Category Review
Index option income was not one bet this year
First Trust China AlphaDEX Fund
$25.43−0.04 (−0.16%)
- 0.80%
- $30M
- −3.2%
- 5.59%
- 0M sh
- $25.72
- low $25.13high $34.60
The ETF.net FCA Grade
C
Score 47 out of 100
- 19 of 30
Score 47 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.F22 out of 100Rank 22 of 30Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.B58 out of 100Rank 19 of 22Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.B67 out of 100Rank 6 of 30Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.C45 out of 100Rank 19 of 30Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.B67 out of 100Rank 10 of 28Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.B64 out of 100Rank 15 of 30
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
- 53
- 36%
- 0992.HK
Sectors
- Financials21.3%
- Technology14.9%
- Industrials12.5%
- Health Care12.4%
- Energy12.3%
- Consumer Discretionary8.3%
- Materials7.4%
- Utilities7.0%
- Communication3.9%
Geography
- China94.00%
- Hong Kong6.00%
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.
FCA$9,675
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 | FCA |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −5.5% |
| 1 month | −3.7% |
| 3 months | −1.4% |
| 1 year | −3.2% |
| 3 years | +15.9% |
| 5 years | +2.3% |
| 10 years | +6.5% |
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 | −5.5% | |
| 2025 | +45.2% | |
| 2024 | +13.9% | |
| 2023 | −8.4% | |
| 2022 | −17.6% | |
| 2021 | −0.7% | |
| 2020 | +11.8% |
FCA in the news
FCA Dividends
- 5.59%
- $1.42
- $0.89 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
FCA Risk
- 21.0%
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.
- 0.60
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.
- −37.6%
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.
- 0.69
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
0.80%
FCA0.80%
- The middle half of China funds
- Median 0.65%
23 of the 29 China funds charge less.
Other funds in China
- CPGJInvesco Golden Dragon China ETFExpense ratio 0.70%1 year return −27.1%
- CMCHMatthews China Active ETFExpense ratio 0.79%1 year return −4.8%
- CCHIQGlobal X - MSCI China Consumer Discretionary ETFExpense ratio 0.65%1 year return −26.6%
- CKWEBKraneShares CSI China Internet ETFExpense ratio 0.69%1 year return −31.7%
- CNBCENeuberger Berman China Equity ETFExpense ratio 5.01%1 year return +15.3%