Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Is First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF (AIRR) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Read MoreHide Full Article

Making its debut on 03/10/2014, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF (AIRR - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Industrials ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $201.32 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. AIRR, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance Index.

The Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance Index is measures the performance of small and mid cap US companies in the industrial and community banking sectors.

Cost & Other Expenses

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.

With one of the most expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.70%.

AIRR's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.05%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

AIRR's heaviest allocation is in the Industrials sector, which is about 89.40% of the portfolio. Its Financials and Energy round out the top three.

Taking into account individual holdings, Arcosa, Inc. (ACA - Free Report) accounts for about 3.67% of the fund's total assets, followed by Clean Harbors, Inc. (CLH - Free Report) and The Shyft Group, Inc. (SHYF - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 32.81% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 0.13% so far this year and it's up approximately 0.25% in the last one year (as of 11/02/2022). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $36.26 and $47.78.

The ETF has a beta of 1.25 and standard deviation of 33.38% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 56 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI - Free Report) tracks Industrial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Industrials ETF has $3.51 billion in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $12.82 billion. VIS has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLI charges 0.10%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Industrials 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.

Published in