JPMorgan U.S. Applied Data Sci Val A JIVAX

The strategy charges fees in line with its similarly distributed peers, priced within the middle quintile.

The strategy's investment process inspires confidence and earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained an overweight in volatility exposure and liquidity exposure compared with category peers. High volatility exposure is attributed to companies with a higher standard deviation of returns. And a high liquidity exposure is rooted in stocks with higher trading volumes, lending managers more flexibility. The strategy’s management team earns an Average People Pillar rating. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Above Average Parent Pillar rating. People Pillar and Parent Pillar ratings for this strategy are indirectly assigned by a Morningstar analyst rather than algorithmically derived. Please see the notes following each pillar section for more details. The details of assigning methods can be found in each pillar section.

JPMorgan U.S. Applied Data Science Value earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating.

The predominant contributor to the rating is its parent firm's impressive long-term risk-adjusted performance, as shown by the firm's average 10-year Morningstar Rating of 3.3 stars. Noteworthy risk-adjusted performance also strengthens the process. This can be seen in the fund's five-year alpha calculated relative to the category index, which suggests that the managers have shown skill in their allocation of risk. Lastly, the process is limited by the number of months that the management team has been running this vehicle together.

This strategy targets smaller plays than its peers’ average in the Large Value Morningstar Category. But in terms of investment style, it is on par with peers. Analyzing additional factors, this strategy has exhibited a tilt toward high-volatility stocks or the shares of companies with histories of the higher standard deviation of returns, compared with Morningstar Category peers in the last few years. This is a higher-risk, higher-reward approach. In recent months, the strategy was more exposed to the Volatility factor compared with its Morningstar Category peers as well. This strategy has also exhibited a tilt towards more high-liquid assets over peers in recent years, evidenced by consistently holding companies with relatively higher trading volumes. More-liquid assets are easier to buy and sell without adversely moving their prices and tend to provide some ballast during market selloffs. They also are easier to sell to meet redemptions if a host of investors decide to leave the fund in a short period of time. Compared with category peers, the strategy also had more exposure to the Liquidity factor in the most recent month. Additionally, this strategy has demonstrated a preference for high-momentum stocks in these years. Momentum is based on the premise that stocks that have recently outperformed will continue to outperform, and those that have underperformed will stay behind. In this month, the strategy also had more exposure to the Momentum factor over its peers. More information on a fund and its respective category's factor exposure can be found in the Factor Profile module within the Portfolio section.

The portfolio is overweight in industrials by 2.7 percentage points in terms of assets compared with the category average, and its healthcare allocation is similar to the category. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are consumer defensive and technology; however, the allocations are similar to the category. The portfolio is composed of 105 holdings and is diversified among those holdings. In its most recent portfolio, 20.5% of the fund’s assets were concentrated in the top 10 fund holdings, as opposed to the category’s 27.2% average.

The team is backed by Wonseok Choi, the longest-tenured manager on the strategy, who provides 18 years of listed portfolio management experience. Wonseok Choi draws on two other listed supporting managers. Together, they have nine years of average listed portfolio management experience. The highest personal investment in the fund by any of its managers is between$ 100,000 and$ 500,000. That's on the low side--it would need to be more than$ 1 million for us to see the investment as sufficient to promote the strong alignment of their interests with the strategy's investors.

Note: The People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. The longest-tenured manager of the fund also manages a different product rated by an analyst. Their analyst-assigned People Pillar rating is combined here with the People scores (algorithmic or analyst-assigned) for the fund’s other managers on a tenure-weighted basis.

J.P. Morgan is a well-resourced, diligent, and responsible steward of client assets. Investment teams are seasoned and stalwart, especially in equity and fixed income, the latter of which has successfully undergone substantial transformation in recent years. The firm offers competitive compensation that is aligned with fundholders and shows strong retention at senior levels of the organization. It demonstrates a culture of constant innovation and willingness to evolve. For example, J.P. Morgan recently expanded its investment committee process through which senior leaders review various teams and strategies, and it continues to develop proprietary portfolio management and risk oversight tools. Some funds still face high fee hurdles, but the firm has generally lowered expenses as it has grown.

The firm isn't without its complications. J.P. Morgan's product offering is extensive, and some areas need improvement. For instance, its multi-asset business has faced some challenges as a result of complex investment processes. The firm continues to build out its footprint in China, but its efforts there remain unproven. Although not every strategy is the best in its class, J.P. Morgan remains earnest in the pursuit of excellence, and investors are well-served.

Over the trailing eight-year period, this share class outperformed the category's average return by an annualized 59 basis points. But when expanded to a 10-year period, it performed similarly to the average's 8.7%. It continued its mixed performance compared with the category index, Russell 1000 Value Index, where it exceeded the index by 94 basis points over an eight-year period and lagged it by 24 basis points over a 10-year period.

The share class failed to beat the index with a lower Sharpe ratio, a measure of risk-adjusted returns, over the trailing 10-year period. But notably, these subpar risk-adjusted results have not come with more volatility than the benchmark, as measured by standard deviation. Finally, the share class proved itself ineffective as it was unable to generate alpha, over the same 10-year period, against the category group index: a benchmark that encapsulates the performance of the broader asset class.

This share class levies a fee that places it in its Morningstar Category's middle quintile. Despite this fee, the fund’s People, Process, and Parent Pillars build confidence that this share class should be able to generate positive alpha versus its category benchmark, earning it a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Bronze.