Should First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FNY) Be on Your Investing Radar?
The First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FNY) 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 $280.50 million, 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. 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. 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
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.
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
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 Healthcare sector--about 24.60% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Industrials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) accounts for about 1.01% of total assets, followed by Zscaler, Inc. (ZS) and Mongodb, Inc. (MDB).
The top 10 holdings account for about 9.41% 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 -13.99% so far this year and is down about -8.80% in the last one year (as of 06/12/2020). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $31.56 and $51.66.
The ETF has a beta of 1.17 and standard deviation of 24.42% 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 a great 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 Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF (VOT) and the iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF (IWP) track a similar index. While Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF has $7.02 billion in assets, iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF has $11.65 billion. VOT has an expense ratio of 0.07% and IWP charges 0.24%.
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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First Trust Mid Cap Growth AlphaDEX ETF (FNY): ETF Research Reports
Enphase Energy, Inc. (ENPH) : Free Stock Analysis Report
iShares Russell MidCap Growth ETF (IWP): ETF Research Reports
Vanguard MidCap Growth ETF (VOT): ETF Research Reports
MongoDB, Inc. (MDB) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Zscaler, Inc. (ZS) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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