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Should First Trust Mid Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF (FNX) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The First Trust Mid Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF (FNX - Free Report) was launched on 05/08/2007, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Mid Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.21 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

With market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion, mid cap companies usually contain higher growth prospects than large cap companies, and are considered less risky than their small cap counterparts. Thus, companies that fall under this category provide a stable and growth-heavy investment.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.60%, making it one of the more expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.93%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a 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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 20.30% of the portfolio. Consumer Discretionary and Financials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Macy's, Inc. (M - Free Report) accounts for about 0.62% of total assets, followed by Affirm Holdings, Inc. (class A) (AFRM - Free Report) and Immunogen, Inc. (IMGN).

The top 10 holdings account for about 4.91% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

FNX seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Mid Cap Core Index before fees and expenses. The NASDAQ AlphaDEX Mid Cap Core Index is an enhanced index which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the NASDAQ US 600 Mid Cap Index.

The ETF has added roughly 8.70% so far this year and is up about 31.29% in the last one year (as of 03/29/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $85.27 and $113.37.

The ETF has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 21.05% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 451 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust Mid Cap Core AlphaDEX 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, FNX is a good 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 ETF (VO - Free Report) and the iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF (IJH - Free Report) track a similar index. While Vanguard Mid-Cap ETF has $64.14 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF has $85.06 billion. VO has an expense ratio of 0.04% and IJH charges 0.05%.

Bottom-Line

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

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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