Jpmorgan Global Select Equity ETF JGLO

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has announced that veteran manager Helge Skibeli will retire from the industry in February 2028, marking the end of an illustrious four-decade career.

Skibeli will continue to manage Global Select, Global Dividend, Global Focus, and JPMorgan Global Income and Growth until then. As his retirement date approaches, he will transition his people-management responsibilities to Sam Witherow, who will lead the global core portfolio management team alongside him from March 31, 2027.

Skibeli's upcoming retirement isn't surprising, and it reflects the kind of long-term succession planning and execution we'd like to see more often. While losing Skibeli's experience is significant, the depth and caliber of the wider global core portfolio management team mean this doesn't affect our conviction in the People and Process Pillars across these strategies. Each strategy's Morningstar Medalist Rating also remains unchanged.

JPM Global Select is a standout option in the large-cap blend Morningstar Category and earns a High rating on both People and Process Pillars.

The strategy is led by Helge Skibeli, a JPMorgan veteran of nearly four decades, supported by comanager Christian Pecher. Skibeli has held senior research leadership roles across Asian, US, and global equities, making fundamental research the backbone of his career. His long tenure and proven ability to integrate research insights are key strengths here.

The portfolio management team expanded on June 30, 2026, with the appointments of Sam Witherow and Craig Morgan. Neither addition is surprising. Witherow, a 16-year firm veteran, already runs other global-focused strategies alongside Skibeli, and the two have a well-established working relationship. He spent his first eight years as an analyst before moving into global portfolio management, and his experience and complementary perspective add depth to the team.

Morgan brings more than a decade at J.P. Morgan and has managed several institutional mandates within the broader JPM Global Select strategy. His formal appointment here simply recognizes the role he was already playing.

Crucially, the portfolio managers are backed by J.P. Morgan’s deep fundamental analyst resources, one of the industry’s deepest and most experienced teams. Around 80 sector specialists each cover 20-35 companies, on average, bringing 17 years of industry experience and 13 years at the firm.

The strategy employs a disciplined, bottom-up stock-picking process supported by this extensive global research platform. Analysts covering 2,500+ companies classify stocks as premium, quality, standard, or challenged and assign five-year expected return targets to guide portfolio construction.

The managers primarily focus on premium and quality names, maintaining a valuation-conscious, conviction-driven approach in a focused portfolio of 65-95 holdings, with modest flexibility at the country or sector level and typically high turnover (50%–100%). The portfolio favors financially healthy, large- and mega-cap companies, with minimal small-cap exposure.

Under Skibeli’s management since December 2015, the strategy has delivered strong results. The C Acc Clean share class has returned an annualized 12.62% through July 2026, outpacing both the category average (9.45%) and the MSCI World Index (12.50%, in US dollars). Returns have exhibited somewhat higher volatility, but this has generally been rewarded with superior risk-adjusted outcomes versus peers.

Performance over 2025 was tough on a relative basis, with the fund underperforming its category and index by 6.7% and 7.9%, respectively. Weak stock selection and an underweight to momentum were the main drivers. More broadly, analyst research signals across the J.P. Morgan platform have come under pressure, as their grounding in long-term fundamentals has been overshadowed by the market's emphasis on short-term momentum. These dynamics have persisted into 2026, though we still see merit in the approach given its long-term track record.

JPM Global Select Equity employs a disciplined and repeatable process that makes strong use of the firm’s extensive analytical resources. This codified approach, supported by one of the industry’s largest global research platforms, earns the strategy a High Process rating.

The investment philosophy centers on rigorous bottom-up stock selection, with limited emphasis on top-down style or factor positioning. J.P. Morgan’s regional analyst teams, covering more than 2,500 companies globally, form the foundation of the idea-generation process. Analysts conduct in-depth fundamental research to classify stocks within the firm’s proprietary framework as premium, quality, standard, or challenged.

Companies categorized as premium and quality typically operate in structurally attractive industries, exhibit durable competitive advantages, maintain strong balance sheets, and generate sustainable cash flow. Conversely, standard and challenged companies are viewed as having weaker fundamentals and less reliable prospects.

Analysts assign a five-year expected return target to each company, incorporating near-term earnings, normalized earnings power, and long-term growth assumptions. These targets are ranked on relative attractiveness, which provides a clear and structured input into portfolio construction. The managers focus predominantly on premium and quality stocks but remain disciplined around valuation to avoid overpaying. This valuation-conscious approach helps keep the portfolio anchored in the core portion of the style spectrum.

This strategy shares many traits with its more concentrated sibling, JPMorgan Global Focus, but there are some marginal differences.

Portfolio construction is conviction-driven across 65-95 holdings, with a maximum active weight of 3% per stock. The managers also retain the flexibility to deviate up to plus/minus 5% at an industry level and plus/minus 10% at a regional level. In practice, these tilts are modest, ensuring stock-specific factors remain the dominant driver of returns.

Since the start of 2025, momentum has been a dominant factor in markets, and an underweight to this factor has presented a performance headwind. In response, the team has been closing this gap and adopting a more pragmatic approach to managing risk exposures within the portfolio. For instance, they have taken underweight positions in some of the index's biggest holdings, such as Broadcom.

Morningstar’s risk model highlights the strategy’s consistent emphasis on financially healthy businesses with economic moats. There is also a preference for large- and mega-cap companies. Exposure to small caps is minimal, consistent with the philosophy of focusing on globally dominant franchises.

This strategy continues to merit a High People Pillar rating, reflecting the strength and depth of its leadership team and the excellent resources of J.P. Morgan's international equity platform.

Helge Skibeli has led the strategy since December 2015 and remains the final decision-maker. A J.P. Morgan veteran of nearly four decades, Skibeli has held senior research leadership roles across Asian, US, and global equities, making fundamental research the backbone of his career. From 2002 to 2015, he ran the JPMorgan U.S. Analyst Large Cap portfolio before becoming manager of JPM Global Select. His long tenure and proven ability to integrate research insights are key strengths here.

Skibeli's succession planning is something we continue to monitor, but there is a clear, long-term plan in place, and he would provide ample notice when he does decide to step back.

He is supported by long-term colleague Christian Pecher, who became comanager in 2019. Pecher is a J.P. Morgan lifer and has 27 years’ experience. His background includes research coverage of European utilities and technology, as well as a leadership role in Tokyo as the head of developed Asia research, where he oversaw the Japanese analyst portfolio.

The portfolio management team expanded on June 30, 2026, with the appointments of Sam Witherow and Craig Morgan. Neither addition is surprising. Witherow, a 16-year firm veteran, already runs other global-focused strategies alongside Skibeli, and the two have a well-established working relationship. He spent his first eight years as an analyst before moving into global portfolio management, and his experience and complementary perspective add depth to the team.

Morgan brings more than a decade at J.P. Morgan and has managed several institutional mandates within the broader JPM Global Select strategy. His formal appointment here simply recognizes the role he was already playing.

The global core team shares a collaborative, transparent approach, with an emphasis on teamwork, learning from mistakes, and continual improvement. The team's workload is manageable. While Skibeli also manages other global mandates, they all employ a similar approach with minor differences.

Crucially, the portfolio managers are backed by J.P. Morgan’s deep fundamental analyst resource, one of the industry’s deepest and most experienced teams. Around 80 sector specialists each cover 20-35 companies, on average, bringing 17 years of industry experience and 13 years at the firm. They are supported by research associates, who both extend capacity and create a pipeline for future talent. This analyst network is central to the strategy’s stock-picking edge.

J.P. Morgan continues to build a track record of strong stewardship, supporting a Parent rating upgrade to High from Above Average.

With more than USD 4 trillion in assets under management (including USD 1.3 trillion in money market funds) and a broad reach, J.P. Morgan is among the largest active asset managers in the US, Europe, and Asia. Although some multi-asset offerings have struggled over the past five years, prompting new leadership to make changes to investment teams, its equity and fixed-income teams boast long-tenured portfolio managers who practice repeatable investment processes that have generally produced strong long-term results. Most of its funds are core building blocks with long lifetimes, though its lineup around the world also includes more-specialized options: Two options-based equity-income exchange-traded funds, launched in 2020 and 2022, are now among the firm’s largest. J.P. Morgan has been an early mover in offering active ETFs, having converted 12 of its open-end mutual funds to the structure and launching others. It isn’t always at the forefront of emerging trends. While it has filed registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an interval fund and an ETF investing in private markets, it hasn’t yet introduced such an option for all investors, whether on its own or in partnership with another asset manager, unlike some of its closest competitors.

To support the firm’s diverse investment offerings, J.P. Morgan has invested heavily in both portfolio management tools and its client organization. Over the past 10 years, the firm has developed robust proprietary technology with advanced analytics and broad buy-in from investment analysts, portfolio traders, and portfolio managers, all of whom have easy access to the platform. The firm also stands apart for its demonstrated commitment to clients. In the early 2000s, J.P. Morgan began pivoting its engagement with financial advisors to adopt a more consultative approach, supported by its sought-after Guide to the Markets research series that focuses on investor education, not product pitches. This perspective can help clients stay the course, supporting positive investor outcomes.

Incentives reinforce alignment with fundholders. Beginning more than 10 years ago, investment team compensation is tied to three-, five-, and 10-year performance, and portfolio managers must invest at least half of their deferred compensation in J.P. Morgan strategies. Many firms encourage portfolio managers to invest alongside fundholders, but J.P. Morgan goes a step further in requiring client-facing individuals to invest substantial portions of their incentive compensation in the funds.

Although some funds still face high cost hurdles, more than half of share classes charge competitive fees relative to peers.

Under Helge Skibeli’s management since December 2015, the strategy has delivered strong results. The C Acc Clean share class has returned an annualized 12.62% through July 2026, outpacing both the category average (9.45%) and the MSCI World index (12.50%, in US dollars). Returns have exhibited somewhat higher volatility, but this has generally been rewarded with superior risk-adjusted outcomes versus peers.

Stock selection has been the key driver of outperformance, and we would expect this core approach to outperform over a full market cycle. The emphasis on high-quality, durable businesses has provided some resilience during market stress, notably in 2022 when the fund declined 14.8% versus losses of 19.5% for peers and 18.1% for the index. Healthcare was a relatively bright spot that year, with overweight positions in AbbVie, Bristol-Myers, and Boston Scientific adding value.

The strategy rebounded sharply in 2023, gaining 27.4% and ranking in the fifth percentile of the category. Outperformance was primarily driven by technology names, including Microsoft and Uber, as well as overweight positions in Amazon.com and Meta Platforms.

Performance remained strong in 2024, with a 16.2% gain that exceeded the category average by 3.9%, though it lagged the MSCI World index’s 18.7% return. Technology again was the largest contributor, with positions in Nvidia, TSMC, and Apple boosting results.

Performance over 2025 was tough on a relative basis, with the fund underperforming its category and index by 6.7% and 7.9%, respectively. Weak stock selection and an underweighting in momentum were the main drivers. More broadly, analyst research signals across the J.P. Morgan platform have come under pressure, as their grounding in long-term fundamentals has been overshadowed by the market's emphasis on short-term momentum. These dynamics have persisted into 2026, though we still see merit in the approach given its long-term record.

JPMorgan Global Select Equity ETF's Prospectus Adjusted Expense Ratio is 0.47% per year. It places it in the cheapest quintile of the Morningstar US Fund Global Large-Stock Blend Category, where the median fee is 0.89% per year. This cost positioning translates into a Medalist Rating Price Score of 1.73, which reflects its relative price positioning within the category. The Price Score ranges from -2.50 (most expensive) to +2.50 (cheapest), with higher scores indicating better cost competitiveness.