NEW YORK, September 29, 2023 – J.P. Morgan Asset Management today announced the launch of a new actively managed hedged equity ETF, JPMorgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF (HELO) on the NYSE Arca. The outcome-oriented ETF invests in U.S. large-cap equities with a laddered options overlay designed to provide downside hedging relative to traditional equity strategies.
“Helping investors get invested and stay invested has always been our North Star,” said Hamilton Reiner, portfolio manager and Head of U.S. Equity Derivatives. “Given our leadership in outcome-oriented strategies, we are very excited to bring HELO to market to provide another unique solution that suits the needs of our clients.”
JPMorgan Hedged Equity Laddered Overlay ETF (HELO) is an active hedged equity strategy that invests in a portfolio of U.S. large cap stocks with an options overlay that seeks to provide downside protection, while foregoing some upside potential. HELO utilizes the same team and philosophy as the JPMorgan Hedged Equity Mutual Fund Series. Over the long-term, HELO seeks to capture a significant portion of the U.S. equity market returns with lower volatility than traditional equity strategies over the long-term, which should lead to competitive risk-adjusted returns.
The laddered hedge overlay of HELO will consist of three hedges lasting three months, that are each staggered one month apart. This “laddered” hedging approach aims to provide downside protection and upside capture.
“We listen to our clients and their request is to have a strategy like this available in the ETF wrapper,” said Bryon Lake, Global Head of ETF Solutions at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “Hamilton and team have demonstrated strong success with active ETFs like JEPI and JEPQ, and HELO is a great addition to our active ETF family.”
HELO leverages an experienced equity portfolio management team, with nearly 70 years of combined experience, with industry veterans Hamilton Reiner, J.P. Morgan Asset Management Head of U.S. Equity Derivatives, and Raffaele Zingone, a portfolio manager in the U.S. Equity Core group.
The active hedged equity ETF is offered at a price point of 50 bps.
“Regardless of the environment, equity investors are focused on managing risk,” explained Reiner. “We expect strong demand for HELO as investors look for outcome-oriented solutions that provide the hedged experience through the ETF wrapper.”
J.P. Morgan Asset Management ranks as a top ten ETF issuer in the U.S. with respect to AUM, and number one year to date in net active flows across active ETFs in the U.S.1