INTF vs JHMD

INTFAiShares International Equity Factor ETF

JHMDCJohn Hancock Multifactor Developed International ETF

In short

INTF Five factors at once (value, quality, momentum, low volatility, low size) aimed at developed markets outside the US, for 0.16% a year. That is well under half what the typical international multifactor fund charges.

JHMD A Dimensional-designed index in a John Hancock wrapper: roughly 600 large developed-market stocks outside North America, weighted toward the smaller, cheaper, more profitable end of the pool. Factor investing from the firm that wrote the playbook, in plain index form.

Stated mandate

INTF The fund seeks to track an index of international developed-market stocks chosen using value, quality, momentum, low-volatility, and low-size factors.

JHMD The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the performance of the John Hancock Dimensional Developed International Index.

Why people hold it

• INTF At 0.16% a year it undercuts the peer median of 0.38%, and also GSIE (0.25%), RODM (0.29%) and FDEV (0.18%).
• One basket of roughly 500 developed-market stocks does the work of separate value, quality, momentum, low-volatility and small-size sleeves.
• Live since 2015 and now a multi-billion-dollar iShares fund, giving it more history than much of the international multifactor shelf.
• Rates among the strongest implementations in its international multifactor peer group of 29 funds.

• JHMD The index sorts stocks by free-float market cap, price/book and operating income over book, then weights toward smaller, cheaper, more profitable companies.jhinvestments.com
• Roughly 600 large-cap names outside North America, reconstituted and rebalanced twice a year, so the tilts get refreshed on a schedule instead of drifting.jhinvestments.com
• Trading since December 2016, giving it close to a decade of live history running a Dimensional-built index in ETF form.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• INTF Factor tilts are the whole point, so returns can wander from a plain cap-weighted international index in either direction, sometimes for long stretches.
• Developed markets only. No emerging-market exposure here, and returns move with foreign currencies as well as foreign stocks.
• Volume is moderate rather than heavy, so limit orders help. Distributions land once or twice a year, not quarterly.

• JHMD Fee is 0.39%, net of a waiver through July 31, 2027 (0.43% gross). Near the category median, but above GSWO at 0.15%, INTF at 0.16% and DFAI at 0.18%.
• Ex-North America means Canada is out along with the US, so this is a slice of the developed world rather than a complete non-US sleeve.jhinvestments.com
• Mid-sized and moderately traded, and its home markets are shut during US hours, so spreads can widen around the US open and close.

Full INTF profile⁠

Full JHMD profile⁠