JPMorgan International Growth ETF JIG

JPM International Growth brings together several notable strengths, positioning it as a competitive option within the non-US growth space.

As of September 2025, Shane Duffy has assumed sole lead manager responsibilities for the International Growth-focused strategies. At the same time, he stepped down from managing the core-oriented strategies, including International Equity, International ADR, and International Focus. Meanwhile, Tom Murray has remained lead manager for the core-oriented strategies but has relinquished his roles on International Growth. While clearer distinctions between the core and growth teams are now in place, regular interaction and debate with Tom Murray and the wider core team continue.

Duffy has led this exchange-traded fund since its May 2020 inception. He brings 24 years of experience, all with JPMorgan. Duffy has also led an institutional version of this strategy since 2007. That vehicle focuses on developed markets, whereas this ETF includes emerging markets as well.

While Duffy is in the prime of his career, the team has been deliberate about succession planning and talent development, which helps reduce key-person risk. James Andrew became comanager in March 2023, and Zach Chadwick is the newest member of the portfolio management team, having been named portfolio manager in September 2025 as part of the recent reshuffle.

The regional research analysts still form the bedrock of the approach. To that end, they follow a consistent framework to assess quality and valuation, which helps with position sizing decisions in the 60- to 90-stock portfolio. Management wants stock selection to drive returns, so it is cognizant of minimizing unintended sector and country bets relative to the MSCI ACWI ex USA Growth prospectus benchmark.

Since its May 2020 inception through January 2026, the ETF’s 8.48% annualized return has trailed the MSCI ACWI ex USA Growth Index’s 9.74%, though it has marginally outperformed the foreign large-growth category average by 0.04%. Volatility, measured by the standard deviation of returns, has been higher than that of its benchmark, and the ETF has yet to demonstrate consistent performance. Duffy’s track record on the institutional version of this strategy, which he has managed since 2007, has been stronger. However, it is important to note that the institutional strategy is benchmarked against the MSCI EAFE Growth Index, which focuses exclusively on developed markets, whereas this ETF includes emerging markets as well.

This strategy’s investment approach is well codified and robust, earning it an Above Average Process rating.

The approach favors companies that score well on growth and quality metrics. Idea generation relies on the firm’s vast regional research teams, which conduct in-depth fundamental research and assign five-year expected return targets. Analysts also classify stocks as premium, quality, standard, or challenged, according to the firm's strategic classification framework. Premium and quality names operate in attractive industries with limited external risks and possess strong balance sheets, good management teams, and solid cash-flow-generation prospects, while standard and challenged names lack sustainable competitive advantages. The vast majority of assets are allocated to premium and quality names, with standard and challenged names making up only a small portion. The team’s valuation framework helps ensure management pays the right price for the opportunity, though they are willing to pay up for quality and growth. Lead manager Shane Duffy also has his own taxonomy for diversification reasons: He wants the bulk of assets in steady growth names but complements those with high-growth and cyclical-growth ideas, too.

The portfolio now comprises 60 to 90 holdings, up from the previous range of 50 to 70. Because the index includes emerging markets, the team faces greater idiosyncratic risk, and increasing the number of holdings helps manage this. Even so, it still aims for stock selection to drive returns, so sector and country weights remain broadly aligned with the benchmark.

This strategy shares some similarities with the flagship core offering, JPMorgan International Equity. But there are some notable differences—beyond the explicit growth mandate. One key difference is their benchmarks: International Equity is benchmarked to the MSCI EAFE Index, which excludes emerging markets and Canada, while International Growth is benchmarked to the MSCI ACWI ex USA Growth Index, which includes both. Management typically caps individual positions at 5%, but they make an exception for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in International Growth because it makes up about 5% of the MSCI ACWI ex USA Growth Index (it is not in the MSCI EAFE Index). TSMC had a 7.6% stake in International Growth at the end of 2025.

Portfolio exposures reinforce management’s quality-growth focus. Indeed, quality metrics like returns on invested capital have trended above the index. At the same time, price multiples like price/earnings have typically been higher than the index, though not overtly.

As of December 2025, the strategy’s largest overweightings were in financials and industrials, representing active positions of 6.3% and 5.1%, respectively. In contrast, healthcare and consumer staples were the largest underweightings at 4.9% and 3.8%. Country exposures remain relatively close to the index, with the overweighting to the United Kingdom largely offset by an underweighting to Europe excluding the UK.

The team has been increasingly focused on its emerging-market exposure, an area where stock selection has been more challenging. It has intensified due diligence efforts around emerging-market idea generation, including more frequent analyst meetings and travel to various regions to engage with companies alongside emerging-market investment colleagues. Assessing how these initiatives translate into investment outcomes will be important.

There have been several personnel changes since our last review, but the depth and experience of the management team, supported by a strong and well resourced analyst group, continue to justify an Above Average People rating.

As of September 2025, Shane Duffy has assumed sole lead manager responsibilities for the International Growth focused strategies. At the same time, he stepped down from managing the core-oriented strategies, including International Equity, International ADR, and International Focus. Meanwhile, Tom Murray has remained lead manager for the core-oriented strategies but has relinquished his roles on International Growth.

These shifts are part of a broader initiative to more clearly align portfolio management responsibilities with distinct style cohorts, allowing managers to focus more deeply on their areas of expertise. While clearer distinctions between the core and growth teams are now in place, regular interaction and debate with Murray and the wider core team continue.

Duffy has led this ETF since its May 2020 inception. He brings 24 years of experience, all with JPMorgan. Duffy has also led an institutional version of this strategy since 2007. That vehicle focuses on developed markets, whereas this ETF includes emerging markets as well.

While Duffy is in the prime of his career, the team has been deliberate about succession planning and talent development, which helps reduce key-person risk. James Andrew became comanager in March 2023. He joined the firm in 2007 and has 21 years of investment experience. He has worked closely with Duffy for many years, having previously served as the global sector specialist for consumer discretionary. Before joining JPMorgan, he covered retail luxury goods at Bernstein and was a UK generalist at Hermes AM.

Zach Chadwick is the newest member of the portfolio management team, having been named portfolio manager in September 2025 as part of the recent reshuffle. He joined JPMorgan in 2017 as a graduate. In September 2021, he became a manager on UK Core, which follows a more quantitative process, before moving to this team in 2024.

The depth and breadth of JPMorgan’s research function is another key strength, underpinned by an extensive global analyst team. The managers benefit from access to career analysts based around the world who follow a consistent research framework. This is a notable competitive advantage, and the team makes full and effective use of it. Strong analyst research is fundamental to the strategy’s success, supported by a deep and talented pool of career analysts, a commonly applied research process, and a robust track record in stock selection.

J.P. Morgan continues to build a track record of strong stewardship, supporting a Parent rating upgrade to High from Above Average.

With more than USD 4 trillion in assets under management (including USD 1.3 trillion in money market funds) and a broad reach, J.P. Morgan is among the largest active asset managers in the US, Europe, and Asia. Although some multi-asset offerings have struggled over the past five years, prompting new leadership to make changes to investment teams, its equity and fixed-income teams boast long-tenured portfolio managers who practice repeatable investment processes that have generally produced strong long-term results. Most of its funds are core building blocks with long lifetimes, though its lineup around the world also includes more-specialized options: Two options-based equity-income exchange-traded funds, launched in 2020 and 2022, are now among the firm’s largest. J.P. Morgan has been an early mover in offering active ETFs, having converted 12 of its open-end mutual funds to the structure and launching others. It isn’t always at the forefront of emerging trends. While it has filed registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an interval fund and an ETF investing in private markets, it hasn’t yet introduced such an option for all investors, whether on its own or in partnership with another asset manager, unlike some of its closest competitors.

To support the firm’s diverse investment offerings, J.P. Morgan has invested heavily in both portfolio management tools and its client organization. Over the past 10 years, the firm has developed robust proprietary technology with advanced analytics and broad buy-in from investment analysts, portfolio traders, and portfolio managers, all of whom have easy access to the platform. The firm also stands apart for its demonstrated commitment to clients. In the early 2000s, J.P. Morgan began pivoting its engagement with financial advisors to adopt a more consultative approach, supported by its sought-after Guide to the Markets research series that focuses on investor education, not product pitches. This perspective can help clients stay the course, supporting positive investor outcomes.

Incentives reinforce alignment with fundholders. Beginning more than 10 years ago, investment team compensation is tied to three-, five-, and 10-year performance, and portfolio managers must invest at least half of their deferred compensation in J.P. Morgan strategies. Many firms encourage portfolio managers to invest alongside fundholders, but J.P. Morgan goes a step further in requiring client-facing individuals to invest substantial portions of their incentive compensation in the funds.

Although some funds still face high cost hurdles, more than half of share classes charge competitive fees relative to peers.

Shane Duffy has led this ETF since its May 2020 inception. From then through January 2026, its 8.48% annualized return trailed the MSCI ACWI ex USA Growth Index’s 9.74% but has marginally outperformed the foreign large-growth category average by 0.04%. Volatility, measured by the standard deviation of returns, has been higher than that of its benchmark, and the ETF has yet to demonstrate consistent performance.

Since Duffy began managing the institutional version of this strategy in March 2007 through January 2026, he has delivered gross annualized returns of 6.96% versus 5.46% for the MSCI EAFE Growth Index (though JPM International Growth itself is benchmarked to the MSCI ACWI ex USA Growth). The holdings overlap between the two has been about 60% of late.

Like many growth-oriented mandates, this strategy struggled in the difficult 2022 market. It also delivered disappointing relative returns in 2023 but rebounded in 2024, when its 8.6% gain outpaced the MSCI ACWI ex USA Growth Index’s 5.1% and exceeded 77% of its category peers. Strong stock selection drove much of this improvement, particularly in information technology with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, communication services with Tencent Holdings, industrials with Recruit Holdings, and financials with Rakuten Bank.

Despite a solid year in absolute terms, with the ETF rising 20.1%, it still lagged the MSCI ACWI ex USA Growth Index, which returned 25.7%. This result ranked in the middle of the US foreign large-growth category, beating 50% of peers. Stock selection was the primary headwind, especially in the United Kingdom, where overweightings in London Stock Exchange Group and Diageo detracted and the absence of strong performers such as BAE Systems further weighed on results. The team also initiated a position in Rolls-Royce relatively late, capturing only a portion of its rally. Elsewhere, an underweighting in SK Hynix detracted from relative return. Other notable detractors included Recruit Holdings, Terumo, and Bank Central Asia.

JPMorgan International Growth ETF's Prospectus Adjusted Expense Ratio is 0.55% per year. It places it in the cheapest quintile of the Morningstar US Fund Foreign Large Growth Category, where the median fee is 0.9% per year. This cost positioning translates into a Medalist Rating Price Score of 2.08, which reflects its relative price positioning within the category. The Price Score ranges from -2.50 (most expensive) to +2.50 (cheapest), with higher scores indicating better cost competitiveness.