First Trust Income Opportunities ETF
$23.05−0.23 (−0.98%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.85%
- Fund size
- $83M
- 1Y return
- +9.3%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 7.03%
- Holdings
- 60
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $23.27
- 52W range
The ETF.net FCEF Grade
Score 65 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 71Category 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.BScore 59Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 63Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 62Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.BScore 69Category rank
Our read on FCEF
BOne of the few ETFs whose portfolio is other closed-end funds: a manager assembles about 50 income vehicles into a single monthly-paying ticker. The convenience is real, and so is the layered cost.
The Fund seeks current income, with total return as a secondary objective. It normally invests in closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds listed on U.S. exchanges.
Why people hold it
- Holds closed-end funds and ETFs listed on U.S. exchanges, a corner of the market most ETFs skip. One ticker instead of hunting down and rebalancing a dozen CEFs yourself.ftportfolios.com
- Income is the stated job, not a byproduct: current income first, total return second. Distributions come monthly.
- Spreads across roughly 50 underlying funds, each of which is itself a portfolio, so no single security carries the fund.
- Trading since 2016, so there is a real operating record through the zero-rate era and the rate-hike years, not a launch-window story.
Worth knowing
- Cost is the headline trade-off: 3.69% in total annual expenses, far above what a typical multi-asset ETF charges, because you pay this fund and the funds it owns.
- Thinly traded for its category, so spreads can widen and sizable orders can push the price around more than in a mainstream allocation fund.
- No index behind it. A manager picks the underlying funds, so results ride on those calls rather than a published benchmark you can check them against.
FCEF Holdings
- Other
- 60
- 34%
- US Dollar
Sectors
- Financials24.9%
- Technology15.4%
- Utilities14.8%
- Health Care10.0%
- Energy9.6%
- Industrials8.5%
- Real Estate4.5%
- Communication4.0%
- Consumer Discr.3.8%
- Materials2.6%
- Cons. Staples2.0%
Geography
- United States100.00%
FCEF 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 | FCEF |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +6.8% |
| 1 month | −2.9% |
| 3 months | +0.1% |
| 1 year | +9.3% |
| 3 years | +15.3% |
| 5 years | +5.6% |
| 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 | FCEF |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +6.8% | |
| 2025 | +14.4% | |
| 2024 | +17.5% | |
| 2023 | +10.2% | |
| 2022 | −19.5% | |
| 2021 | +19.5% | |
| 2020 | +3.9% |
FCEF in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FCEF yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FCEF Dividends
- 7.03%
- $1.64
- $0.14 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 11, 2026 | Pays Sep 30, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Aug 11, 2026 | Aug 31, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Jul 14, 2026 | Jul 31, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Jun 11, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.14 |
| May 12, 2026 | May 29, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Apr 14, 2026 | Apr 30, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Mar 11, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Feb 11, 2026 | Feb 27, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Jan 13, 2026 | Jan 30, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Dec 11, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.14 |
| Nov 12, 2025 | Nov 28, 2025 | $0.14 |
| Oct 14, 2025 | Oct 31, 2025 | $0.14 |
FCEF Risk
- 9.3%
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.
- 1.14
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.
- −25.0%
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.
- 0.97
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FCEF Cost
- The middle half of Closed-End Fund Portfolios funds
- Median 1.11%
1 of the 7 Closed-End Fund Portfolios funds charge less.