Is First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Making its debut on 05/27/2011, smart beta exchange traded fund First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY) provides investors broad exposure to the Technology ETFs category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

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.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. SKYY has been able to amass assets over $3.18 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Technology ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the ISE Cloud Computing Index before fees and expenses.

The ISE Cloud Computing Index is a modified market capitalization weighted index designed to track the performance of companies actively involved in the cloud computing industry.

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.

Operating expenses on an annual basis are 0.60% for SKYY, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

SKYY's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

SKYY's heaviest allocation is in the Information Technology sector, which is about 84.50% of the portfolio. Its Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Nutanix, Inc. (class A) (NTNX) accounts for about 4.79% of the fund's total assets, followed by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) and Alphabet Inc. (class A) (GOOGL).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 39.23% of SKYY's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -11.79% so far this year and is up about 11.33% in the last one year (as of 04/03/2025). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $86.45 and $131.18.

The ETF has a beta of 1.23 and standard deviation of 30.52% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 62 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust Cloud Computing ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Global X Cloud Computing ETF (CLOU) tracks INDXX GLOBAL CLOUD COMPUTING INDEX and the WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF (WCLD) tracks BVP NASDAQ EMERGING CLOUD INDEX. Global X Cloud Computing ETF has $315.99 million in assets, WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF has $405.16 million. CLOU has an expense ratio of 0.68% and WCLD charges 0.45%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Technology 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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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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