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Is First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF (FDD) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF (FDD - Free Report) debuted on 08/27/2007, and offers broad exposure to the European Equity ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $202.17 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the European Equity ETFs. FDD, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the STOXX Europe Select Dividend 30 Index.
The STOXX Europe Select Dividend 30 Index consists of 30 high dividend-yielding securities selected from the STOXX Europe 600 Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.58%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.03%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
When you look at individual holdings, Aegon N.v. (AGN.NA) accounts for about 6.19% of the fund's total assets, followed by Standard Life Aberdeen Plc (SLA.LN) and Legal & General Group Plc (LGEN.LN).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 46.47% of FDD's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF has lost about -9.32% so far, and is down about -5.16% over the last 12 months (as of 11/20/2020). FDD has traded between $8.41 and $14.36 in this past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.85 and standard deviation of 25.07% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 31 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the European Equity ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.
IShares MSCI Eurozone ETF (EZU - Free Report) tracks MSCI EMU Index and the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index. IShares MSCI Eurozone ETF has $4.57 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF has $13.56 billion. EZU has an expense ratio of 0.49% and VGK charges 0.08%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the European Equity ETFs.
Bottom Line
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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Is First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF (FDD) a Strong ETF Right Now?
A smart beta exchange traded fund, the First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF (FDD - Free Report) debuted on 08/27/2007, and offers broad exposure to the European Equity ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $202.17 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the European Equity ETFs. FDD, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the STOXX Europe Select Dividend 30 Index.
The STOXX Europe Select Dividend 30 Index consists of 30 high dividend-yielding securities selected from the STOXX Europe 600 Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.58%.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.03%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
When you look at individual holdings, Aegon N.v. (AGN.NA) accounts for about 6.19% of the fund's total assets, followed by Standard Life Aberdeen Plc (SLA.LN) and Legal & General Group Plc (LGEN.LN).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 46.47% of FDD's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF has lost about -9.32% so far, and is down about -5.16% over the last 12 months (as of 11/20/2020). FDD has traded between $8.41 and $14.36 in this past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 0.85 and standard deviation of 25.07% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 31 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the European Equity ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.
IShares MSCI Eurozone ETF (EZU - Free Report) tracks MSCI EMU Index and the Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK - Free Report) tracks FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index. IShares MSCI Eurozone ETF has $4.57 billion in assets, Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF has $13.56 billion. EZU has an expense ratio of 0.49% and VGK charges 0.08%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the European Equity ETFs.
Bottom Line
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.