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Should First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FYC) Be on Your Investing Radar?
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Launched on 04/19/2011, the First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FYC - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $430.27 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
Why Small Cap Growth
There's a lot of potential to investing in small cap companies, but with market capitalization below $2 billion, that high potential comes with even higher risk.
While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.
Costs
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 this ETF are 0.71%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.75%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 18.10% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Sezzle Inc. (SEZL - Free Report) accounts for about 1% of total assets, followed by Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ - Free Report) and Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation (ADPT - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 7.93% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
FYC seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Growth Index before fees and expenses. The NASDAQ AlphaDEX Small Cap Growth Index is an enhanced which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the NASDAQ US 700 Small Cap Growth Index.
The ETF has lost about -3.07% so far this year and is up about 12.70% in the last one year (as of 05/20/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $61.01 and $84.64.
The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 23.18% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 265 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Small Cap Growth 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, FYC is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Growth area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
The iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO - Free Report) and the Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $11.38 billion in assets, Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF has $18.42 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBK charges 0.07%.
Bottom-Line
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.
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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Should First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FYC) Be on Your Investing Radar?
Launched on 04/19/2011, the First Trust Small Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FYC - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $430.27 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
Why Small Cap Growth
There's a lot of potential to investing in small cap companies, but with market capitalization below $2 billion, that high potential comes with even higher risk.
While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Additionally, growth stocks have a greater level of risk associated with them. Even though growth stocks are more likely to outperform their value counterparts in strong bull markets, value stocks have a record of delivering better returns in almost all markets than growth stocks.
Costs
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 this ETF are 0.71%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.75%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector--about 18.10% of the portfolio. Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Sezzle Inc. (SEZL - Free Report) accounts for about 1% of total assets, followed by Hertz Global Holdings, Inc. (HTZ - Free Report) and Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation (ADPT - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 7.93% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
FYC seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Growth Index before fees and expenses. The NASDAQ AlphaDEX Small Cap Growth Index is an enhanced which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the NASDAQ US 700 Small Cap Growth Index.
The ETF has lost about -3.07% so far this year and is up about 12.70% in the last one year (as of 05/20/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $61.01 and $84.64.
The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 23.18% for the trailing three-year period, making it a high risk choice in the space. With about 265 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Small Cap Growth 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, FYC is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Growth area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
The iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO - Free Report) and the Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $11.38 billion in assets, Vanguard Small-Cap Growth ETF has $18.42 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBK charges 0.07%.
Bottom-Line
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.
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.