Is First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD) a Strong ETF Right Now?

A smart beta exchange traded fund, the First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD) debuted on 05/08/2007, and offers broad exposure to the Consumer Discretionary 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.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

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.

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

Because the fund has amassed over $341.72 million, this makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Consumer Discretionary ETFs. FXD is managed by First Trust Advisors. Before fees and expenses, FXD seeks to match the performance of the StrataQuant Consumer Discretionary Index.

The StrataQuant Consumer Discretionary Index employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the Russell 1000 Index.

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.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.61%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

The fund has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.04%.

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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Consumer Discretionary sector - about 75.40% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Staples round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Spotify Technology S.a. (SPOT) accounts for about 1.96% of the fund's total assets, followed by Dutch Bros Inc. (class A) (BROS) and Fox Corporation (class A) (FOXA).

The top 10 holdings account for about 16.28% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF has lost about -8.01% so far, and is down about -1.87% over the last 12 months (as of 05/12/2025). FXD has traded between $50.42 and $68.52 in this past 52-week period.

FXD has a beta of 1.21 and standard deviation of 23.44% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 122 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Consumer Discretionary ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF (VCR) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index and the Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) tracks Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF has $5.49 billion in assets, Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has $19.91 billion. VCR has an expense ratio of 0.09% and XLY charges 0.08%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Consumer Discretionary 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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