Looking for broad exposure to the Utilities - Broad segment of the equity market? You should consider the First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX ETF (FXU Quick QuoteFXU - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on May 8, 2007.

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

Sector ETFs are also funds of convenience, offering many ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Utilities - Broad 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 $1.71 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Utilities - Broad segment of the equity market. FXU seeks to match the performance of the StrataQuant Utilities Index before fees and expenses.

The StrataQuant Utilities Index is a modified equal-dollar weighted index designed by the AMEX to objectively identify and select stocks from the Russell 1000 Index that may generate positive alpha relative to traditional passive style indices through the use of the AlphaDEX screening methodology.

Costs

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 this ETF are 0.63%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.11%.

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 in the Utilities sector -- about 97.7% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Pg&e Corporation (PCG) accounts for about 4.35% of total assets, followed by Edison International (EIX) and Sempra (SRE).

The top 10 holdings account for about 40.19% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 20.91% so far this year and was up about 21.86% in the last one year (as of 09/29/2025). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $37.15 and $45.5.

The ETF has a beta of 0.66 and standard deviation of 16.97% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 41 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX ETF sports a Zacks ETF Rank of 4 (Sell), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. FXU, then, is not the best option for investors seeking exposure to the Utilities/Infrastructure ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are better ETFs in the space to consider.

Vanguard Utilities ETF (VPU) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Utilities 25/50 Index and the Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLU) tracks Utilities Select Sector Index. Vanguard Utilities ETF has $7.61 billion in assets, Utilities Select Sector SPDR ETF has $21.08 billion. VPU has an expense ratio of 0.09%, and XLU charges 0.08%.

Bottom Line

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