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Should You Invest in the First Trust NASDAQ Oil & Gas ETF (FTXN)?

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Looking for broad exposure to the Energy - Broad segment of the equity market? You should consider the First Trust NASDAQ Oil & Gas ETF (FTXN - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 09/20/2016.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Energy - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 14, placing it in bottom 13%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $222.64 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Energy - Broad segment of the equity market. FTXN seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq US Smart Oil & Gas Index before fees and expenses.

The Nasdaq US Smart Oil & Gas Index is a modified factor weighted index, designed to provide exposure to US companies within the oil and gas industry.

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 on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.02%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Energy sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Conocophillips (COP - Free Report) accounts for about 7.86% of total assets, followed by Marathon Petroleum Corporation (MPC - Free Report) and Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 57.10% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the First Trust NASDAQ Oil & Gas ETF has gained about 12.11% so far, and is up roughly 25.87% over the last 12 months (as of 05/22/2024). FTXN has traded between $24.83 and $33.62 in this past 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 1.30 and standard deviation of 32.02% for the trailing three-year period. With about 43 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

First Trust NASDAQ Oil & Gas ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, FTXN is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Energy ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Energy ETF (VDE - Free Report) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Energy 25/50 Index and the Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE - Free Report) tracks Energy Select Sector Index. Vanguard Energy ETF has $8.81 billion in assets, Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF has $39.30 billion. VDE has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLE charges 0.09%.

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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