JPMorgan Large Cap Value C OLVCX

Fees are a weakness here. The strategy's lofty fees are a high hurdle to clear, as it is priced within the highest quintile among peers.

The strategy's managers invest alongside shareholders, which helps it earn a High People Pillar rating. The strategy's investment approach stands out and earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained a significant overweight position in liquidity exposure and volatility exposure compared with category peers. High liquidity exposure is attributed to stocks with a high trading volume, lending managers more flexibility. And high volatility exposure is rooted in stocks that have a higher standard deviation of returns. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Above Average Parent Pillar rating, and this rating is inherited from vehicles belonging to the same branding entity and is indirectly assigned by an analyst.

JPMorgan Large Cap Value Fund earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating.

The leading factor in the rating is the fund's impressive long-term risk-adjusted performance. This can be seen in its five-year alpha calculated relative to the category index, which suggests that the managers have shown skill in their allocation of risk. The parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 57% also strengthens the process. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and beat their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. Their relatively high success ratio suggests that the firm does well for investors and that this fund may benefit from that. Lastly, the process is limited by being an actively managed strategy. Historical data, such as Morningstar's Active/Passive Barometer, finds that actively managed funds have generally underperformed their passive counterparts, especially over longer time horizons.

This strategy, over time, has opted for smaller market-cap companies, compared with others in the Large Value Morningstar Category. But in terms of style (value/growth) exposure, it is similar. Examining additional factor exposure, this strategy has held more highly liquid stocks compared to Morningstar Category Peers in the past few years. Such stocks may have less potential upside than illiquid holdings, but they are easier to trade during market downturns. In recent months, the strategy was more exposed to the Liquidity factor compared with its Morningstar Category peers as well. This strategy also has had an overweight bias to the volatility factor over these years, meaning it has owned companies that have a higher historical standard deviation of returns. This orientation tends to pay off most prominently when markets are hot. Compared with category peers, the strategy also had more exposure to the Volatility factor in the most recent month. In addition, this strategy has not maintained a defensive tilt, demonstrated by low exposure to the quality factor. This means the fund avoids holding firms that are consistently profitable, growing, and have solid balance sheets. Lacking this ballast, the fund's prospects could rest on its ability to beat peers during economic booms. In recent months, the strategy also had less Quality factor exposure than 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 2.9 percentage points in terms of assets compared with the category average, and its communication services allocation is similar to the category. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are utilities and technology; however, the allocations are similar to the category. The portfolio has 94 holdings and is about as top-heavy as the category average, with 26.4% of assets in the top 10 holdings. And finally, in terms of portfolio turnover, looking at year-over-year movements, 143% of the fund's holdings have turned over, whether through increasing, decreasing, or changing a position.

The main contributor to the rating is its parent firm's five-year success ratio of 57%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and beat their respective category's median return for the period. The portfolio managers' outperformance at the funds they run, as measured by their combined three-year manager excess returns, also influences the rating. Additionally, at least one manager has invested over$ 1 million in the strategy, which aligns their interests with fundholders.

Scott Blasdell, the longest-tenured manager on the strategy, provides strong guidance, offering over 25 years of listed portfolio management experience. The average Morningstar Rating of the strategies they currently manage is 3.1 stars, indicating that their risk-adjusted returns have been in line with the category average. Despite having a small team, the two listed managers boast 13 years of listed portfolio management experience. There has been limited turnover among the portfolio-management ranks, which has provided stability for the investment strategy. Stability tends to go hand in hand with positive results. There have been no documented departures within the past five years.

As of 2022, this investment stalwart manages more than USD 2.5 trillion in AUM. Composed of various global cohorts and diverse asset classes, the firm has more tightly integrated its capabilities in recent years, notably through the development of proprietary analytical and risk systems. Investment teams are robustly staffed and helmed by seasoned contributors. The firm’s strategies tend to produce reliable portfolios, and several flagship offerings are Morningstar Medalists. Manager incentives align with fundholders'; compensation reflects longer-term performance factors, and portfolio managers invest in the firm’s strategies as part of their compensation plans.

The firm’s funds tend to be well-priced, but they aren’t as competitive as many highly regarded peers of similar scale. Recent product launches include thematic and single-country strategies, both of which carry the potential for volatile performance and flows, along with misuse by investors. The firm remains intrepid when it comes to developing an environmental, social, and governance-focused framework and continues to move into other areas such as direct indexing through its 55iP acquisition and China through its joint venture, but these complicated initiatives take time to assess any real and lasting effect.

Over a 10-year period, this share class outpaced the category's average return by 1.2 percentage points annualized. And it was also ahead of the category index, the Russell 1000 Value Index, by 89 basis points over the same period.

When adjusting for risk, the fund is less favorable. 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. In addition to the poor risk-adjusted performance, the strategy also delivered a bumpy ride for investors with a higher standard deviation of returns, 18.5%, compared with the benchmark, 15.3%. 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 imposes a fee that ranks in its Morningstar Category's highest 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, resulting in a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Silver.