Signals

Do Not Be Alarmed By the Closing of JP Morgan Indexed ETFs. I say this even as I say that I believe this may be part of an emerging trend. Many mutual fund companies that are known for touting active management but stuck their feet in the water with ETFs will likely follow suit.

The press release said that J.P. Morgan Asset Management will liquidate two exchange-traded funds: JPMorgan U.S. Minimum Volatility ETF, JMIN, and the JPMorgan U.S. Dividend ETF, JDIV.

During the past year, both JDIV and JMIN handily outperformed the S&P 500 Index and more than 75% of non-leveraged equity funds with above-average yields and below-average Betas. It would seem that investors during this period should be happy with these results and are probably less than thrilled that the funds are closing. That said, let’s look at potential replacement holdings for owners of JDIV and JMIN.

The list of best performing non-leveraged ETFs for the past 90-days is led almost exclusively by ETFs that hold the stocks of fossil-fuel-based energy and closely related companies. However, over the one- and five-year periods, ESG funds have performed admirably. Some contrarians see a reversal on the horizon, they believe now is an opportune time to align your ESG principals with your portfolio dollars. This week ValuEngine’s Herb Blank looks at impact ETFs with an emphasis on environmentally focused ETFs.

In this edition of Signals, we look at video software developer Vimeo, which was spun off from Barry Diller’s IAC in 2021. In the ensuing months, Vimeo stock has nosedived from the $50 per share range to a recent $12.50. Can Vimeo's stock price regain those lofty levels and even climb to new heights or is it destined to continue to fall? To find answers, we present both a fundamental take of Vimeo from ValuEngine and an analysis of the top executives at the firm by our client Management CV.

There is no sugarcoating it. January was a lousy month for the market. Many pundits are certain that this is the beginning of a yearlong downturn. Other experts are calling this a dip and a buying opportunity. In the type of choppy market that may lie ahead and given the steep price-return decline of close to -7% in S&P 500 ETFs in January, it might be time to move some money from market-cap weighted index funds into some actively managed value-and-quality strategies geared to hold up better in volatile markets. In the following article, Herb Blank, Senior Quantitative Analyst at ValuEngine compares 6 Actively managed value ETFs to help find the ones best suited for weathering potential market turmoil.