First Trust Dorsey Wright DALI Equity ETF
$28.78−0.62 (−2.11%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.30%
- Fund size
- $101M
- 1Y return
- +4.8%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 1.15%
- Holdings
- 7
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $29.24
- 52W range
The ETF.net DALI Grade
Score 64 of 100 sits in the B 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.AScore 91Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.Not scoredRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.FScore 15Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 67Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.CScore 43Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 86Category rank
Our read on DALI
BTactical, but only inside the stock market. DALI uses Dorsey Wright relative-strength rankings to lean US or international, then buys ETFs to express the call. One decision, rules-based, no exit to cash.
The fund seeks returns generally corresponding to the Nasdaq Dorsey Wright DALI EquityTM Index. The index uses relative-strength analysis to select between domestic and international equity and allocates among ETFs providing exposure to the selected asset class.
Why people hold it
- The whole thesis is one call: US stocks or international. Relative-strength rules make it, and the fund holds ETFs to express it.ftportfolios.com
- Momentum is the advertised screen, run through Dorsey Wright's Dynamic Asset Level Investing framework, so shifts follow measured trend strength instead of a manager's read.ftportfolios.com
- Equity-only by design, spanning US, developed international and emerging markets. Trading since 2018, so the rules have run live through several very different markets.
- The 0.91% expense ratio sits slightly under the norm for tactical multi-asset funds, and distributions come quarterly.
Worth knowing
- 0.91% is only cheap by tactical standards. Rules-based rivals like ENDW at 0.22% and ONOF at 0.39% do their own switching for far less.
- Relative strength is backward-looking by construction: the signal turns after a trend shows up, so inflection points get caught late.
- It trades thinly, so spreads can run wider than in the category's most active names. A small fund by ETF standards, too.
DALI Holdings
- Stocks
- 7
- 100%
- FEM
Sectors
- Industrials27.2%
- Technology15.1%
- Consumer Discr.10.2%
- Financials9.1%
- Materials8.8%
- Energy8.4%
- Utilities4.9%
- Health Care4.9%
- Cons. Staples4.1%
- Real Estate4.0%
- Communication3.3%
Geography
- United States100.00%
DALI 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 | DALI |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +3.2% |
| 1 month | −0.1% |
| 3 months | −3.7% |
| 1 year | +4.8% |
| 3 years | +7.0% |
| 5 years | +4.0% |
| 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 | DALI |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +3.2% | |
| 2025 | +11.9% | |
| 2024 | +19.9% | |
| 2023 | −8.5% | |
| 2022 | −8.1% | |
| 2021 | +22.3% | |
| 2020 | +4.5% |
DALI in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on DALI yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
DALI Dividends
- 1.15%
- $0.34
- $0.25 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.25 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.02 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.04 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.04 |
| Jun 26, 2025 | Jun 30, 2025 | $0.02 |
| Mar 27, 2025 | Mar 31, 2025 | $0.01 |
| Dec 13, 2024 | Dec 31, 2024 | $0.02 |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.02 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 28, 2024 | $0.0046 |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Dec 29, 2023 | $0.20 |
| Sep 22, 2023 | Sep 29, 2023 | $0.0084 |
| Jun 27, 2023 | Jun 30, 2023 | $0.46 |
DALI Risk
- 16.2%
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.
- 0.09
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.
- −26.3%
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.
- 1.17
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
DALI Cost
- The middle half of Tactical Allocation funds
- Median 0.91%
4 of the 46 Tactical Allocation funds charge less.