHMM are 0.42%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.17%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

JHMM's heaviest allocation is in the Industrials sector, which is about 19.80% of the portfolio. Its Financials and Information Technology round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, On Semiconductor (ON - Free Report) accounts for about 0.74% of total assets, followed by Builders Firstsource Inc (BLDR - Free Report) and Dr Horton Inc (DHI - Free Report) .

JHMM's top 10 holdings account for about 5.42% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap ETF return is roughly 7.94% so far, and is up about 2.36% over the last 12 months (as of 12/04/2023). JHMM has traded between $44.18 and $51.69 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 19.21% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 656 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

John Hancock Multifactor Mid Cap 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 - Free Report) tracks CRSP US Mid Cap Index and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH - Free Report) tracks S&P MidCap 400 Index. Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $55.90 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $73.72 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH 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 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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