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Should First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund (FNY) Be on Your Investing Radar?
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Looking for broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market? You should consider the First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund (FNY - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 04/19/2011.
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $229.28 M, making it the smallest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
Why Mid Cap Growth
Mid cap companies have market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. They usually have higher growth prospects than large cap companies and are less volatile than small cap companies. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.
While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.
Costs
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.70%, making it the most expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.05%.
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 to the Information Technology sector--about 24.40% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, The Trade Desk, Inc. (class A) (TTD - Free Report) accounts for about 1.12% of total assets, followed by Etsy, Inc. (ETSY - Free Report) and Chegg, Inc. (CHGG - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 9.01% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
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.
The ETF has gained about 17.23% so far this year and is up roughly 5.28% in the last one year (as of 03/28/2019). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $33.42 and $47.12.
The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 16.18% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 225 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, FNY is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
The iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF (IJK - Free Report) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF has $7.41 B in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $10 B. IJK has an expense ratio of 0.25% and IWP charges 0.25%.
Bottom-Line
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.
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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Should First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund (FNY) Be on Your Investing Radar?
Looking for broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market? You should consider the First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund (FNY - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 04/19/2011.
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $229.28 M, making it the smallest ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.
Why Mid Cap Growth
Mid cap companies have market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. They usually have higher growth prospects than large cap companies and are less volatile than small cap companies. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.
While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.
Costs
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.70%, making it the most expensive products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.05%.
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 to the Information Technology sector--about 24.40% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, The Trade Desk, Inc. (class A) (TTD - Free Report) accounts for about 1.12% of total assets, followed by Etsy, Inc. (ETSY - Free Report) and Chegg, Inc. (CHGG - Free Report) .
The top 10 holdings account for about 9.01% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
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.
The ETF has gained about 17.23% so far this year and is up roughly 5.28% in the last one year (as of 03/28/2019). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $33.42 and $47.12.
The ETF has a beta of 1.16 and standard deviation of 16.18% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 225 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, FNY is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.
The iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF (IJK - Free Report) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF has $7.41 B in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $10 B. IJK has an expense ratio of 0.25% and IWP charges 0.25%.
Bottom-Line
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.
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.