The First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY) was launched on 05/27/2011, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund designed to offer broad exposure to the Technology 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.
Because market cap weighted indexes provide a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, they work well for investors who believe in market efficiency.
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.
By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.
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
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $3.2 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
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.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.60%.
SKYY's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 0.00%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 83.2% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Oracle Corporation (ORCL) accounts for about 4.84% of the fund's total assets, followed by Pure Storage, Inc. (class A) (PSTG) and Alphabet Inc. (class A) (GOOGL).
The top 10 holdings account for about 39.11% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
Year-to-date, the First Trust Cloud Computing ETF has added about 13.79% so far, and is up roughly 8.76% over the last 12 months (as of 12/11/2025). SKYY has traded between $89.46 $143.46 in this past 52-week period.
The ETF has a beta of 1.21 and standard deviation of 25.54% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 65 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 $278.21 million in assets, WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF has $307.57 million. CLOU has an expense ratio of 0.68% and WCLD changes 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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First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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