This ETF Is Outperforming by Avoiding the S&P 500’s Biggest Problem

Key Points

• JIVE is up more than 21% in 2026, versus about 14% for the S&P 500, while offering a substantially different geographic and factor mix.
• Its value strategy provides broad international exposure, but investors shouldn't mistake that for perfectly even diversification: financials account for roughly 40% of the portfolio.
• JIVE has more than doubled since its September 2023 launch, but its short history, foreign-currency exposure, emerging-market exposure, and sector concentration remain important counterweights to the bullish performance story.

As the market caps of hyperscalers and AI stocks increasingly dominate market-cap-weighted index funds, the once tried-and-true approach to portfolio diversification may fail to provide investors with what it had promised in the past. Today, the top 10 holdings in the S&P 500 account for nearly 40% of the benchmark index. That leaves roughly 60 cents out of every $1 invested spread across the rest of the index.

There are several ways investors looking for broader diversification can approach this. In addition to U.S. mega- and large-cap exposure, they can turn to equal-weight index funds, micro- and small-cap stocks, and international equity funds, many of which have been handily outperforming the S&P 500 this year.

Specifically, the JPMorgan International Value ETF NASDAQ: JIVE recently hit its 52-week high and has posted a year-to-date (YTD) gain of more than 20%, compared with the S&P 500’s approximately 14% YTD gain.

Why JIVE Looks Nothing Like the S&P 500

With $3.69 billion in assets under management, JPMorgan’s international value fund aims for long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of companies located outside the United States.

JIVE is actively managed yet still carries a manageable expense ratio of 0.55%. The fund uses an international value investing strategy that emphasizes companies that the portfolio’s managers believe are undervalued relative to their fundamentals or long-term growth prospects.

In doing so, its holdings can include companies in emerging markets as well as developed markets, with Japan representing roughly 13% of the portfolio and the United Kingdom also among its largest country exposures. That geographic mix can reduce a portfolio’s reliance on U.S. mega-cap growth stocks and provide another source of diversification during periods of AI-driven volatility concentrated in those names.

Because the ETF is designed for investors seeking diversified international equity exposure, its top 10 portfolio positions include South Korean Samsung Electronics OTCMKTS: SSNLF, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing NYSE: TSM, London-headquartered Shell NYSE: PLC, Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis NYSE: NVS, Toronto-Dominion Bank NYSE: TD and the Royal Bank of Canada NYSE: RY, among others.

On a sector-by-sector basis, financials dominate JIVE’s portfolio at roughly 40%, with tech, energy, consumer discretionary, and industrials also among its largest sector exposures. That gives JIVE a substantially different sector mix from a U.S. growth-heavy portfolio, although its heavy weighting toward financials creates a concentration risk of its own.

The result of that true diversification is extremely lower volatility than the large-cap U.S. benchmarks are capable of providing. The JPMorgan International Value ETF’s current beta is just 0.45, making it 55% less volatile than the S&P 500.

JIVE’s Outperformance Goes Beyond 2026

Zooming further out, JIVE has provided a strong performance beyond its 2026 showing, which makes it an ideal buy-and-hold position for long-term investors looking for international exposure.

Over the past year, the fund has gained approximately 33% against the S&P 500’s gain of less than 21% and the NASDAQ Composite’s gain of 23.57%. Looking even further back, JIVE has gained more than 100% over the past five years, not including its dividend.

At current prices, that dividend provides shareholders with a yield of 1.22%, or $1.19 per share per year. The fund makes its distributions on an annual basis, with an estimated ex-dividend date of Friday, Dec. 4, and an estimated payment date of Dec. 18.

That combination of targeted value and income has made it increasingly popular among institutional investors. Over the past year, institutional buyers have outnumbered sellers by a margin of 133 to 20, with inflows of about $573 million against outflows of just over $50 million.

JIVE Has Barely Registered With Short Sellers

With an extremely low beta driven by a portfolio that diversifies globally while shielding investors from overexposure to AI mega-cap companies, the JPMorgan International Value ETF has little interest in Wall Street’s bears. Changes in short volume can be used to identify shifting investor sentiment, and for JIVE, sentiment is soundly bullish.

Current short interest stands at just 0.35% of the float, or 127,890 shares of the 36.3 million shares outstanding. In dollar figures, that equates to $12 million worth of JIVE compared to a multi-year high of 4.12% of the float, or $95 million worth of shares, that were shorted on April 30. Short interest has decreased 4.61% from the prior reporting period.

For investors concerned about mega-cap concentration, JIVE may be worth keeping on a watchlist as a complement to U.S. equity exposure. Its recent performance and relatively low beta are notable, but its roughly 40% financial-sector weighting, currency exposure, emerging-market risks, and relatively short operating history remain important trade-offs to consider.

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