Making its debut on 05/08/2007, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD) provides investors broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
A good option for investors who believe in market efficiency, market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns.
There are some investors, though, who think it’s possible to beat the market with great stock selection; this group likely invests in another class of funds known as smart beta, which track non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
Managed by First Trust Advisors, FXD has amassed assets over $355.31 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Consumer Discretionary ETFs. This particular fund 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.
Cost & Other Expenses
When considering an ETF’s total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for FXD are 0.61%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.97%.
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 75.40% of the portfolio. Telecom and Industrials round out the top three.
Looking at individual holdings, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc. (DKS) accounts for about 1.75% of total assets, followed by Ford Motor Company (F) and Capri Holdings Limited (CPRI).
Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 15.18% of FXD’s total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
So far this year, FXD has lost about -16%, and is down about -14.23% in the last one year (as of 12/05/2022). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $43.02 and $62.62.
FXD has a beta of 1.29 and standard deviation of 33.50% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 123 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Consumer Discretionary ETFs segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.
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 $4.32 billion in assets, Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has $14.84 billion. VCR has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLY charges 0.10%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Consumer Discretionary ETFs.
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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