First Trust Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index Fund
$50.28+0.10 (+0.20%)
- 0.43%
- $7.7B
- +23.6%
- 3.86%
- 0.8M sh
- $49.76
- low $42.10high $53.76
The ETF.net FDL Grade
C
Score 52 out of 100
- 34 of 53
Score 52 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.D29 out of 100Rank 38 of 53Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.B64 out of 100Rank 44 of 50Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.B69 out of 100Rank 11 of 53Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A75 out of 100Rank 10 of 53Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.F24 out of 100Rank 50 of 53Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A79 out of 100Rank 8 of 53
Our read on FDL
CFDL doesn't weight by company size or by yield. It weights by dividend dollars, so America's biggest cash payers carry the most weight. Roughly 100 high-yield names, screened for payouts they can keep funding, running since 2006.
The fund is an exchange-traded index fund seeking to replicate the price and yield of the Morningstar Dividend Leaders Index before fees and expenses.
Why people hold it
- Weight follows the checkbook: positions are sized by the dollar value of dividends paid, with any single name capped at 10% and all 5%-plus names capped at 50% combined.assets.contentstack.io
- The screen is about payout durability, not just headline yield: stocks need a consistent payment record and the ability to sustain it before the top 100 yielders are taken.finance.yahoo.com
- Trading since 2006, a multi-billion-dollar fund that changes hands actively and pays on a quarterly schedule.
- Lands in the upper half of a US dividend-screen peer group of roughly 50 funds.
Worth knowing
- At 0.43% it costs more than the cheap index heavyweights in the group (VIG 0.04%, SCHD 0.06%, DGRO 0.08%) and sits a little above the peer median.
- Concentrated by design: about 100 names, non-diversified, and the dividend-dollar math tilts toward the mega-caps and sectors writing the biggest checks.finance.yahoo.comassets.contentstack.io
- Yield-first, not dividend-growth. The portfolio looks different from growth-screened peers like VIG and DGRO, which start from rising payouts instead of high ones.finance.yahoo.com
FDL Holdings
- Stocks
- 101
- 50%
- CVX
Sectors
- Consumer Staples24.4%
- Utilities14.7%
- Energy12.5%
- Financials12.5%
- Health Care12.3%
- Communication10.8%
- Technology5.1%
- Consumer Discretionary3.9%
- Industrials3.4%
- Materials0.4%
Geography
- United States93.32%
- Ireland5.93%
- Switzerland0.75%
FDL Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
FDL$12,357
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 | FDL |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +16.4% |
| 1 month | −2.9% |
| 3 months | +1.8% |
| 1 year | +23.6% |
| 3 years | +20.1% |
| 5 years | +13.7% |
| 10 years | +11.1% |
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 | FDL |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +16.4% | |
| 2025 | +14.8% | |
| 2024 | +18.0% | |
| 2023 | +2.9% | |
| 2022 | +6.7% | |
| 2021 | +26.1% | |
| 2020 | −4.4% |
FDL in the news
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FDL Dividends
- 3.86%
- $1.94
- $0.51 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
FDL Risk
- 13.4%
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.
- 1.03
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.
- −16.4%
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.
- 0.39
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FDL Cost
0.43%
FDL0.43%
- The middle half of US Dividend Index funds
- Median 0.38%
37 of the 52 US Dividend Index funds charge less.
Other funds in US Dividend Index
- CSDVYFirst Trust SMID Cap Rising Dividend Achievers ETFExpense ratio 0.58%1 year return +14.4%
- CVSDAVictoryShares Dividend Accelerator ETFExpense ratio 0.40%1 year return +12.3%
- CRDIVInvesco S&P Ultra Dividend Revenue ETFExpense ratio 0.39%1 year return +19.3%
- CCSBVictoryShares US Small Cap High Div Volatility Wtd ETFExpense ratio 0.40%1 year return +13.8%
- COUSAALPS Funds O’Shares U.S. Quality Dividend ETFExpense ratio 0.48%1 year return +12.1%