First Trust China AlphaDEX Fund
$26.71−0.52 (−1.89%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.80%
- Fund size
- $32M
- 1Y return
- −2.2%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 2.89%
- Holdings
- 50
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $27.54
- 52W range
The ETF.net FCA Grade
Score 46 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.FScore 19Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.BScore 59Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.BScore 66Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.CScore 43Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 67Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.BScore 64Category rank
Our read on FCA
CMost China ETFs just hold the market. FCA screens the Nasdaq China universe on growth and value factors, keeping roughly 50 names weighted by rank rather than size. A quant twist on China exposure, running since 2011.
The fund seeks to generally match, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX China Index. It normally invests at least 90% of net assets in securities comprising that index and uses an indexing approach.
Why people hold it
- Not a cap-weighted mirror. The AlphaDEX screen ranks the Nasdaq China universe on growth and value factors, then selects and weights the survivors by rank, so the biggest listing isn't automatically the biggest position.firsttrust.ca
- Concentrated on purpose: roughly 50 stocks instead of the hundreds in a broad China index. Every holding has to earn its slot through the screen.
- Launched in 2011, which makes it one of the longer-tenured China funds on the shelf. The rules have been through multiple China booms and busts, not just a back-test.
- Rules, not hunches. It normally keeps at least 90% of net assets in its Nasdaq index constituents and uses a straight indexing approach, so nobody is trading headlines for you.
Worth knowing
- The screen costs money: 0.80% a year, versus a fraction of that at plain cap-weighted China trackers such as FLCH (0.19%) and CXSE (0.32%).
- Small asset base and thin trading volume. Bid-ask spreads and order size matter more here than at the category giants, and premiums or discounts can widen.
- Factor weighting means returns can drift well away from the headline China indexes in either direction. That divergence is the point, and it cuts both ways.
FCA Holdings
- Stocks
- 50
- 36%
- 0992.HK
Sectors
- Financials21.6%
- Technology14.7%
- Industrials13.1%
- Energy12.4%
- Health Care11.2%
- Consumer Discr.8.8%
- Materials7.7%
- Utilities6.7%
- Communication3.8%
Geography
- China94.24%
- Hong Kong5.76%
Developed 6% · Emerging 94%
FCA 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 | FCA |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −2.3% |
| 1 month | −1.4% |
| 3 months | −8.0% |
| 1 year | −2.2% |
| 3 years | +16.1% |
| 5 years | +1.6% |
| 10 years | +6.6% |
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 | FCA |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −2.3% | |
| 2025 | +45.2% | |
| 2024 | +13.9% | |
| 2023 | −8.4% | |
| 2022 | −17.6% | |
| 2021 | −0.7% | |
| 2020 | +11.8% |
FCA in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FCA yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FCA Dividends
- 2.89%
- $0.79
- $0.40 per share
- Twice a year
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.40 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.13 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.26 |
| Jun 26, 2025 | Jun 30, 2025 | $0.34 |
| Mar 27, 2025 | Mar 31, 2025 | $0.03 |
| Dec 13, 2024 | Dec 31, 2024 | $0.02 |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.54 |
| Jun 27, 2024 | Jun 28, 2024 | $0.37 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 28, 2024 | $0.10 |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Dec 29, 2023 | $0.08 |
| Sep 22, 2023 | Sep 29, 2023 | $0.45 |
| Jun 27, 2023 | Jun 30, 2023 | $0.52 |
FCA Risk
- 20.9%
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.
- 0.64
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.
- −39.5%
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.
- 0.71
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FCA Cost
- The middle half of China funds
- Median 0.65%
22 of the 28 China funds charge less.