First Trust SMID Capital Strength ETF
$36.27−0.07 (−0.19%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.60%
- Fund size
- $58M
- 1Y return
- +0.0%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 1.01%
- Holdings
- 100
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $36.33
- 52W range
The ETF.net FSCS Grade
Score 41 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 14Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.BScore 67Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.DScore 36Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.CScore 46Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 65Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.DScore 39Category rank
Our read on FSCS
CFirst Trust pointed its Capital Strength screen at the small and mid cap end of the US market: about 100 names picked by rule, not hunch, filtered for quality, growth and lower volatility.
The Fund seeks investment results generally corresponding to the price and yield, before fees and expenses, of the SMID Capital Strength Index. It normally invests at least 80% of net assets, plus investment borrowings, in index securities.
Why people hold it
- Takes the Capital Strength playbook down the cap ladder: a quality, growth and low-volatility screen applied to US small and mid caps.ftportfolios.com
- Rules run the show. It normally keeps at least 80% of net assets in the index's securities, so you get the screen, not a manager's mood.ftportfolios.com
- A tight roster of roughly 100 US stocks, with cash paid out quarterly.
Worth knowing
- The 0.60% annual fee sits well above the typical US multifactor fund. Broad peers like VONV and FNDX charge a fraction of it.
- Thinly traded and modest in assets, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the household names in the category.
- Screening for balance-sheet quality and lower volatility means the portfolio can look nothing like a plain small-cap index, in either direction.
FSCS Holdings
- Stocks
- 100
- 12%
- HALO
Sectors
- Financials29.2%
- Industrials26.0%
- Cons. Staples14.1%
- Consumer Discr.9.9%
- Health Care6.3%
- Materials5.6%
- Technology4.0%
- Energy2.1%
- Communication2.0%
- Real Estate0.9%
Geography
- United States92.87%
- Bermuda4.92%
- Ireland1.14%
- Puerto Rico1.07%
FSCS 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 | FSCS |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +2.2% |
| 1 month | −4.5% |
| 3 months | +1.1% |
| 1 year | +0.0% |
| 3 years | +10.9% |
| 5 years | +6.2% |
| 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 | FSCS |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +2.2% | |
| 2025 | +1.8% | |
| 2024 | +15.0% | |
| 2023 | +16.8% | |
| 2022 | −9.1% | |
| 2021 | +26.1% | |
| 2020 | +5.7% |
FSCS in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FSCS yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FSCS Dividends
- 1.01%
- $0.37
- $0.12 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.12 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.09 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.10 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.05 |
| Jun 26, 2025 | Jun 30, 2025 | $0.07 |
| Mar 27, 2025 | Mar 31, 2025 | $0.04 |
| Dec 13, 2024 | Dec 31, 2024 | $0.11 |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.07 |
| Jun 27, 2024 | Jun 28, 2024 | $0.16 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 28, 2024 | $0.06 |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Dec 29, 2023 | $0.19 |
| Sep 22, 2023 | Data unavailable | $0.06 |
FSCS Risk
- 15.0%
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.
- 0.41
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.
- −21.2%
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.
- 0.76
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FSCS Cost
- The middle half of US Multifactor funds
- Median 0.30%
81 of the 98 US Multifactor funds charge less.