Should You Invest in the First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD)?
Looking for broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary - Broad segment of the equity market? You should consider the First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/08/2007.
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.
Investor-friendly, sector ETFs provide many options to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Consumer Discretionary - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 7, placing it in top 44%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.84 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Consumer Discretionary - Broad segment of the equity market. FXD seeks to match the performance of the StrataQuant Consumer Discretionary Index before fees and expenses.
The StrataQuant Consumer Discretionary Index employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the Russell 1000 Index.
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 0.63%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.22%.
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 in the Consumer Discretionary sector--about 77.90% of the portfolio. Telecom and Industrials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Graham Holdings Company (GHC) accounts for about 1.69% of total assets, followed by Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NXST) and Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (PAG).
The top 10 holdings account for about 15.66% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF has added about 20.17% so far, and was up about 58.30% over the last 12 months (as of 06/15/2021). FXD has traded between $35.81 and $61.76 in this past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.45 and standard deviation of 29.89% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 115 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, FXD is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) tracks Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has $6.09 billion in assets, Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has $19.54 billion. VCR has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLY charges 0.12%.
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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First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD): ETF Research Reports
Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (PAG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Nexstar Media Group, Inc (NXST) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Graham Holdings Company (GHC): Free Stock Analysis Report
Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY): ETF Research Reports
Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR): ETF Research Reports
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