First Trust Multi Cap Growth AlphaDEX Fund
$181.98−1.01 (−0.55%)
- 0.63%
- $609M
- +16.2%
- 0.08%
- 0M sh
- $184.52
- low $150.01high $200.22
The ETF.net FAD Grade
C
Score 42 out of 100
- 82 of 99
Score 42 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.F9 out of 100Rank 90 of 99Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.B69 out of 100Rank 64 of 86Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.D26 out of 100Rank 85 of 97Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.C42 out of 100Rank 61 of 99Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A84 out of 100Rank 8 of 98Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A71 out of 100Rank 23 of 99
Our read on FAD
CFAD has run First Trust's AlphaDEX screen since 2007, ranking US stocks on growth and value marks and spreading the survivors across roughly 700 names, small caps included. Rules-based stock picking wearing an index wrapper.
The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Multi Cap Growth Index.
Why people hold it
- One ticker, roughly 700 US stocks spanning large, mid and small caps, so no single name or size band runs the show.ftportfolios.com
- Screens on growth and value marks rather than taking the market cap-weighted index as-is, and rebalances by rule instead of manager hunch.ftportfolios.com
- Live since 2007, so AlphaDEX here has a real-money record across multiple market cycles, not a backtest.
- Sticks to the job in its prospectus: tracking the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Multi Cap Growth Index, with little gap between what the documents describe and what it holds.ftportfolios.com
Worth knowing
- At 0.63% a year, it runs about double the typical fund in its multifactor group, and plain index peers like IUSG (0.04%) and VONV (0.06%) charge a sliver of that.
- Trading is thin next to the category's giants, so spreads can widen. Limit orders are the standard defense.
- Reaching down the cap ladder into smaller growth names means a choppier ride than a plain large-cap index.
FAD Holdings
- Other
- 675
- 5%
- P
Sectors
- Technology31.1%
- Health Care21.5%
- Industrials14.9%
- Financials9.6%
- Consumer Discretionary7.9%
- Materials4.1%
- Real Estate3.8%
- Communication3.0%
- Consumer Staples2.1%
- Energy1.7%
- Utilities0.3%
Geography
- United States97.60%
- Ireland1.29%
- Switzerland0.33%
- Cayman Islands0.29%
- United Kingdom0.26%
- Canada0.10%
- Netherlands0.08%
- Bahamas0.05%
FAD Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
FAD$11,619
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 | FAD |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +13.2% |
| 1 month | +0.5% |
| 3 months | −3.9% |
| 1 year | +16.2% |
| 3 years | +22.8% |
| 5 years | +9.4% |
| 10 years | +14.0% |
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 | FAD |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +13.2% | |
| 2025 | +17.2% | |
| 2024 | +23.8% | |
| 2023 | +19.1% | |
| 2022 | −24.1% | |
| 2021 | +21.2% | |
| 2020 | +34.9% |
FAD in the news
FAD Dividends
- 0.08%
- $0.15
- $0.05 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
FAD Risk
- 18.3%
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.
- 0.95
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.
- −32.0%
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.
FAD Cost
0.63%
FAD0.63%
- The middle half of US Multifactor funds
- Median 0.30%
89 of the 99 US Multifactor funds charge less.
Other funds in US Multifactor
- CBUYBProShares S&P 500 Buyback Aristocrats ETFExpense ratio 0.39%1 year return —
- CCOWSAmplify Cash Flow Dividend Leaders ETFExpense ratio 0.39%1 year return +24.8%
- CFSCSFirst Trust SMID Capital Strength ETFExpense ratio 0.60%1 year return +2.6%
- DPALCPacer Lunt Large Cap Multi-Factor Alternator ETFExpense ratio 0.60%1 year return +10.5%
- DBRNYBurney U.S. Factor Rotation ETFExpense ratio 0.79%1 year return +23.6%