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Is First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF (FXR) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Making its debut on 05/08/2007, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF (FXR - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Industrials ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. FXR has been able to amass assets over $1.81 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, FXR seeks to match the performance of the StrataQuant Industrials Index.
The StrataQuant Industrials Index is a modified equal-dollar weighted index designed by the AMEX to objectively identify and select stocks from the Russell 1000 Index that may generate positive alpha relative to traditional passive style indices through the use of the AlphaDEX screening methodology.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for FXR are 0.61%, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.74%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Representing 70.60% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector; Materials and Financials round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Topbuild Corp. (BLD - Free Report) accounts for about 1.53% of the fund's total assets, followed by Builders Firstsource, Inc. (BLDR - Free Report) and Trane Technologies Plc (TT - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 13.79% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 3.55% so far this year and is up roughly 19.14% in the last one year (as of 02/13/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $52.29 and $67.16.
The fund has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 20.34% for the trailing three-year period, which makes FXR a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 134 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX 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 $4.74 billion in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $16.28 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.
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Is First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF (FXR) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 05/08/2007, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF (FXR - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Industrials ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader market or a particular market segment.
Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
The smart beta space gives investors many different choices, from equal-weighting, one of the simplest strategies, to more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting. However, not all of these methodologies have been able to deliver remarkable returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. FXR has been able to amass assets over $1.81 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, FXR seeks to match the performance of the StrataQuant Industrials Index.
The StrataQuant Industrials Index is a modified equal-dollar weighted index designed by the AMEX to objectively identify and select stocks from the Russell 1000 Index that may generate positive alpha relative to traditional passive style indices through the use of the AlphaDEX screening methodology.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
Annual operating expenses for FXR are 0.61%, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.74%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Representing 70.60% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector; Materials and Financials round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Topbuild Corp. (BLD - Free Report) accounts for about 1.53% of the fund's total assets, followed by Builders Firstsource, Inc. (BLDR - Free Report) and Trane Technologies Plc (TT - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 13.79% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 3.55% so far this year and is up roughly 19.14% in the last one year (as of 02/13/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $52.29 and $67.16.
The fund has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 20.34% for the trailing three-year period, which makes FXR a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 134 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX 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 $4.74 billion in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $16.28 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.