Hartford Multifactor Emerging Mkts ETF’s management team is rated Average, but a solid investment process still helps this strategy retain its Morningstar Medalist Rating of Silver. The portfolio maintains a cost advantage over competitors, priced within the cheapest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy's investment process inspires confidence 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 yield exposure and an underweight in liquidity exposure compared with category peers. High yield exposure is attributed to holding high dividend-paying or buyback stocks, and is suitable for income seekers outside of fixed-income. And a low liquidity exposure is rooted in stocks with lower trading volumes, limiting managers' flexibility. The strategy’s management team earns an Average People Pillar rating. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Above Average Parent Pillar rating. People Pillar and Parent Pillar ratings for this strategy are indirectly assigned by a Morningstar analyst rather than algorithmically derived. Please see the notes following each pillar section for more details. The details of assigning methods can be found in each pillar section.

Analyst Rating

Stewart Information Services

Pimco Income Opportunity Fund

Vail Resorts

Premier Financial

Bridgepoint Education

iShares Edge MSCI Multifactor Industrials ETF

Aduro BioTech

Associated Capital Group

Mobile TeleSystems

TE Connectivity

Morningstar's evaluation of this security's process aims to determine the likelihood that it will outperform its Morningstar Category index on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. Hartford Multifactor Emerging Mkts ETF earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. 

The most important driver of the rating is that this fund tracks an index. Historical data, like Morningstar's Active/Passive Barometer, finds that passively managed funds have generally outperformed their active counterparts, especially over longer time horizons. Excellent risk-adjusted performance also supports the process. This can be seen in the fund's five-year alpha calculated relative to the category index, which suggests that the managers have shown skill in their allocation of risk. Lastly, the process is limited by the experience of the management team, which averages five years at this fund.

 This strategy skews toward smaller, deeper value companies than its average peer in the Diversified Emerging Mkts Morningstar Category. Looking at additional factor exposure, the managers have consistently overweighted yield-paying companies compared with Morningstar Category peers in recent years, shown by the portfolio's high exposure to stocks paying dividends or buying back shares. High-yield stocks tend to be associated with more mature, profitable businesses that can grow as well as provide a stream of income. Such stocks could suffer, however, if setbacks force them to cut their dividends. In recent months, the strategy was more exposed to the Yield factor compared with its Morningstar Category peers as well. Given the low trading volume of holdings, this strategy also has higher liquidity risk exposure in these years, consistently over its peers. Less-liquid stocks might offer strong returns to compensate for their risks, but they can be harder and more expensive to trade in bear markets. Similarly, in recent months, the strategy also had less exposure to the Liquidity factor than peers. 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. Such positions do not tend to provide much ballast for a portfolio. 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 energy by 3.6 percentage points in terms of assets compared with the category average, and its utilities allocation is similar to the category. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are consumer cyclical and technology, underweight the average by 3.1 and 2.8 percentage points of assets, respectively. The strategy owns 342 securities and is less top-heavy than peers. Specifically, 9.6% of the fund’s assets are concentrated within the top 10 fund holdings, compared to the category average's 25.4%. And finally, in terms of portfolio turnover, looking at year-over-year movements, 71% of the fund's holdings have turned over, whether through increasing, decreasing, or changing a position.

Above Average

Process

Hartford Funds’s  team is comparable to peers, resulting in an Average People Pillar rating. There’s a deep bench of five managers listed on the fund. Together, they manage a total of 114 strategies, with a Bronze asset-weighted average Morningstar Medalist Rating, demonstrating their potential to deliver positive alpha relative to the category median in aggregate.  

 Note: This People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. Morningstar analysts evaluate the People Pillar for passive products at the brand level and may also differentiate by asset class. There is at least one other passive strategy at the firm that is covered by a Morningstar analyst, so the People Pillar rating of the fund is inherited from the rating that the Morningstar analyst assigned to investment vehicles under the same brand name.

Average

People

Hartford Funds’ investors benefit from access to strong subadvisors at a reasonable cost. The firm earns an Above Average Parent Pillar rating.

Hartford’s industry relationships are key to its success. It maintains a long-standing partnership with standout investment manager Wellington Management Company, which has run the firm's equity and fixed-income funds since 1996 and 2012, respectively. Wellington now subadvises more than half of Hartford’s $124.1 billion in fund assets. In 2016, Hartford launched strategic-beta exchange-traded funds with its acquisition of Lattice Strategies and partnered with Schroders to expand its investment platform’s offerings, especially in non-U.S. strategies.

Hartford leaves most investment decisions to its subadvisors but collaborates with them on product development, risk oversight, and distribution. The firm reorganized its sales efforts and grew its product-management capabilities in 2013. Firm leadership has since added further resources to its distribution and oversight teams, while merging and liquidating subpar offerings, and has introduced new strategies. 

Hartford has sought to provide more-competitive fees. The firm has launched share classes without embedded distribution charges and reduced fees on other share classes. Still, as most shares remain in average or costlier fee groups, there is room for improvement.

Parent

Hartford Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF

ROAM tracks a multifactor and quant-driven index of emerging market stocks aimed at reducing concentration risk prevalent in cap-weighted indexes.

CSOP FTSE China A50 ETF

Xtrackers Harvest CSI 300 China A-Shares ETF

Xtrackers Harvest CSI 500 China A-Shares Small Cap ETF

Xtrackers MSCI China A Inclusion Equity ETF

Avantis Emerging Markets Equity ETF

Avantis Emerging Markets Value ETF

VanEck Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF

Direxion Daily MSCI Brazil Bull 2X Shares

ProShares UltraShort MSCI Brazil Capped

Morgan Stanley China A Share Fund Inc

Direxion Daily CSI 300 China A Share Bull 2X Shares

VanEck Vectors ChinaAMC SME-ChiNext ETF

iShares MSCI China A ETF

WisdomTree China ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund

Xtrackers MSCI Emerging Markets Hedged Equity ETF

Dimensional Emerging Markets Value ETF

Franklin Emerging Market Core

Direxion Daily Emerging Markets Bull 3X Shares

Direxion Daily Emerging Markets Bear 3X Shares

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF

ProShares Ultra MSCI Emerging Markets

ProShares UltraShort MSCI Emerging Markets

Xtrackers Emerging Markets Carbon Reduction and Climate Improvers ETF

Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Fund

Global X Next Emerging & Frontier ETF

iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ex China ETF

WisdomTree India Earnings Fund

iShares MSCI EM ESG Optimized ETF

ProShares Short MSCI Emerging Markets

iShares MSCI Brazil ETF

iShares MSCI Brazil Small-Cap ETF

First Trust Brazil AlphaDEX Fund

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund

Franklin FTSE Brazil ETF

Franklin FTSE India ETF

iShares MSCI Frontier 100 ETF

Freedom 100 Emerging Markets ETF

iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Emerging Markets ETF

iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF

Morgan Stanley India Investment Fund Inc

Columbia India Consumer ETF

iShares MSCI India ETF

Nifty India Financials ETF

Direxion Daily MSCI India Bull 2X Shares

iShares India 50 ETF

JPMorgan Emerging Markets Equity Core ETF

KraneShares MSCI All China Index ETF

KraneShares Bosera MSCI China A Share ETF

KraneShares SSE STAR Market 50 Index ETF

iShares ESG MSCI EM Leaders ETF

PIMCO RAFI Dynamic Multi-Factor Emerging Markets Equity ETF

First Trust India NIFTY 50 Equal Weight ETF

Invesco India ETF

First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Emerging Markets ETF

Schwab Emerging Markets Equity ETF

iShares MSCI India Small Cap ETF

SPDR Portfolio Emerging Markets ETF

Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF

WisdomTree Emerging Markets ex-State-Owned Enterprises Fund

Emerging markets continued to expand at a solid pace midway into the first quarter of 2024, supported by broad-based expansion across both manufacturing and service sectors.

Emerging Markets Growth Remains Solid Amid Intensifying Inflationary Pressures

Hartford Multifactor Diversified International ETF

Emerging markets have the potential to offer outsized returns, but many investors are understandably wary of the volatility of the asset class. Investors can navigate volatility in emerging markets by looking beyond traditional cap-weighted funds.

These 2 Multifactor ETFs Offer Emerging Market Exposure With Less Volatility

Wall Street is eagerly awaiting tomorrow's consumer price index report, which will offer insight into the fight against inflation. U.S. consumers' inflation expectations eased slightly in October, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported on Monday.

Emerging Markets Better Positioned in Above Trend Inflation

Hartford Multifactor Developed Markets (ex-US) ETF

Asian stocks largely posted gains on Thursday, lifting multifactor ETFs, as investors awaited the release of U.S. consumer price data. Asia-Pacific markets climbed across the board, led by South Korean stocks.

Check Out These 3 Multifactor ETFs as South Korea, Japan Rally

Hartford Multifactor US Equity ETF

Investors can use multifactor ETFs to safeguard portfolio gains achieved year to date. U.S. equities fell sharply last month, ending the third quarter in the red.

Use Multifactor ETFs to Position Defensively and Protect Gains

Hartford Funds launched its Hartford Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF (ROAM) back in 2015. The multifactor fund tracks an index that targets emerging market stocks based on certain factor exposures while also seeking to reduce volatility by 15%.

ROAM Outperforms Key Cap-Weighted Emerging Markets ETF

A challenged U.S. market highlights the value of diversification in a portfolio. Higher for longer interest rates, the automotive strike, high oil prices, and the possibility of a government shutdown again are all current headwinds for the U.S. economy.

Use International Multifactor ETFs to Diversify Portfolios

The latest CPI print showed U.S. inflation accelerated for a second consecutive month in August. Consumer prices increased 3.7% in that month from a year prior, up from 3.2% in July, the Labor Department said on Wednesday.

Emerging Markets Hold Up Better in Above Trend Inflation

As China stocks continue to fall, investors may want to ensure their emerging markets exposure diversifies away from the country. China stocks have been pressured by a weakening yuan and waning investor optimism toward the world's second-largest economy.

Diversify Emerging Markets Exposure Away from Falling China Stocks

The Hartford Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF (ROAM) stands out for its outperformance over category peers such as EEM. ROAM is unique in that it is underpinned by a multifactor strategy and targets lower volatility securities.

ROAM Outperforms EEM by 7.4% YTD, Limits Losses

Many investors are wondering if it's the right time to add exposure to emerging markets. With ongoing market uncertainty and the possibility of a recession, investors may be wary to add exposure to riskier segments of the market.

Why Now Could Be the Right Time to Invest in Emerging Markets

Many investors look to emerging markets for diversification benefits. While emerging markets can serve as a portfolio diversifier, investors shouldn't overlook concentration, however.

Watch Out for Concentration in Emerging Markets

J.P. Morgan Diversified Return Emerging Markets Equity ETF

Many emerging markets investors are looking to diversify away companies under Chinese President Xi Jinping's control without sacrificing performance. A solution for investors may be the Hartford Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF (ROAM), which underweights mega-cap tech and China compared to category peers and the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets index.

Diversify Emerging Markets Exposure Away From Xi's Control With ROAM

Manager Directed Portfolios - iM DBi Managed Futures Strategy ETF

KFA Mount Lucas Index Strategy ETF

Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF

Vanguard U.S. Multifactor ETF

iShares Russell 1000 ETF

Bull vs. Bear is a weekly feature where the VettaFi writers' room takes opposite sides for a debate on controversial stocks, strategies, or market ideas — with plenty of discussion of ETF ideas to play either angle. For this edition of Bull vs.

Bull vs. Bear: Do Multifactor ETFs Make Sense for Today's Market?

Emerging markets outpaced the U.S. market last week, highlighting the importance of challenging home country bias in client portfolios. The benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets index outpaced the broad U.S. market, measured by the Russell 3000, by nearly 260 basis points last week.

As Emerging Markets Outperform, Check Out ROAM

Emerging markets generally have more risk than developed markets. However, there's a lot of variation in returns among funds representing the space, including the multifactor funds.

ROAM Performance Edge Is in the Details

iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF

iShares Core MSCI International Developed Markets ETF

Now is an opportune time for investors with home country biases to add international exposure. With international stocks trading at a discount relative to past valuations, there is significant upside opportunity.

Optimize International Exposure for Current Opportunities

A multifactor emerging markets ETF has the potential to reduce volatility while outpacing traditional cap-weighted benchmarks. There are many benefits to challenging home country bias.

Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF ‘ROAM' Handily Outpaces Benchmark YTD

There are opportunities in broad international and emerging markets for investors willing to challenge home country bias. U.S. equities have outperformed international markets for the longest period in history, suggesting their run is near its end, as U.S. and international markets leadership has historically been cyclical.

Investors Should Not Overlook Opportunities in International Markets

News for Hartford Multifactor Emerging Markets ETF ETF (ROAM)