First Trust Materials AlphaDEX® ETF’s management team is rated Average, but a solid investment process still helps this strategy retain its Morningstar Medalist Rating of Silver. The portfolio maintains a sizable cost advantage over competitors, priced within the second-cheapest fee quintile among peers.  

 The strategy's sensible investment philosophy merits an Above Average Process Pillar rating. Independent of the rating, analysis of the strategy's portfolio shows it has maintained an overweight in yield exposure and liquidity exposure compared with category peers. High yield exposure is attributed to holding high dividend-paying or buyback stocks, and is suitable for income seekers outside of fixed-income. And a high liquidity exposure is rooted in stocks with higher trading volumes, lending managers more flexibility. The strategy’s management team earns an Average People Pillar rating. 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

CF Industries Holdings

Mosaic

Celanese

Steel Dynamics

Nucor

Albemarle

SSR Mining

Timken

LyondellBasell Industries

Morningstar's evaluation of this security's process aims to determine the likelihood that it will outperform its Morningstar Category index on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. First Trust Materials AlphaDEX® Fund earns an Above Average Process Pillar rating. 

The leading factor in the rating is the fund's strong 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. The stability of the management team also contributes to the process. Specifically, the fund has not seen a manager change in the last 11 years. Lastly, the process is limited by its parent firm's inferior risk-adjusted performance, as shown by the firm's average 10-year Morningstar Rating of 2.7 stars. A lower star rating suggests that the firm has struggled to outperform on a risk-adjusted basis.

 This strategy skews toward smaller, more value-oriented companies compared with its average peer in the Natural Resources Morningstar Category. Examining additional factor exposure, this strategy has continually displayed high-yield exposure compared with Morningstar Category peers during recent years, holding more companies returning cash to shareholders via dividends or buybacks. High-yield stocks tend to be associated with more mature, profitable businesses that can grow as well as provide a stream of income. Such stocks could suffer, however, if setbacks force them to cut their dividends. In recent months, the strategy was more exposed to the Yield factor compared with its Morningstar Category peers as well. Given the high trading volume of holdings, this strategy has been exposed to liquid assets during these years. More-liquid assets are easier to buy and sell without adversely moving their prices and tend to provide some ballast during market selloffs. They also are easier to sell to meet redemptions if a host of investors decide to leave the fund in a short period of time. Compared with category peers, the strategy also had more exposure to the Liquidity factor in the most recent month. In addition, this strategy has had a bias away from momentum stocks during these years. Momentum strategies typically bet that stocks that have recently outperformed will continue to do so, and those that have recently underperformed will keep lagging. Avoiding the former and buying the latter could indicate that managers are averse to chasing momentum. In recent months, the strategy also had less Momentum factor exposure than its peers. More information on a fund and its respective category's factor exposure can be found in the Factor Profile module within the Portfolio section. 

 The portfolio is overweight in basic materials by 38.2 percentage points in terms of assets compared with the category average, and its consumer cyclical allocation is similar to the category. The sectors with low exposure compared to category peers are energy and utilities, underweight the average by 25.9 and 3.3 percentage points of assets, respectively. The portfolio is composed of 40 holdings and is relatively top-heavy. Of the strategy's assets, 44.0% are concentrated within the top 10 holdings, as opposed to the typical peer's 23.9%. And finally, in terms of portfolio turnover, on a year-over-year basis, 35% of the fund's holdings have changed, whether through increasing, decreasing, or changing a position.

Above Average

Process

First Trust’s equity team is good but unexceptional, earning the strategy an Average People Pillar rating. There’s a deep bench of seven managers listed on the fund. Experience on the team is abundant, with 22 years of average portfolio management experience. Together, they manage a total of 108 strategies, with solid long-term prospects. The strategies average a Bronze asset-weighted Morningstar Medalist Rating, indicating a position to deliver positive alpha relative to the category median in aggregate. This group has been working together for a while and has been successful in retaining talent compared to peers, with no departures in the last five years.  

 Note: This People Pillar rating is indirectly assigned by an analyst. Morningstar analysts evaluate the People Pillar for passive products at the brand level and may also differentiate by asset class. There is at least one other passive strategy at the firm that is covered by a Morningstar analyst, so the People Pillar rating of the fund is inherited from the rating that the Morningstar analyst assigned to investment vehicles under the same brand name.

Average

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

First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund

FXZ tracks a tiered, equal-weighted index of large- and mid-cap basic materials firms in the US. Holdings are selected and weighted based on growth and value metrics.

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News for First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund ETF (FXZ)