Launched on September 20, 2016, the First Trust NASDAQ Transportation ETF (FTXR) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market.
While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.
Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Industrials - Transportation/Shipping is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 2, placing it in top 13%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $807.13 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market. FTXR seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq US Smart Transportation Index before fees and expenses.
The Nasdaq US Smart Transportation Index is a modified factor weighted index, designed to provide exposure to US companies within the transportation industry.
Costs
When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.6%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.43%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
ETFs offer a diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector -- about 67.2% of the portfolio, followed by Consumer Discretionary.
Looking at individual holdings, General Motors Company (GM) accounts for about 9.34% of total assets, followed by Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) and Ford Motor Company (F).
The top 10 holdings account for about 60.32% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 5.97% so far this year and was up about 30.32% in the last one year (as of 03/04/2026). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $25.7 and $43.1.
The ETF has a beta of 1.29 and standard deviation of 22.02% for the trailing three-year period. With about 40 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
First Trust NASDAQ Transportation ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, FTXR is a good option for those seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) tracks U.S. Global Jets Index and the iShares U.S. Transportation ETF (IYT) tracks Dow Jones Transportation Average Index. U.S. Global Jets ETF has $761.84 million in assets, iShares U.S. Transportation ETF has $1.22 billion. JETS has an expense ratio of 0.6%, and IYT charges 0.38%.
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 NASDAQ Transportation ETF (FTXR): ETF Research ReportsThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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