First Trust Senior Loan Fund
$44.57−0.06 (−0.13%)
- 0.70%
- $2.5B
- +3.9%
- 6.31%
- 0.3M sh
- $44.61
- low $44.37high $46.09
The ETF.net FTSL Grade
B
Score 55 out of 100
- 4 of 11
Score 55 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.D26 out of 100Rank 8 of 11Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.B61 out of 100Rank 2 of 8Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.C52 out of 100Rank 6 of 11Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A76 out of 100Rank 3 of 11Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.A88 out of 100Rank 2 of 11Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A85 out of 100Rank 2 of 11
Our read on FTSL
BMost funds in the high-yield aisle own fixed-coupon junk bonds. FTSL owns first-lien senior bank loans whose coupons float with short-term rates, chosen by a live credit team instead of an index rulebook, with income paid monthly.
The fund seeks high current income and secondarily aims to preserve capital. It normally invests at least 80% of net assets in first-lien senior floating-rate bank loans, primarily to North American businesses.
Why people hold it
- First-lien senior floating-rate bank loans: the coupons reset with short-term rates, and the debt sits at the top of the borrower's capital structure.ftportfolios.com
- Actively managed, so a credit team picks the loans rather than following a bank-loan index, spread across roughly 220 positions.
- Trading since 2013 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund that pays monthly, with a track record spanning both rate hikes and cuts.
- The stated mission is plain: high current income first, capital preservation second. A different job than chasing total return.
Worth knowing
- At 0.70% a year it sits above the group's roughly 0.40% median and multiples of index rivals like SCYB and SPHY, putting it near the back of its high-yield peer group on cost.
- Floating coupons cut both ways: monthly income follows short-term rates up, and follows them back down.
- These are leveraged corporate loans, so borrower defaults, not interest-rate swings, do most of the damage to capital here.ftportfolios.com
FTSL Holdings
- Other
- 377
- 13%
- US Dollar
Sectors
- Materials100.0%
Geography
- United States92.09%
- Canada4.20%
- Bermuda2.66%
- United Kingdom1.05%
FTSL Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
FTSL$10,390
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 | FTSL |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +1.9% |
| 1 month | −0.2% |
| 3 months | +0.9% |
| 1 year | +3.9% |
| 3 years | +6.3% |
| 5 years | +5.1% |
| 10 years | +4.3% |
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 | FTSL |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +1.9% | |
| 2025 | +6.0% | |
| 2024 | +8.3% | |
| 2023 | +11.6% | |
| 2022 | −2.5% | |
| 2021 | +3.9% | |
| 2020 | +3.0% |
FTSL in the news
FTSL Dividends
- 6.31%
- $2.82
- $0.23 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
FTSL Risk
- 2.0%
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.
- 0.80
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.
- −7.0%
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.
- 0.06
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FTSL Cost
0.70%
FTSL0.70%
- The middle half of Bank Loan funds
- Median 0.62%
7 of the 11 Bank Loan funds charge less.
Other funds in Bank Loan
- BUSLNiShares Trust - iShares Broad USD Floating Rate Loan ETFExpense ratio 0.43%1 year return —
- BSEIXVirtus Seix Senior Loan ETFExpense ratio 0.57%1 year return +5.9%
- CFLBLFranklin Senior Loan ETFExpense ratio 0.45%1 year return +3.3%
- CSRLNState Street Blackstone Senior Loan ETFExpense ratio 0.70%1 year return +5.3%
- CFLRTPacer Aristotle Pacific Floating Rate High Income ETFExpense ratio 0.60%1 year return +5.0%