Don't Overlook Mid-Cap ETFs for a Diversified Portfolio

Most of the market’s attention is focused on large-cap benchmarks or smaller company stocks. Investors should not leave opportunities on the table and look to mid-cap exchange traded funds as well.

Investors have a large-cap bias after years of outperformance in the asset category, Steven L. Deroian, head of ETF strategy for John Hancock, explained to ETF Trends in a call. Consequently, many are underexposed to other asset capitalizations and should consider ways to diversify their investment portfolios.

Mid-cap companies are slightly more diversified than their small-cap peers, which allows many mid-sized companies to generate more consistent revenue and cash flow, along with providing more stable stock prices. Additionally, they are not so big that their size would slow down growth.

The mid-cap category has also outperformed their larger peers, but with lower volatility than small caps. Moreover, the returns of mid-cap stocks have also beaten those of small-cap stocks during the trailing three-, five-, and 10-year periods, with lower volatility.

As investors look over their equity market exposure, investors may find that large-cap stock positions are too big for rapid growth and small-caps may expose them to more volatile short-term moves, but middle capitalization stocks and related ETFs may be just right. Middle capitalization stocks, or sometimes referred to as the market’s sweet spot, could help investors achieve improved risk-adjusted returns.