Weakness in Harbor Multi-Asset Explorer ETF's People and Process Pillar ratings limits this strategy to a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Negative. The strategy charges fees in line with its similarly distributed peers, priced within the middle quintile.  

 The strategy's management team is about as experienced as others, but due to other weaknesses, the strategy earns a Low People Pillar. The strategy gets a Low Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained a substantial overweight position in the Japan region and the basic materials sector compared with category peers. 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.

Analyst Rating

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Morningstar's evaluation of this fund's process aims to determine how repeatable, consistent, and reliable it is, and whether management maintains a competitive advantage. Harbor Multi-Asset Explorer ETF earns a Low Process Pillar rating. The most significant detractor from the rating is the parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 51%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and outperformed their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. The parent's relatively low success ratio suggests that the firm could do better across its fund lineup. The parent firm's five-year retention rate of 51% also weakens the process. Management team experience, which averages six years at this fund, detracts from the rating as well.

 Its equity sleeve is consistently tilted toward both larger market-cap and growth-oriented companies as opposed to category peers. The strategy has three region or sector biases compared to category peers. The most noteworthy bias is a consistent overweight in the Japan region. It also maintains an underweight bias to the basic materials sector. And finally, in the fund's most recent portfolio, less assets were allocated to emerging markets regions. Although, this bias has not existed over time. 

 The portfolio is overweight in communication services and technology relative to the category average by 9.2 and 8.9 percentage points, respectively. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are real estate and utilities, underweight the average by 7.0 and 3.0 percentage points of assets, respectively. The portfolio is overweight in North America and Japan regions relative to the category average by 5.3 percentage points and 3.9 percentage points, respectively. The regions with low exposure compared to their category peers are Developed Europe and United Kingdom, with Developed Europe underweight the average by 3.7 percentage points and United Kingdom similar to the average.

 The fund’s fixed-income sleeve takes on more interest rate risk as its average duration is 5.8 years compared with the category average’s 4.6 years.

Process

Harbor Multi-Asset Explorer ETF earns a Low People Pillar rating. The most important factor influencing the rating is the experience of the management team, which averages six years at this fund. The instability of its management team also holds the team back. The fund last saw a manager change six months ago. The parent firm's five-year retention rate of 51% detracts from the rating further.


None of the portfolio managers here invest in this fund. This hurts the rating because manager investment would align their interests with the strategy's investors.

People

A history of thoughtful manager selection and continued investment in its research team underpin Harbor Capital Advisors' Above Average Parent rating.

Harbor is an independent subsidiary of Orix Corporation Europe N.V., itself a subsidiary of Japanese financial-services firm Orix, which bought Harbor's previous parent Robeco in 2013. Today Robeco, Harbor, and other asset managers operate autonomously under Orix, which takes a hands-off approach toward its subsidiaries.

Harbor has long been known for hiring best-in-class subadvisors to manage its roughly $64 billion held almost exclusively in actively managed mutual funds. Yet the firm has expanded its vehicle lineup in recent years: from February 2020 through March 2022, the firm introduced a collective investment trust version of an existing open-end strategy as well as six transparent, active exchange-traded funds. The firm has also shaken up its subadvisor lineup, removing Pimco from Harbor Core Plus HABDX in February 2022 and hiring smaller and less established asset managers like BlueCove and Quantix Commodities to manage its newer ETF offerings. These moves break new ground for Harbor, but the firm has invested in new data and analytics tools to help its capable manager research team oversee the expanding subadvisor roster and has retained long-standing subadvisor relationships where they continue to add value.

Above Average

Parent

Harbor Multi-Asset Explorer ETF

MAPP seeks long-term total return and limited downside risk through an actively managed fund-of-funds. The fund shifts exposure to various asset classes globally through systematic and discretionary research of the business cycle.

An active multi-asset ETF can be a particularly useful tool in the current environment. Recently, Harbor Capital launched the Harbor Multi-Asset Explorer ETF (MAPP).

How Harbor's Active Multi-Asset ETF Is Positioned in the Current Environment

Harbor Capital Advisors has expanded its ETF lineup with an actively managed multi-asset strategy. The Harbor Multi-Asset Explorer ETF (MAPP), listed September 14 on the NYSE Arca, seeks to provide long-term total return while aiming to limit downside risk. MAPP invests in a diversified portfolio of liquid and low-cost ETFs, providing exposure to broad asset classes. This includes equities, fixed income, REITs (real estate investment trusts), commodities, and cash and cash equivalents.

Harbor Launches Active Dynamic Multi-Asset ETF: MAPP

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc. ("Harbor"), an asset manager that continues to curate a select suite of active ETFs from boutique managers, while internally managing multi-asset and multi-manager strategies via the firm's Multi-Asset Solutions Team, today has launched the Harbor Multi-Asset Explorer ETF (ticker: MAPP). Managed by Harbor's Multi-Asset Solutions Team, the Harbor Multi-Asset Explorer ETF utilizes an actively managed multi-asset approach to achieve its inves.

News for Harbor Multi-Asset Explorer ETF ETF (MAPP)