First Trust AAA CMBS ETF
$19.85−0.08 (−0.40%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.30%
- Fund size
- $35M
- 1Y return
- +1.5%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 4.98%
- Holdings
- 112
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $19.93
- 52W range
The ETF.net CAAA Grade
Score 41 of 100 sits in the C band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.CScore 54Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.DScore 25Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.BScore 59Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.DScore 32Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.CScore 40Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.CScore 40Category rank
Our read on CAAA
CMost mortgage-bond ETFs buy Fannie and Freddie home loans. CAAA goes commercial: an actively run book of AAA-rated bonds backed by offices, hotels and apartment buildings, bought at the top rung of the deal structure.
The Fund seeks to maximize long-term total return.
Why people hold it
- Owns the AAA slice of non-agency commercial mortgage deals (conduit, single-asset single-borrower, CRE CLO), the senior rung with the first claim on interest and principal.ftportfolios.com
- Actively managed rather than index-replicating: at least 80% of net assets in CMBS rated AAA at purchase, with the strategy built around the AAA tier of the capital structure.ftportfolios.comftportfolios.com
- Charges 0.30% a year, below the median fee for mortgage-bond ETFs, and distributes monthly.
Worth knowing
- Agency-mortgage index funds cost a fraction of this (VMBS 0.03%, MBB 0.04%). The 0.30% buys active management and commercial, non-agency collateral instead of home-loan pools.
- Thinly traded next to the big agency mortgage funds, so bid-ask spreads can run wider.
- Launched in 2024, non-diversified, and concentrated in roughly 50 positions, all tied to commercial property credit. Short history, narrow book.ftportfolios.com
CAAA Holdings
- Bonds
- 112
- 36%
- US 2YR NOTE (CBT) Dec26
CAAA Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 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 | CAAA |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +0.1% |
| 1 month | −1.1% |
| 3 months | −0.9% |
| 1 year | +1.5% |
| 3 years | — |
| 5 years | — |
| 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 | CAAA |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +0.1% | |
| 2025 | +8.0% | |
| 2024 | +4.7% |
CAAA in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on CAAA yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
CAAA Dividends
- 4.98%
- $0.99
- $0.07 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2026 | Aug 31, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Jul 31, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.07 |
| May 21, 2026 | May 29, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Apr 21, 2026 | Apr 30, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Feb 27, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Jan 21, 2026 | Jan 30, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.14 |
| Nov 21, 2025 | Nov 28, 2025 | $0.09 |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Oct 31, 2025 | $0.09 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.09 |
CAAA Risk
- 3.1%
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.
- 0.31
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.
- −2.3%
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.
- 0.10
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
CAAA Cost
- The middle half of Mortgage-Backed Securities funds
- Median 0.32%
11 of the 24 Mortgage-Backed Securities funds charge less.