Best ETFs
Schwab and Vanguard charge the same 0.03%. Their small-cap funds are 3.7 percentage points apart
First Trust Active Factor Small Cap ETF
$39.96+0.06 (+0.16%)
- 0.75%
- $130M
- +28.9%
- 0.51%
- 0M sh
- $39.94
- low $30.74high $41.63
The ETF.net AFSM Grade
C
Score 50 out of 100
- 20 of 41
Score 50 of 100 falls in the C band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.D29 out of 100Rank 29 of 41Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.B60 out of 100Rank 14 of 38Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.B61 out of 100Rank 14 of 41Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A70 out of 100Rank 13 of 41Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A75 out of 100Rank 8 of 41
Our read on AFSM
CActive management in index-fund clothing. AFSM runs a multi-factor quant model across roughly 300 U.S. small caps, so you get a manager's screens with broad diversification instead of a concentrated stock-picker's book.
The Fund seeks capital appreciation by investing primarily in U.S.-listed equity securities of small-capitalization companies through an actively managed, multi-factor quantitative approach.
Why people hold it
- Genuinely active, not a rules-based index in disguise: First Trust's team applies a multi-factor quantitative process to U.S.-listed small caps in pursuit of capital appreciation.ftportfolios.com
- Roughly 300 names means no single small cap can wreck the portfolio, a real difference from the 40-stock active small-cap funds it competes with.
- Live since 2019, so the model has a public track record through the 2020 crash and the 2022 drawdown rather than a backtest.
- Pays shareholders quarterly, and the underlying holdings score well on portfolio quality measures relative to the active small-cap group.
Worth knowing
- The 0.75% expense ratio is the headline trade-off: well above the typical active U.S. small-cap fund, and about triple systematic rivals like AVUV and AVSC at 0.25%.
- Thinly traded compared with the category's giants, so bid-ask spreads and order type matter more here than with a household-name small-cap ETF.
- No benchmark index to grade it against. With an active quant mandate, results ride entirely on the model's factor calls rather than on tracking something.
AFSM Holdings
- Stocks
- 321
- 9%
- PARR
Sectors
- Health Care19.8%
- Technology19.5%
- Financials16.8%
- Industrials12.2%
- Consumer Discretionary9.7%
- Energy7.9%
- Communication4.4%
- Real Estate3.7%
- Materials3.1%
- Consumer Staples2.5%
- Utilities0.5%
Geography
- United States90.28%
- Bermuda4.47%
- United Kingdom0.99%
- Monaco0.66%
- Singapore0.65%
- Cayman Islands0.61%
- Brazil0.51%
- Israel0.44%
- 1.39%
AFSM Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Not enough history yet.
AFSM$12,893
Returns run to the Oct 12, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | AFSM |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +21.8% |
| 1 month | −0.2% |
| 3 months | −0.9% |
| 1 year | +28.9% |
| 3 years | +20.0% |
| 5 years | +9.6% |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | AFSM |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +21.8% | |
| 2025 | +10.0% | |
| 2024 | +10.5% | |
| 2023 | +22.2% | |
| 2022 | −17.5% | |
| 2021 | +26.1% | |
| 2020 | +8.4% |
AFSM in the news
AFSM Dividends
- 0.51%
- $0.20
- $0.02 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
AFSM Risk
- 18.2%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.78
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −28.3%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 1.04
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
AFSM Cost
0.75%
AFSM0.75%
- The middle half of US Active Small-Cap funds
- Median 0.55%
26 of the 39 US Active Small-Cap funds charge less.
Other funds in US Active Small-Cap
- BSYZLazard US Systematic Small Cap Equity ETFExpense ratio 0.60%1 year return +23.1%
- CACSGAmerican Century Small Cap Growth Insights ETFExpense ratio 0.49%1 year return —
- COSCVOpus Small Cap Value Plus ETFExpense ratio 0.79%1 year return +9.7%
- CJPSVJPMorgan Active Small Cap Value ETFExpense ratio 0.55%1 year return +19.6%
- CSAWSAAM Sawgrass U.S. Small Cap Quality Growth ETFExpense ratio 0.55%1 year return +12.6%