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Should You Invest in the First Trust NASDAQ Food & Beverage ETF (FTXG)?

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If you're interested in broad exposure to the Consumer Staples - Food & Beverage segment of the equity market, look no further than the First Trust NASDAQ Food & Beverage ETF (FTXG - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/20/2016.

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.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Consumer Staples - Food & Beverage 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 $999.25 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Staples - Food & Beverage segment of the equity market. FTXG seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq US Smart Food & Beverage Index before fees and expenses.

The Nasdaq US Smart Food & Beverage Index is a modified factor weighted index, designed to provide exposure to US companies within the food and beverage industry.

Costs

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 counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.60%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.59%.

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 Consumer Staples sector--about 96.50% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, General Mills, Inc. (GIS - Free Report) accounts for about 8.36% of total assets, followed by Mondelez International, Inc. (MDLZ - Free Report) and Pepsico, Inc. (PEP - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 60.50% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the First Trust NASDAQ Food & Beverage ETF has lost about -3.03% so far, and it's up approximately 2.46% over the last 12 months (as of 07/12/2023). FTXG has traded between $24.84 and $28.24 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.59 and standard deviation of 16.03% for the trailing three-year period. With about 31 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

First Trust NASDAQ Food & Beverage 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, FTXG is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Consumer Staples ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

VanEck Future of Food ETF tracks ---------------------------------------- and the Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF (PBJ - Free Report) tracks Dynamic Food & Beverage Intellidex Index. VanEck Future of Food ETF has $2.59 million in assets, Invesco Dynamic Food & Beverage ETF has $288.26 million. YUMY has an expense ratio of 0.69% and PBJ charges 0.63%.

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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