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Is First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Making its debut on 10/25/2022, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth 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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.
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.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. FTGS has been able to amass assets over $1.27 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Growth. FTGS, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the THE GROWTH STRENGTH INDEX .
The Growth Strength Index provides exposure to a mix of domestic equities with filters for liquidity, return on equity, long-term debt, revenue and cash flow growth.
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.
Annual operating expenses for FTGS are 0.60%, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.32%.
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.
Representing 28.5% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) accounts for about 2.49% of the fund's total assets, followed by Newmont Corporation (NEM) and Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (MPWR).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 22.57% of FTGS's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 14.9% and it's up approximately 19.91% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/12/2025), respectively. FTGS has traded between $26.62 and $36.05 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 17.64% for the trailing three-year period. With about 51 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
First Trust Growth Strength ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth Index and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) tracks NASDAQ-100 Index. Vanguard Growth ETF has $191.19 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $369 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ changes 0.20%.
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 - Large Cap Growth
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 Growth Strength ETF (FTGS) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 10/25/2022, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Growth Strength ETF (FTGS - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Growth 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.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.
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.
Even though this space provides many choices to investors--think one of the simplest methodologies like equal-weighting and more complicated ones like fundamental and volatility/momentum based weighting--not all have been able to deliver first-rate results.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. FTGS has been able to amass assets over $1.27 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Growth. FTGS, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the THE GROWTH STRENGTH INDEX .
The Growth Strength Index provides exposure to a mix of domestic equities with filters for liquidity, return on equity, long-term debt, revenue and cash flow growth.
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.
Annual operating expenses for FTGS are 0.60%, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.32%.
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.
Representing 28.5% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector; Financials and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) accounts for about 2.49% of the fund's total assets, followed by Newmont Corporation (NEM) and Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (MPWR).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 22.57% of FTGS's total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 14.9% and it's up approximately 19.91% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/12/2025), respectively. FTGS has traded between $26.62 and $36.05 during this last 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 17.64% for the trailing three-year period. With about 51 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
First Trust Growth Strength ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Growth Index and the Invesco QQQ (QQQ) tracks NASDAQ-100 Index. Vanguard Growth ETF has $191.19 billion in assets, Invesco QQQ has $369 billion. VUG has an expense ratio of 0.04% and QQQ changes 0.20%.
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 - Large Cap Growth
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.