Is First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (RDVY) a Strong ETF Right Now?

The First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF (RDVY) made its debut on 01/07/2014, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Value 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.

Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.

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.

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

Because the fund has amassed over $13.81 billion, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Value. RDVY is managed by First Trust Advisors. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the NASDAQ US Rising Dividend Achievers Index.

The NASDAQ US Rising Dividend Achievers Index is designed to provide access to a diversified portfolio of companies with a history of paying dividends.

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 0.48% for RDVY, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.70%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer 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.

For RDVY, it has heaviest allocation in the Financials sector --about 38.60% of the portfolio --while Information Technology and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Unum Group (UNM) accounts for about 2.52% of the fund's total assets, followed by The Bank Of New York Mellon Corporation (BK) and Visa Inc. (class A) (V).

The top 10 holdings account for about 22.46% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has lost about -0.06% and was up about 9.30% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 05/09/2025), respectively. RDVY has traded between $51.60 and $64.37 during this last 52-week period.

The fund has a beta of 1.08 and standard deviation of 20.04% for the trailing three-year period, which makes RDVY a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 77 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Value segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.

Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (SCHD) tracks Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index and the Vanguard Value ETF (VTV) tracks CRSP U.S. Large Cap Value Index. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF has $67.24 billion in assets, Vanguard Value ETF has $131.55 billion. SCHD has an expense ratio of 0.06% and VTV charges 0.04%.

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

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