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Is First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FNY) a Strong ETF Right Now?
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The First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FNY - Free Report) was launched on 04/19/2011, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth 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 work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
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
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. FNY has been able to amass assets over $574.27 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth. FNY seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Mid Cap Growth Index before fees and expenses.
The NASDAQ AlphaDEX Mid Cap Growth Index is an enhanced which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the NASDAQ US 600 Mid Cap Growth Index.
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.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.73% for this ETF, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.00%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector - about 22.3% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Information Technology round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (class A) (ZETA) accounts for about 1.01% of the fund's total assets, followed by Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (HALO) and Guardant Health, Inc. (GH).
The top 10 holdings account for about 8.53% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF has added about 10.52% so far, and it's up approximately 8.14% over the last 12 months (as of 10/07/2026). FNY has traded between $85.10 $110.85 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 20.73% for the trailing three-year period, which makes FNY a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 225 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT) tracks CRSP U.S. Mid Cap Growth Index and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) tracks Russell MidCap Growth Index. Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $19.69 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $20.1 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.05% and IWP changes 0.23%.
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 - Mid 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 Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FNY) a Strong ETF Right Now?
The First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FNY - Free Report) was launched on 04/19/2011, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth 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 work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.
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.
These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.
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
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. FNY has been able to amass assets over $574.27 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth. FNY seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Mid Cap Growth Index before fees and expenses.
The NASDAQ AlphaDEX Mid Cap Growth Index is an enhanced which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the NASDAQ US 600 Mid Cap Growth Index.
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.
Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.73% for this ETF, which makes it one of the more expensive products in the space.
It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.00%.
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.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector - about 22.3% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Information Technology round out the top three.
Taking into account individual holdings, Zeta Global Holdings Corp. (class A) (ZETA) accounts for about 1.01% of the fund's total assets, followed by Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (HALO) and Guardant Health, Inc. (GH).
The top 10 holdings account for about 8.53% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF has added about 10.52% so far, and it's up approximately 8.14% over the last 12 months (as of 10/07/2026). FNY has traded between $85.10 $110.85 in this past 52-week period.
The fund has a beta of 1.20 and standard deviation of 20.73% for the trailing three-year period, which makes FNY a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 225 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .
Alternatives
First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT) tracks CRSP U.S. Mid Cap Growth Index and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) tracks Russell MidCap Growth Index. Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $19.69 billion in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $20.1 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.05% and IWP changes 0.23%.
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 - Mid 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.