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Is First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF (FYX) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Making its debut on 05/08/2007, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF (FYX - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend 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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. FYX has been able to amass assets over $844.17 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Core Index before fees and expenses.
The NASDAQ AlphaDEX Small Cap Core Index is an enhanced index which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the NASDAQ US 700 Small Cap Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
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.
With one of the most expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.61%.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.88%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For FYX, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 18.60% of the portfolio --while Industrials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Anywhere Real Estate Inc. (HOUS - Free Report) accounts for about 0.38% of total assets, followed by Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (ACLS - Free Report) and Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (WWW - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 3.6% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 8.64% so far this year and is down about -2.63% in the last one year (as of 01/27/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $72.71 and $94.42.
The ETF has a beta of 1.25 and standard deviation of 33.64% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 526 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
IShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM - Free Report) tracks Russell 2000 Index and the iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF (IJR - Free Report) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. IShares Russell 2000 ETF has $54.31 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF has $70.04 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR charges 0.06%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Small Cap Blend.
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 Small Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF (FYX) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 05/08/2007, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF (FYX - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend 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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
There are some investors, though, who think it's possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. FYX has been able to amass assets over $844.17 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Core Index before fees and expenses.
The NASDAQ AlphaDEX Small Cap Core Index is an enhanced index which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the NASDAQ US 700 Small Cap Index.
Cost & Other Expenses
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.
With one of the most expensive products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.61%.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.88%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
For FYX, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 18.60% of the portfolio --while Industrials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Anywhere Real Estate Inc. (HOUS - Free Report) accounts for about 0.38% of total assets, followed by Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (ACLS - Free Report) and Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (WWW - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 3.6% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has added about 8.64% so far this year and is down about -2.63% in the last one year (as of 01/27/2023). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $72.71 and $94.42.
The ETF has a beta of 1.25 and standard deviation of 33.64% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 526 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
IShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM - Free Report) tracks Russell 2000 Index and the iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF (IJR - Free Report) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. IShares Russell 2000 ETF has $54.31 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P SmallCap ETF has $70.04 billion. IWM has an expense ratio of 0.19% and IJR charges 0.06%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Small Cap Blend.
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.