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

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund (FNY) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 04/19/2011.

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $254.74 M, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap Growth

Compared to large and small cap companies, mid cap businesses tend to have higher growth prospects and are less volatile, respectively, with market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Growth stocks have higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. While these are expected to grow faster than the broader market, they also have higher valuations. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. Compared to value stocks, growth stocks are a safer bet in a strong bull market, but don't perform as strongly in almost all other financial environments.

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 one of the most expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.11%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 25.80% of the portfolio. Healthcare and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Dexcom, Inc. (DXCM) accounts for about 1.03% of total assets, followed by Molina Healthcare, Inc. (MOH) and Trex Company, Inc. (TREX).

The top 10 holdings account for about 9.1% 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 added about 18.19% so far this year and was up about 29.38% in the last one year (as of 09/21/2018). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $35.69 and $47.12.

The ETF has a beta of 0.97 and standard deviation of 14.16% 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 2 (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 Mid Cap ETFs 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) and the iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) track a similar index. While iShares S&P Mid-Cap 400 Growth ETF has $8.30 B in assets, iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $9.58 B. IJK has an expense ratio of 0.25% and IWP charges 0.25%.

Bottom-Line

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are 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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FT-MC GROWTH AD (FNY): ETF Research Reports
 
Trex Company, Inc. (TREX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ISHARS-RS M GR (IWP): ETF Research Reports
 
DexCom, Inc. (DXCM) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
Molina Healthcare, Inc (MOH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
ISHARS-SP MC GR (IJK): ETF Research Reports
 
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