Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Should You Invest in the First Trust Dow Jones Internet ETF (FDN)?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Technology - Internet segment of the equity market, the First Trust Dow Jones Internet ETF (FDN - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 06/19/2006.

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.

Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Internet is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 7, placing it in top 44%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $9.29 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Internet segment of the equity market. FDN seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index before fees and expenses.

The Dow Jones Internet Composite Index includes only companies whose primary focus is Internet-related.

Costs

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.51%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

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 in the Information Technology sector--about 42.80% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) accounts for about 9.47% of total assets, followed by Facebook, Inc. (class A) and Alphabet Inc. (class A) (GOOGL - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 51.76% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -4.64% and is up roughly 1.19% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 01/12/2022), respectively. FDN has traded between $206.49 and $252.25 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.02 and standard deviation of 26.33% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 42 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

First Trust Dow Jones Internet 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, FDN is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF (BLOK - Free Report) tracks ---------------------------------------- and the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW - Free Report) tracks N/A. Amplify Transformational Data Sharing ETF has $1.09 billion in assets, ARK Next Generation Internet ETF has $3.45 billion. BLOK has an expense ratio of 0.71% and ARKW charges 0.79%.

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.

Published in