First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund
$32.82−0.47 (−1.41%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.80%
- Fund size
- $830M
- 1Y return
- +24.6%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 2.15%
- Holdings
- 156
- Volume · 30D
- 0.1M sh
- NAV per share
- $33.40
- 52W range
The ETF.net FEM Grade
Score 38 of 100 sits in the D 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 3Category 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.CScore 49Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 69Category 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.AScore 80Category rank
Our read on FEM
DA 2011-vintage take on emerging markets that skips cap-weighting: it ranks stocks on growth and value factors, keeps the top scorers, and weights them in tiers, so the megacap giants don't run the portfolio. The fee sits at the high end.
The fund seeks results that generally correspond, before fees and expenses, to the price and yield of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Emerging Markets Index. It normally invests at least 90% of net assets in index securities and uses indexing to replicate the index.
Why people hold it
- Ranks emerging-market stocks on growth and value factors, then weights the survivors in tiers, so the strongest scorers carry more weight than size alone would give them.indexes.nasdaqomx.com
- Holds roughly 160 names under tiered equal weighting, leaving more room for mid-size and smaller companies than a cap-weighted EM benchmark.indexes.nasdaqomx.com
- Running since 2011 through several EM cycles, with at least 90% of net assets in index securities and cash paid out quarterly.
- A few hundred million in assets and moderate volume: no giant, but an established fund rather than a launch-stage one.
Worth knowing
- At 0.80% a year it costs well above the median fee in its multifactor EM group, where cheaper builds exist (EMGF at 0.26%, AVES at 0.36%).
- The factor screen and tiered weights can push results well away from headline cap-weighted EM indexes, in either direction.indexes.nasdaqomx.com
- Country and sector weights fall out of the ranking rules, so nobody is steering exposure toward or away from a given market.indexes.nasdaqomx.com
FEM Holdings
- Stocks
- 156
- 16%
- 3189.TW
Sectors
- Technology27.7%
- Industrials19.8%
- Energy14.2%
- Materials8.8%
- Financials6.5%
- Utilities5.8%
- Consumer Discr.4.9%
- Communication4.1%
- Cons. Staples3.1%
- Health Care2.6%
- Real Estate2.5%
Geography
- Taiwan33.39%
- China19.44%
- Brazil9.52%
- Turkey6.94%
- India5.93%
- Thailand4.13%
- Indonesia4.03%
- Mexico3.47%
- 13.15%
Developed 2% · Emerging 98%
FEM 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 | FEM |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +22.6% |
| 1 month | +1.2% |
| 3 months | +1.6% |
| 1 year | +24.6% |
| 3 years | +19.6% |
| 5 years | +8.3% |
| 10 years | +8.4% |
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 | FEM |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +22.6% | |
| 2025 | +28.3% | |
| 2024 | +3.0% | |
| 2023 | +10.8% | |
| 2022 | −14.2% | |
| 2021 | +7.3% | |
| 2020 | −1.7% |
FEM in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FEM yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FEM Dividends
- 2.15%
- $0.72
- $0.19 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.19 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.03 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.21 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.28 |
| Jun 26, 2025 | Jun 30, 2025 | $0.32 |
| Mar 27, 2025 | Mar 31, 2025 | $0.04 |
| Dec 13, 2024 | Dec 31, 2024 | $0.14 |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.32 |
| Jun 27, 2024 | Jun 28, 2024 | $0.24 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 28, 2024 | $0.09 |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Dec 29, 2023 | $0.09 |
| Sep 22, 2023 | Sep 29, 2023 | $0.46 |
FEM Risk
- 14.0%
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.
- 0.99
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.
- −28.9%
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.
- 0.81
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FEM Cost
- The middle half of Emerging Markets Multifactor funds
- Median 0.47%
18 of the 20 Emerging Markets Multifactor funds charge less.