Designed to provide broad exposure to the Broad Emerging Market ETFs category of the market, the JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) Diversified Return Emerging Markets Equity ETF (JPEM) is a smart beta exchange traded fund launched on 01/07/2015.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.
Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track 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.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by J.P. Morgan. JPEM has been able to amass assets over $237.30 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Broad Emerging Market ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the FTSE Emerging Diversified Factor Index.
The FTSE Emerging Diversified Factor Index are selected from advanced and secondary emerging markets strictly in accordance with guidelines and mandated procedures and are selected from constituents of the FTSE Emerging Index.
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.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.44%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.59%.
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.
When you look at individual holdings, Taiwan Semiconductor accounts for about 2.11% of the fund's total assets, followed by Naspers Ltd Common Stock (NPN) and Reliance Industries Ltd (RELI_D.).
The top 10 holdings account for about 14.16% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the JPMorgan Diversified Return Emerging Markets Equity ETF has lost about -3.22% so far, and it's up approximately 3.36% over the last 12 months (as of 12/07/2020). JPEM has traded between $36.19 and $58.24 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 0.87 and standard deviation of 22.79% for the trailing three-year period, which makes JPEM a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 501 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
JPMorgan Diversified Return Emerging Markets Equity ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Broad Emerging Market ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.
IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG) tracks MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO) tracks FTSE Emerging Markets All Cap China A Inclusion Index. IShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has $64.42 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF has $69 billion. IEMG has an expense ratio of 0.13% and VWO charges 0.10%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Broad Emerging Market 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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JPMorgan Diversified Return Emerging Markets Equity ETF (JPEM): ETF Research Reports
iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (IEMG): ETF Research Reports
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO): ETF Research Reports
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