First Trust International Developed Capital Strength ETF
$40.69−0.72 (−1.75%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.70%
- Fund size
- $204M
- 1Y return
- +10.6%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 1.85%
- Holdings
- 51
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $41.17
- 52W range
The ETF.net FICS Grade
Score 44 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 10Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 86Category rankRisk
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.CScore 43Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.DScore 38Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.CScore 41Category rank
Our read on FICS
CA balance-sheet screen shipped overseas. FICS holds roughly 60 developed-market names filtered for financial strength and lower volatility, and charges 0.70% for the sorting work.
The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield of The International Developed Capital StrengthTM Index. Normally, it invests at least 90% of net assets in the index’s common stocks and REITs.
Why people hold it
- Rules-based quality and low-volatility screen on developed international stocks, with at least 90% of net assets in the index's own common stocks and REITs.ftportfolios.com
- Roughly 60 holdings, so the screen actually shows up in the portfolio instead of getting diluted into a market-cap blob.
- Pure non-US developed exposure with no home-market overlap, and cash comes back on a quarterly schedule.
- Running since its 2020 launch, tracking a named, published index rather than a manager's discretion.
Worth knowing
- The 0.70% expense ratio sits above what plain index trackers in its cohort typically charge. That is the price of the screen.
- One of the thinner traders in its category, so spreads can widen. Limit orders are the standard defense.
- About 60 stocks with a quality and low-vol tilt means returns can diverge meaningfully from broad developed-market indexes in either direction.
FICS Holdings
- Stocks
- 51
- 24%
- DBS Group Holdings Limited
Sectors
- Financials30.1%
- Industrials26.6%
- Cons. Staples13.7%
- Consumer Discr.10.1%
- Health Care9.8%
- Materials4.1%
- Communication3.7%
- Technology1.9%
Geography
- Switzerland29.04%
- Canada21.51%
- United Kingdom12.98%
- France6.02%
- Australia4.86%
- Germany4.51%
- Spain4.20%
- Finland4.14%
- 12.74%
Developed 100% · Emerging 0%
FICS 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 | FICS |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +4.9% |
| 1 month | −2.8% |
| 3 months | +1.1% |
| 1 year | +10.6% |
| 3 years | +12.9% |
| 5 years | +4.8% |
| 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 | FICS |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +4.9% | |
| 2025 | +20.4% | |
| 2024 | +2.6% | |
| 2023 | +18.1% | |
| 2022 | −19.5% | |
| 2021 | +19.7% | |
| 2020 | +0.8% |
FICS in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FICS yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FICS Dividends
- 1.85%
- $0.77
- $0.45 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.45 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.19 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.03 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.09 |
| Jun 26, 2025 | Jun 30, 2025 | $0.47 |
| Mar 27, 2025 | Mar 31, 2025 | $0.15 |
| Dec 13, 2024 | Dec 31, 2024 | $0.19 |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.10 |
| Jun 27, 2024 | Jun 28, 2024 | $0.34 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 28, 2024 | $0.05 |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Dec 29, 2023 | $0.06 |
| Sep 22, 2023 | Sep 29, 2023 | $0.05 |
FICS Risk
- 12.3%
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.
- 0.63
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.
- −29.2%
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.
- 0.72
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FICS Cost
- The middle half of International Quality Index funds
- Median 0.29%
Every other International Quality Index fund charges less.