Inside one fund house, you can pay 0.65% or 1.50% for a US-equity fund. Both are run by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Both sit in the UK universe of US-equity funds. The cheaper one tracks the index. The expensive one bets against it. That 85-basis-point gap is the first thing worth understanding before you evaluate either.
The share-class picture — read this before the numbers
The data here carries a complication that matters. The JPMorgan US Value Fund (CNH) A — the active strategy this note is built around — has its primary share class denominated in CNH, which is the offshore Chinese renminbi. This share class is priced in an offshore currency. Other share classes of the strategy may carry a similar or higher annual fee (OCF) than the 1.50% quoted here.
The two JPMorgan America Equity share classes — one in US dollars, one in euros — are institutional C classes, running at 0.65%. That fee is well below the 1.50% on the Value fund. The €8.3bn in size (money under management) across both sits in institutional share classes. So comparing the 1.50% on the Value fund with the 0.65% on America Equity as if they’re apples-to-apples is misleading. They’re the same fund house; they’re not the same investor experience.
Where active sits in the IA North America universe
Step back from the share-class detail and the strategic picture is clear enough. The UK universe of US-equity funds — officially the IA North America sector — has been one of the most brutal environments for active managers over the past decade. The S&P 500 has compounded at roughly 13% annually in dollar terms since 2014. Most active stock-pickers have not kept up, net of fees. Passive trackers, running at 0.07% to 0.20% for the cheapest ETF versions, have consistently landed in the top quartile of the IA sector simply by showing up.
Against that backdrop, running an explicit value mandate — meaning you deliberately overweight cheaper, unloved US companies relative to the index — is a specific and unfashionable choice. Value has underperformed growth in the US for most of the past fifteen years, with the exception of 2022, when rising interest rates briefly rewarded the style. JPM’s US Value strategy is making the case that the gap between cheap and expensive US stocks is wide enough to exploit actively. That’s a legitimate thesis. It’s also one the market has punished repeatedly.
A US value mandate isn’t a bet on America. It’s a bet against the part of America that’s been winning.
The JPMorgan America Equity Fund, by contrast, is a more index-aware strategy — closer in character to a benchmark-hugging fund than to a high-conviction active bet. Its low fee reflects that positioning. If you want J.P. Morgan’s view on US equities broadly, that’s the vehicle. If you want J.P. Morgan’s view that cheap US stocks are about to catch up, the US Value fund is the one making that call.
What to watch next
First, interest rates. Value tends to outperform when rates are elevated and the cost of capital starts to bite at high-multiple growth stocks. Any Federal Reserve pivot that pauses cuts — or reverses them — extends the environment where value has a case to make. Second, the spread between growth and value multiples in the US. When that gap is wide by historical standards, mean reversion is a more plausible thesis; when it narrows, the value trade loses its engine. And third, whether a sterling or euro retail share class of the US Value strategy appears at a competitive price point. Right now, the CNH wrapper is an awkward fit for a sterling based investor. That’s the most practical thing to check before any of the strategy-level analy sis matters.
Past performance is not a guide to future returns. Capital is at risk.
Funds Benchmark provides research and tooling for institutional and private investors. Nothing in this note is investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any specific fund.