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Is First Trust India NIFTY 50 Equal Weight ETF (NFTY) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Launched on 02/14/2012, the First Trust India NIFTY 50 Equal Weight ETF (NFTY - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) 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 offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Because the fund has amassed over $228.88 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) ETFs. NFTY is managed by First Trust Advisors. NFTY seeks to match the performance of the NIFTY 50 EQUAL WEIGHT INDEX before fees and expenses.
The NIFTY 50 Equal Weight Index is an equally weighted index that tracks the performance of the 50 largest and most liquid Indian securities listed on the National Stock Exchange of India.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for NFTY are 0.80%, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.02%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Looking at individual holdings, Bajaj Finserv Limited (BJFIN.IS) accounts for about 2.08% of total assets, followed by Tata Consumer Products Limited (TATACONS.IS) and Hero Motocorp Limited (HMCL.IS).
The top 10 holdings account for about 20.56% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, NFTY has added about 2.09%, and is up about 2.73% in the last one year (as of 05/08/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $51.68 and $65.45.
NFTY has a beta of 0.50 and standard deviation of 16.79% for the trailing three-year period. With about 52 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust India NIFTY 50 Equal Weight ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (EPI - Free Report) tracks WisdomTree India Earnings Index and the iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA - Free Report) tracks MSCI India Total Return Index. WisdomTree India Earnings ETF has $3.08 billion in assets, iShares MSCI India ETF has $9.05 billion. EPI has an expense ratio of 0.87% and INDA charges 0.62%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) 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 India NIFTY 50 Equal Weight ETF (NFTY) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Launched on 02/14/2012, the First Trust India NIFTY 50 Equal Weight ETF (NFTY - Free Report) is a smart beta exchange traded fund offering broad exposure to the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) 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 offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
Non-cap weighted indexes try to choose stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, which is based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a mix of other such characteristics.
This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Because the fund has amassed over $228.88 million, this makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) ETFs. NFTY is managed by First Trust Advisors. NFTY seeks to match the performance of the NIFTY 50 EQUAL WEIGHT INDEX before fees and expenses.
The NIFTY 50 Equal Weight Index is an equally weighted index that tracks the performance of the 50 largest and most liquid Indian securities listed on the National Stock Exchange of India.
Cost & Other Expenses
Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.
Annual operating expenses for NFTY are 0.80%, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.02%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
Looking at individual holdings, Bajaj Finserv Limited (BJFIN.IS) accounts for about 2.08% of total assets, followed by Tata Consumer Products Limited (TATACONS.IS) and Hero Motocorp Limited (HMCL.IS).
The top 10 holdings account for about 20.56% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, NFTY has added about 2.09%, and is up about 2.73% in the last one year (as of 05/08/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $51.68 and $65.45.
NFTY has a beta of 0.50 and standard deviation of 16.79% for the trailing three-year period. With about 52 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust India NIFTY 50 Equal Weight ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
WisdomTree India Earnings ETF (EPI - Free Report) tracks WisdomTree India Earnings Index and the iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA - Free Report) tracks MSCI India Total Return Index. WisdomTree India Earnings ETF has $3.08 billion in assets, iShares MSCI India ETF has $9.05 billion. EPI has an expense ratio of 0.87% and INDA charges 0.62%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Asia-Pacific (Emerging) 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.