First Trust California Municipal High Income ETF
$46.92−0.36 (−0.77%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.49%
- Fund size
- $215M
- 1Y return
- +0.0%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 3.55%
- Holdings
- 278
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $47.35
- 52W range
The ETF.net FCAL Grade
Score 49 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.AScore 78Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.DScore 38Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 65Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 61Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.CScore 54Category rank
Our read on FCAL
CA California-only muni portfolio for in-state investors: income that aims to sidestep both federal and California income tax, spread across roughly 300 bonds and paid out monthly.
FCAL seeks current income exempt from regular federal and California income taxes, with long-term capital appreciation as a secondary objective. Normally, it invests at least 80% of net assets in municipal debt securities whose interest is exempt from those taxes.
Why people hold it
- Interest income is meant to be exempt from regular federal and California income taxes, the double break a national muni fund can't hand a California taxpayer.
- At least 80% of net assets sits in munis exempt from those taxes, spread across roughly 300 issues, so no single bond drives the payout.
- Pays monthly, and the portfolio tracks the job in its prospectus: current income first, long-term appreciation as the secondary goal.
- Trading since 2017, a long run for a single-state muni ETF in a category whose biggest names are national portfolios.
Worth knowing
- The 0.49% expense ratio is rich for muni exposure. Broad national trackers like VTEB and MUB charge a few basis points, though neither carries the California angle.
- Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so the bid-ask spread can matter as much as the fee.
- One state's credit story drives the whole portfolio, and the state-tax half of the break only counts for California taxpayers.
FCAL Holdings
- Bonds
- 278
- 11%
- SAN FRANCISCO CALIF CITY & CNTY ARPTS COMMN 5%, due 05/01/2049
FCAL 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 | FCAL |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −1.9% |
| 1 month | −2.6% |
| 3 months | −3.9% |
| 1 year | +0.0% |
| 3 years | +2.8% |
| 5 years | −0.2% |
| 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 | FCAL |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −1.9% | |
| 2025 | +3.2% | |
| 2024 | +1.9% | |
| 2023 | +6.1% | |
| 2022 | −9.5% | |
| 2021 | +3.3% | |
| 2020 | +3.5% |
FCAL in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FCAL yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FCAL Dividends
- 3.55%
- $1.68
- $0.14 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2026 | Aug 31, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Jul 31, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.14 |
| May 21, 2026 | May 29, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Apr 21, 2026 | Apr 30, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Feb 27, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Jan 21, 2026 | Jan 30, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.14 |
| Nov 21, 2025 | Nov 28, 2025 | $0.14 |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Oct 31, 2025 | $0.14 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.14 |
FCAL Risk
- 4.8%
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.
- −0.26
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.
- −14.0%
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.
- 0.85
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FCAL Cost
- The middle half of High-Yield Municipal Bonds funds
- Median 0.40%
13 of the 19 High-Yield Municipal Bonds funds charge less.