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Should First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FNY) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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The First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FNY - Free Report) was launched on 04/19/2011, and is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $298.15 M, making it one of the smaller ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

With market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion, mid cap companies usually contain higher growth prospects than large cap companies, and are considered less risky than their small cap counterparts. Thus they have a nice balance of growth potential and stability.

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. When you consider growth versus value, growth stocks are usually the clear winner in strong bull markets but tend to fall flat in nearly all other environments.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

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 0.30%.

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 to the Information Technology sector--about 23.10% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Industrials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH - Free Report) accounts for about 1.07% of total assets, followed by Teladoc Health, Inc. (TDOC - Free Report) and Docusign, Inc. (DOCU - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 8.67% 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 lost about -6.81% so far this year and is up about 3.10% in the last one year (as of 03/02/2020). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $41.99 and $51.66.

The ETF has a beta of 1.09 and standard deviation of 17.20% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 226 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF 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 outstanding 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 $6.74 B in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $10.90 B. IJK has an expense ratio of 0.24% and IWP charges 0.24%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

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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