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Is First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW - Free Report) made its debut on 08/08/2017, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.
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.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.
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
EDOW is managed by First Trust Advisors, and this fund has amassed over $222.49 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. EDOW, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Equal Weight Index.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Equal Weight Index is an equally weighted index designed to be a price neutral version of the price-weighted DJIA.
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 this ETF are 0.50%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.30%.
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.
For EDOW, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 20.5% of the portfolio --while Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) accounts for about 3.85% of the fund's total assets, followed by Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) and Apple Inc. (AAPL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 36.32% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF return is roughly 10.51% so far, and is up about 11.28% over the last 12 months (as of 10/16/2025). EDOW has traded between $32.19 $40.25 in this past 52-week period.
EDOW has a beta of 0.91 and standard deviation of 13.37% for the trailing three-year period. With about 31 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .
Alternatives
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) tracks S&P 500 Index and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) tracks S&P 500 Index. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $697.95 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $760.43 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VOO changes 0.03%.
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 Blend
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 Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW - Free Report) made its debut on 08/08/2017, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.
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.
However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.
Based on specific fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such, these indexes attempt to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance.
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
EDOW is managed by First Trust Advisors, and this fund has amassed over $222.49 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. EDOW, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Equal Weight Index.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average Equal Weight Index is an equally weighted index designed to be a price neutral version of the price-weighted DJIA.
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 this ETF are 0.50%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.30%.
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.
For EDOW, it has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector --about 20.5% of the portfolio --while Financials and Healthcare round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) accounts for about 3.85% of the fund's total assets, followed by Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) and Apple Inc. (AAPL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 36.32% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF return is roughly 10.51% so far, and is up about 11.28% over the last 12 months (as of 10/16/2025). EDOW has traded between $32.19 $40.25 in this past 52-week period.
EDOW has a beta of 0.91 and standard deviation of 13.37% for the trailing three-year period. With about 31 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers .
Alternatives
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV) tracks S&P 500 Index and the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) tracks S&P 500 Index. iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $697.95 billion in assets, Vanguard S&P 500 ETF has $760.43 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and VOO changes 0.03%.
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 Blend
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.