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First Trust Large Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund

FEXNasdaqFirst TrustB

$137.60−0.03 (−0.02%)

At close: Nov 2, 2026, 4:00 PM ET

B60/ 100

Rank 16 of 29 in US Large-Cap

Intraday session: down, 79 prints from 137.63 to 137.60. Range 137.60 to 138.83. Use the arrow keys to read each point.138.00138.25138.50138.7510 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.57%
Fund size
$1.6B
1Y total return
+18.8%
Yield · Last 12 months
1.00%
Holdings
376
Avg volume · 30D
21.8K sh
52W range
low $111.75high $142.60
Launched
Filings
SEC EDGAR

The ETF.net FEX Grade

B

Score 60 out of 100

Rank
16 of 29
Six-pillar profile for FEX. Scores out of 100: Cost 18, Risk 59, Mission 86, Tradability 79, Holdings 88, Durability 81. Strongest: Holdings (88). Weakest: Cost (18). Leans toward Holdings and Mission.

Score 60 of 100 falls in the B 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.
    F18 out of 100
    Rank 24 of 29
  • Mission

    Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.
    A86 out of 100
    Rank 14 of 22
  • Risk

    How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.
    B59 out of 100
    Rank 9 of 29
  • Tradability

    How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.
    A79 out of 100
    Rank 6 of 29
  • Holdings

    How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.
    A88 out of 100
    Rank 1 of 28
  • Durability

    Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.
    A81 out of 100
    Rank 7 of 29

Our read on FEX

ETF.net Research

In short

BSmart beta before anyone called it that. Since 2007, FEX has ranked the 500 biggest US stocks on growth and value metrics, kept the top 375, and weighted them by rank instead of size. An index fund that refuses to just be the market.

Stated mandate

The fund seeks to generally match, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Large Cap Core Index. It normally invests at least 90% of net assets in index securities and uses an indexing approach to replicate the index.

Why people hold it

  • Weighting by rank, not size: the top scorers are split into quintiles and equal-weighted inside each, so the largest companies don't automatically run the portfolio.sec.gov
  • Trading since May 2007, it predates most of the factor-ETF boom and has grown into a multi-billion-dollar fund, rebuilt on the same quarterly schedule throughout.sec.gov
  • Roughly 400 large-cap names, with the tiered weighting keeping individual positions small rather than letting a handful of giants set the tone.sec.gov

Worth knowing

  • At 0.57% it runs well above the roughly 0.20% typical for large-cap core, and plain cap-weighted rivals like SCHX (0.03%) and VONE (0.06%) charge a sliver of that.
  • Rebuilding the portfolio every quarter creates real turnover, which can mean more taxable gains in a brokerage account than a buy-and-hold index fund.sec.gov
  • It trades thinly next to the household-name index funds in the category, so bid-ask spreads carry more weight on bigger orders.

FEX Performance

Launched May 8, 2007

Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.

FEX$11,876
SPY tracks large US stocks. It provides market context, rather than representing this fund’s strategy, asset class or investment benchmark.$11,199
Oct 31, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026. FEX $11,876. SPY $11,199. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$10,000$11,000$12,000Oct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

Returns run to the Oct 30, 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.

Trailing total return for FEX. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodFEX
Year to date+16.9%
1 month+3.8%
3 months+1.3%
1 year+18.8%
3 yearsper year+22.2%
5 yearsper year+10.1%
10 yearsper year+13.0%

With distributions reinvested.

Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.

Annual total returns for FEX
YearReturn barFEX
2026 YTD+16.9%
2025+15.1%
2024+17.1%
2023+14.3%
2022−11.9%
2021+26.8%
2020+14.3%

FEX in the news

FEX Dividends

Adds up every distribution paid per share over the last 12 months, divided by the last completed close. Distributions are counted by ex-date. Data through Oct 30, 2026.
1.00%Last 12 months
Payout per share
$1.38Last 12 months
Last payment
$0.41 per share
Paid on
Shares bought on or after this date do not qualify for this distribution.
Frequency
Quarterly

Distribution history

2017–2026

One bar per payment. 39 payments from 2017 to 2026 YTD. Mar 23, 2017 $0.12; Jun 22, 2017 $0.16; Sep 21, 2017 $0.14; Dec 21, 2017 $0.20; Mar 22, 2018 $0.12; Jun 21, 2018 $0.19; Sep 14, 2018 $0.13; Dec 18, 2018 $0.26; Mar 21, 2019 $0.16; Jun 14, 2019 $0.19; Sep 25, 2019 $0.26; Dec 13, 2019 $0.25; Mar 26, 2020 $0.22; Jun 25, 2020 $0.22; Sep 24, 2020 $0.20; Dec 24, 2020 $0.25; Mar 25, 2021 $0.09; Jun 24, 2021 $0.17; Sep 23, 2021 $0.20; Dec 23, 2021 $0.29; Mar 25, 2022 $0.22; Jun 24, 2022 $0.24; Sep 23, 2022 $0.35; Dec 23, 2022 $0.47; Mar 24, 2023 $0.30; Jun 27, 2023 $0.24; Sep 22, 2023 $0.30; Dec 22, 2023 $0.40; Mar 21, 2024 $0.21; Jun 27, 2024 $0.26; Sep 26, 2024 $0.35; Dec 13, 2024 $0.42; Mar 27, 2025 $0.30; Jun 26, 2025 $0.27; Sep 25, 2025 $0.32; Dec 12, 2025 $0.41; Mar 26, 2026 $0.29; Jun 25, 2026 $0.27; Sep 24, 2026 $0.41. Use the arrow keys to read each point.2017201820192020202120222023202420252026YTD
Ex-datePay dateAmount per share
Sep 24, 2026Sep 30, 2026$0.41
Jun 25, 2026Jun 30, 2026$0.27
Mar 26, 2026Mar 31, 2026$0.29
Dec 12, 2025Dec 31, 2025$0.41
Sep 25, 2025Sep 30, 2025$0.32
Jun 26, 2025Jun 30, 2025$0.27
Mar 27, 2025Mar 31, 2025$0.30
Dec 13, 2024Dec 31, 2024$0.42
Sep 26, 2024Sep 30, 2024$0.35
Jun 27, 2024Jun 28, 2024$0.26
Mar 21, 2024Mar 28, 2024$0.21
Dec 22, 2023Dec 29, 2023$0.40

See all 66 payments⁠

$10,000 in FEX 10 years ago paid $2,232 in dividends.⁠

FEX Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
13.1%
Annualised · 36 months to Oct 2026
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.

Return above 3-month US Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
1.27
vs 3-month T-bills · to Oct 2026
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.

The largest fall from a peak to the low that followed.
−21.3%
Trough Sep 2022
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.

How strongly the fund’s returns move with its asset-class index.
0.95
vs its asset-class index
How it’s calculated: beta

The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.

FMP measures it over up to five years of monthly returns.

FEX Cost

Overpaying vs BKLC, cheapest in US Large-Cap

$11,271

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

  • FEX 0.57%

    $11,271

  • BKLC 0.00% Cheapest

    $0

$10,000
30 years

Cost over time

  • FEX 0.57%
  • BKLC 0.00%
  • Overpaying
One line per fund, from year 0 to year 30. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$0$2.5K$5K$7.5K$10K$12.5K051015202530FEX $11,271BKLC $0

Year by year

YearFEXBKLCOverpaying
10$1,023$0$1,023
20$3,921$0$3,921
30$11,271$0$11,271

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