John Hancock Investments announced the John Hancock Multifactor Media and Communications ETF (NYSEArca: JHCS) began trading on Wednesday. The fund seeks to provide investment results that closely correspond to the performance of the John Hancock Dimensional Media and Communications Index designed by Dimensional Fund Advisors.
JHCS follows the recently revised sector classification scheme that expanded or replaced the narrowly defined telecommunication services sector with a broader mix of media, communications, and technology companies. This expanded definition of telecommunications has been embraced by multiple index providers, including MSCI, S&P, and FTSE Russell.
“The new John Hancock Multifactor Media and Communications ETF gives investors specific exposure to this new sector that represents an important segment of the overall market,” said Andrew G. Arnott, president and CEO of John Hancock Investments and head of Wealth and Asset Management, United States and Europe. “Our partnership with Dimensional allows the opportunity to build portfolios that include these transformative companies with the additional benefit of Dimensional’s time-tested multifactor approach.”
Related: ETF of the Week: John Hancock Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF (JHEM)
Dimensional Fund Advisors, the subadvisor to JHCS, is well known for multifactor investing and is subadvisor to the 14 existing John Hancock Multifactor ETFs. Dimensional’s approach is to build indexes and portfolios that favor certain factors, specifically smaller companies with lower relative prices and higher levels of profitability, that decades of academic research have shown to be key drivers of higher expected returns over time. The John Hancock Dimensional Media and Communications Index applies this strategy to the newly created media and communications sector.