Launched on April 26, 2017, the Franklin U.S. Mid Cap Multifactor Index ETF (FLQM) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Franklin Templeton Investments. It has amassed assets over $1.58 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Blend

Mid cap companies, with market capitalization in the range of $2 billion and $10 billion, offer investors many things that small and large companies don't, including less risk and higher growth opportunities. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Typically holding a combination of both growth and value stocks, blend ETFs also demonstrate qualities seen in value and growth investments.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.3%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.64%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector -- about 20.8% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Financials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Monolithic Power Systems (MPWR) accounts for about 1.75% of total assets, followed by Old Dominion Freight Line (ODFL) and Netapp Inc (NTAP).

The top 10 holdings account for about 13.77% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

FLQM seeks to match the performance of the LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity Index before fees and expenses. The LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity Index includes U.S. mid-capitalization companies that have favorable exposure to four investment style factors - quality, value, momentum and low volatility.

The ETF has added about 7.45% so far this year and is up about 9.53% in the last one year (as of 07/28/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $54.05 and $59.97.

The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 14.33% for the trailing three-year period. With about 206 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

Franklin U.S. Mid Cap Multifactor Index ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, FLQM is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund ETF Shares (VO) and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund ETF Shares has $106.45 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $123.06 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.03% and IJH charges 0.05%.

Bottom-Line

An increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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Franklin U.S. Mid Cap Multifactor Index ETF (FLQM): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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