First Trust Short Dur Mgd Muncpl ETF's Average People Pillar and Process Pillar ratings result in a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Neutral. Fees are a weakness here. The strategy's lofty fees are a high hurdle to clear, as it is priced within the second-highest quintile among peers.  

 The strategy’s management team earns an Average People Pillar rating. The strategy merits an Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained an overweight A rated bonds and debt with 20- to 30-year maturities compared with category peers. The strategy's parent organization earns the firm an Average Parent Pillar rating. People Pillar and Parent Pillar ratings for this strategy are indirectly assigned by a Morningstar analyst rather than algorithmically derived. Please see the notes following each pillar section for more details. The details of assigning methods can be found in each pillar section.

Analyst Rating

Morningstar's evaluation of this fund's process seeks to understand management's investment philosophy, and whether it has been applied consistently over time and can add value across the market cycle. First Trust Short Dur Mgd Muncpl ETF earns an Average Process Pillar rating.    The most substantial contributor to the rating is the fund's impressive long-term risk-adjusted performance. This can be seen in its five-year alpha calculated relative to the category index, which suggests that the managers have shown skill in their allocation of risk. Management team experience, which averages 32 years at this fund, also contributes to the process. Lastly, the process is limited by the parent firm's five-year risk-adjusted success ratio of 29%. The measure indicates the percentage of a firm's funds that survived and beat their respective category's median Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return for the period. The parent's modest success ratio suggests that the firm could do better across its fund lineup.

 Compared with other funds in the Muni National Short Morningstar Category, this fund takes on higher credit risk. But in terms of long-term interest-rate sensitivity, it hews closely to its average peer over the past few years. Opening the analysis to additional factors, the portfolio has displayed biases over time, whether towards or away from certain fixed-income instruments. Relative to the category average, the managers have been overweight A rated bonds in recent years. In the latest month, the strategy has relatively overweighted A rated bonds compared with its peers as well. Additionally, there's been a bias away from debt with 20- to 30-year maturities over the past few years. Similarly, in recent months, the strategy also had less exposure to debt with 20- to 30-year maturities than peers. Finally, during the past few years, the fund leaned away from corporate bonds. Nevertheless, the fund's corporate debt exposure was in line with peers in the latest month.

 This strategy's 12-month yield is 2.5%, which is neck-and-neck with its average peer. In addition, its 30-day SEC yield (a measure similar to yield-to-maturity) sits at 2.4%. The portfolio has a lower average surveyed credit quality of BBB, compared with the category average's A and 4% of the fund's assets are rated non-investment-grade, compared to its peers' 1%. Strategies that take on more credit risk tend to be at their best when markets are as well. This risk contributes to strong performance during bull markets at the cost of losing more on the downside.

Average

Process

First Trust Short Dur Mgd Muncpl ETF earns an Average People Pillar rating. Johnathan N. Wilhelm’s veteran status, with over 25 years of listed portfolio management experience, brings a wealth of experience to the table. The average Morningstar Rating of the strategies they currently manage is 3.3 stars, reflecting average risk-adjusted performance compared to category peers. Johnathan N. Wilhelm has an experienced listed co-manager. Together, they average over 30 years of listed portfolio management experience. As a team, they manage seven investment vehicles together, with mixed prospects. The asset-weighted average Morningstar Medalist Rating across the strategies is Neutral. This means, in aggregate, they are not positioned to deliver positive alpha. 

 Note: The People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. The longest-tenured manager of the fund also manages a different product rated by an analyst. Their analyst-assigned People Pillar rating is combined here with the People scores (algorithmic or analyst-assigned) for the fund’s other managers on a tenure-weighted basis.

People

First Trust meets the industry standard for stewardship, but it could do more to align itself with investors. It earns an Average Parent rating.

This is a team-oriented organization that eschews star managers. While exchange-traded funds represent the bulk of the firm's assets, First Trust bypasses the competitive market for low-cost beta funds, instead opting for complex strategies with higher management fees. However, the firm's focus on ETFs for future product development underpins its commitment to tax efficiency and transparency. Some of its thematic strategies appear trendy, but it stands behind them and rarely liquidates funds. 

The firm is a private partnership, controlled by Jim Bowen, the CEO. Many senior managers are limited partners. This ownership structure helps the firm stay focused on the long term and promotes retention, which has been strong for the investment team. The firm has grown considerably over the past decade and is among the largest providers of actively managed ETFs, as well as unit investment trusts. As it has grown, the firm has expanded its investment team and beefed up its technology infrastructure.

First Trust's focus is on educating advisors and providing them solutions. This may benefit investors indirectly, but First Trust could do more to directly align with investors by cutting fees and limiting trendy strategies.

Parent

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WHEATON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Trust Advisors L.P. ("FTA") announces the declaration of the monthly distributions for certain exchange-traded funds advised by FTA. The following dates apply to today's distribution declarations: Expected Ex-Dividend Date: April 23, 2024 Record Date: April 24, 2024 Payable Date: April 30, 2024 Ticker   Exchange   Fund Name   Frequency   Ordinary Income Per Share Amount   ACTIVELY MANAGED EXCHANGE-TRADED FUNDS   First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III FCAL   N.

First Trust Advisors L.P. Announces Distributions for Exchange-Traded Funds

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Truly active managers shine in challenging investment environments, especially when they are given a flexible mandate. With tax-loss harvesting, active investors can deliberately sell at a loss to offset taxes on gains elsewhere in a portfolio.

Muni Investors Stay Flexible As Rates Rise

News for First Trust Short Duration Managed Municipal ETF ETF (FSMB)