Yahoo Finance Should iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF (JKJ) Be on Your Investing Radar?
Looking for broad exposure to the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market? You should consider the iShares Morningstar Small-Cap ETF (JKJ), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/28/2004.
The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $252.02 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.
Why Small Cap Blend
Sitting at a market capitalization below $2 billion, small cap companies tend to be high-potential stocks compared to its large and mid cap counterparts, but come with higher risk.
Typically holding a combination of both growth and value stocks, blend ETFs also demonstrate qualities seen in value and growth investments.
Costs
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.25%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.24%.
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 Financials sector--about 22.20% of the portfolio. Industrials and Real Estate round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Avexis Inc (AVXS) accounts for about 1.11% of total assets, followed by First Horizon National Corp (FHN) and Lpl Financial Holdings Inc (LPLA).
The top 10 holdings account for about 8.33% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
JKJ seeks to match the performance of the Morningstar Small Core Index before fees and expenses. The Morningstar Small Core Index measures the performance of stocks issued by small-capitalization companies.
The ETF has gained about 0.07% so far this year and was up about 9.35% in the last one year (as of 05/08/2018). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $154.68 and $181.40.
The ETF has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 14.84% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 250 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
IShares Morningstar Small-Cap 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, JKJ is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Small Cap ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
The iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $38.40 B in assets, iShares Russell 2000 ETF has $43.28 B. IJR has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWM charges 0.20%.
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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First Horizon National Corporation (FHN) : Free Stock Analysis Report
LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (LPLA) : Free Stock Analysis Report
ISHARS-R 2000 (IWM): ETF Research Reports
ISHARS-SP SC600 (IJR): ETF Research Reports
AveXis, Inc. (AVXS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
ISHARS-MO SC (JKJ): ETF Research Reports
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