2 New Smart Growth ETFs Launched by Janus

Janus Capital Group Inc. (NYSE: JNS) has decided to launch two new exchange traded funds (ETFs). These are considered to be enhanced beta ETFs, making for another round of specialty ETFs for investors.

The first of these two is the Janus Small Cap Growth Alpha ETF (NASDAQ: JSML), and the second is the Janus Small/Mid Cap Growth Alpha ETF (NASDAQ: JSMD).

Janus noted that its Smart Growth ETFs use a systematic process to identify resilient small-cap and mid-cap companies that are poised for long-run sustainable growth. After looking at a description of this proprietary methodology, Janus evaluates every company in the eligible universe using 10 fundamental factors in three key areas for its “Smart Growth.” After identifying the companies that meet the criteria, the group then selects the top 10% and diversifies the portfolio across sectors. Its goal is to produce attractive risk-adjusted returns versus traditional growth indexes.

These two ETFs will mark the first to launch since Janus’s acquisition of VS Holdings (VelocityShares) in November 2014. Janus showed that its ETF and exchange traded products business is approximately $3.2 billion in assets, spread among 17 investment products as of December 31, 2015.
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Jonathan Coleman, head of Growth Equities and portfolio manager, said:

We view traditional fundamental active investing as both an art and a science. We were able to extract the science behind our legacy small and mid-cap investment process and quantified key attributes of Smart Growth and package them into a systematic process, creating a systematic index methodology.

Nick Cherney, Janus’s head of Exchange Traded Products, said:

These ETFs marry Janus’s expertise as a fundamental manager in the small cap arena, with our robust quantitative abilities in exchange traded products. As client interest in ETFs grows, we will continue to look for innovative ways to create value for clients in the future.

Janus shares were last seen trading at $12.60, with a $2.3 billion market cap. Its 52-week trading range is $11.07 to $18.98, and its consensus analyst price target is $13.95.