Making its debut on 04/19/2011, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Mid Cap Value AlphaDEX ETF (FNK) provides investors broad exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Value category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

For a long time now, the ETF industry has been flooded with products based on market capitalization weighted indexes, which are designed to represent the broader 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.

If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking 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.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors, and has been able to amass over $201.32 million, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Mid Cap Value. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Mid Cap Value Index.

The NASDAQ AlphaDEX Mid Cap Value Index is an enhanced index which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the NASDAQ US 600 Mid Cap Value Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.70%, making it one of the most expensive products in the space.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 1.81%.

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.

FNK's heaviest allocation is in the Financials sector, which is about 21% of the portfolio. Its Consumer Discretionary and Industrials round out the top three.

Story Continues

Looking at individual holdings, Concentrix Corporation (CNXC) accounts for about 1.04% of total assets, followed by Adt Inc. (ADT) and The Mosaic Company (MOS).

FNK's top 10 holdings account for about 8.57% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the First Trust Mid Cap Value AlphaDEX ETF has lost about -3.13% so far, and is down about -0.95% over the last 12 months (as of 05/14/2025). FNK has traded between $43.24 and $58.28 in this past 52-week period.

FNK has a beta of 1.07 and standard deviation of 22.80% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 226 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust Mid Cap Value AlphaDEX ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Mid Cap Value segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF (IWS) tracks Russell MidCap Value Index and the Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF (VOE) tracks CRSP U.S. Mid Cap Value Index. IShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF has $13.29 billion in assets, Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF has $17.64 billion. IWS has an expense ratio of 0.23% and VOE charges 0.07%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Mid Cap Value.

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 Mid Cap Value AlphaDEX ETF (FNK): ETF Research Reports

The Mosaic Company (MOS):Free Stock Analysis Report

ADT Inc. (ADT):Free Stock Analysis Report

Concentrix Corporation (CNXC):Free Stock Analysis Report

Vanguard Mid-Cap Value ETF (VOE): ETF Research Reports

iShares Russell Mid-Cap Value ETF (IWS): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research

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