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Is First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF (FXR) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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Making its debut on 05/08/2007, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF (FXR - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Industrials 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.
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.
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.
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. FXR has been able to amass assets over $1.77 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the StrataQuant Industrials Index.
The StrataQuant Industrials 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.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.60%.
FXR's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.74%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector - about 71.3% of the portfolio. Materials and Financials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB) accounts for about 1.71% of total assets, followed by Knight-swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (KNX) and Bwx Technologies, Inc. (BWXT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 13.08% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF has added roughly 3.91% so far, and is down about -3.89% over the last 12 months (as of 11/13/2025). FXR has traded between $60.85 $83.27 in this past 52-week period.
FXR has a beta of 1.17 and standard deviation of 19.05% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 143 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) tracks Industrial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Industrials ETF has $6.34 billion in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $24.14 billion. VIS has an expense ratio of 0.09% and XLI changes 0.08%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Industrials 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 Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF (FXR) a Strong ETF Right Now?
Making its debut on 05/08/2007, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF (FXR - Free Report) provides investors broad exposure to the Industrials 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.
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.
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.
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. FXR has been able to amass assets over $1.77 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Industrials ETFs. Before fees and expenses, this particular fund seeks to match the performance of the StrataQuant Industrials Index.
The StrataQuant Industrials 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.
Cost & Other Expenses
For ETF investors, expense ratios are an important factor when considering a fund's return; in the long-term, cheaper funds actually have the ability to outperform their more expensive cousins if all other things remain the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.60%.
FXR's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.74%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector - about 71.3% of the portfolio. Materials and Financials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB) accounts for about 1.71% of total assets, followed by Knight-swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (KNX) and Bwx Technologies, Inc. (BWXT).
The top 10 holdings account for about 13.08% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF has added roughly 3.91% so far, and is down about -3.89% over the last 12 months (as of 11/13/2025). FXR has traded between $60.85 $83.27 in this past 52-week period.
FXR has a beta of 1.17 and standard deviation of 19.05% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 143 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Industrials 25/50 Index and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLI) tracks Industrial Select Sector Index. Vanguard Industrials ETF has $6.34 billion in assets, Industrial Select Sector SPDR ETF has $24.14 billion. VIS has an expense ratio of 0.09% and XLI changes 0.08%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Industrials 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.