JMEE vs SMCO

JMEEAJPMorgan Small & Mid Cap Enhanced Equity ETF

SMCOBHilton Small-MidCap Opportunity ETF

In short

JMEE Enhanced indexing, not index hugging for its own sake: JMEE keeps sector weights close to the S&P 1000, then lets proprietary stock rankings pick the names. Roughly 700 holdings at 0.35%.

SMCO An active small- and mid-cap stock picker in a peer group stuffed with cheap large-cap core index funds. Hilton's sub-adviser runs a proprietary US small/mid process built for long-term capital appreciation, priced under the typical active US equity fund.

Stated mandate

JMEE The fund seeks returns above the S&P 1000 Index by using proprietary stock rankings and fundamental analysis, while maintaining broadly similar sector weights.

SMCO The Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Why people hold it

• JMEE Index shape, active edges. Sector weights stay broadly in line with the S&P 1000 while proprietary rankings and fundamental analysis pick the stocks, spread over roughly 700 names.jpmorgan.com
• 0.35% with no waiver holding it there, below the median for active small/mid-cap funds. Cheaper than DFMC at 0.43%; AVMC (0.18%) and FEMV (0.23%) undercut it.
• Not a 2020s startup: the strategy dates to 1998 and runs a multi-billion-dollar book, so the research process has been through a few full market cycles.
• One of the strongest implementations in the active small/mid-cap group.

• SMCO Charges 0.55% a year, below the 0.65% median for active US equity funds. Not index-fund cheap, but light for a discretionary stock-picking mandate.
• Hunts US small and mid caps, the ground the cohort's top-scoring giants (DFAU, FELC, DFAC) mostly skip with their large-cap core books.
• The portfolio itself is the strongest part of the package: a diversified US equity book with no structural quirks in the wrapper, and it lands in the upper half of its peer group.

Worth knowing

• JMEE Active, not a replicator. There is no index to copy, so results ride on JPMorgan's stock rankings rather than a published rulebook.
• Benchmark-like sector weights mean it moves with the small and mid-cap market. This is a tilt on that exposure, not a cushion against it.
• Distributions land once or twice a year, and it trades moderately rather than heavily, so spreads matter more than in the biggest index funds.

• SMCO Thinly traded. Spreads can run wider than in the category's mega-funds, so order size and timing matter more here than with a household-name index ETF.
• Launched in late 2023, so the record is short and covers one stretch of market weather.
• Small and mid caps swing harder than large caps, and there is no published index to measure the manager against. Outcomes ride on the sub-adviser's process.

Full JMEE profile⁠

Full SMCO profile⁠