A smart beta exchange traded fund, the John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap ETF (JHSC) debuted on 11/08/2017, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Small 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.
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.
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.
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
The fund is managed by John Hancock, and has been able to amass over $434.33 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. JHSC, before fees and expenses, 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
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.42% for this ETF, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.13%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector - about 21.50% of the portfolio. Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Exelixis Inc (EXEL) accounts for about 0.93% of total assets, followed by Intra Cellular Therapies Inc (ITCI) and Jazz Pharmaceuticals Plc (JAZZ).
The top 10 holdings account for about 7.82% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, JHSC has lost about -15.10%, and is down about -8.66% in the last one year (as of 04/07/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $33.74 and $43.65.
The fund has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 20.48% for the trailing three-year period. With about 262 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.
IShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) tracks Russell 2000 Index and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. IShares Russell 2000 ETF has $57.15 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $71.32 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR charges 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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John Hancock Multifactor Small Cap ETF (JHSC): ETF Research Reports Exelixis, Inc. (EXEL): Free Stock Analysis Report Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (JAZZ): Free Stock Analysis Report iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM): ETF Research Reports iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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