First Trust Enhanced Short Maturity ETF
$59.69−0.03 (−0.04%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.29%
- Fund size
- $6.6B
- 1Y return
- +3.5%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 4.10%
- Holdings
- 713
- Volume · 30D
- 0.7M sh
- NAV per share
- $59.71
- 52W range
The ETF.net FTSM Grade
Score 62 of 100 sits in the B 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 18Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 100Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.CScore 46Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.AScore 76Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 92Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 88Category rank
Our read on FTSM
BA 2014-vintage active take on the cash-parking shelf: First Trust's managers roam short-duration investment-grade debt across sectors instead of tracking an index, chasing current income while preserving capital and keeping daily liquidity.
The fund seeks current income while preserving capital and maintaining daily liquidity. It is actively managed and invests in short-duration, primarily U.S.-dollar-denominated, investment-grade securities across a broad range of asset classes.
Why people hold it
- No index to follow. The team picks short-duration, mostly US-dollar investment-grade paper across a broad range of asset classes, aiming for current income with capital preservation and daily liquidity.ftportfolios.com
- Live since 2014, it has run through an entire rate cycle and grown into a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so entering and exiting is generally straightforward.
- Roughly 400 positions keep any single issuer a small slice of the pot, and income is paid out monthly rather than quarterly.
Worth knowing
- Active management carries an active price: 0.29% a year against a 0.20% median for cash-alternative peers. ICSH charges 0.08% and JPST 0.18% for a similar job.
- You are buying a manager's credit and duration calls, not a rulebook. Two ultra-short funds can hold quite different paper and behave differently in a stressed market.
- It is a 1940 Act ETF, not a money market fund or a bank deposit. The share price can move, and preserving capital is a stated goal rather than a promise.ftportfolios.com
FTSM Holdings
- Other
- 713
- 7%
- AUTONATION INC 0%, due 09/21/2026
Sectors
- Real Estate100.0%
Geography
- United States85.94%
- Canada7.82%
- United Kingdom2.61%
- Netherlands1.66%
- Ireland0.66%
- Denmark0.60%
- Sweden0.58%
- Norway0.14%
FTSM 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 | FTSM |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +2.4% |
| 1 month | +0.1% |
| 3 months | +0.8% |
| 1 year | +3.5% |
| 3 years | +4.7% |
| 5 years | +3.6% |
| 10 years | +2.6% |
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 | FTSM |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +2.4% | |
| 2025 | +4.7% | |
| 2024 | +5.2% | |
| 2023 | +5.1% | |
| 2022 | +1.0% | |
| 2021 | −0.0% | |
| 2020 | +1.1% |
FTSM in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FTSM yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FTSM Dividends
- 4.10%
- $2.45
- $0.20 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 31, 2026 | Sep 2, 2026 | $0.20 |
| Jul 31, 2026 | Aug 4, 2026 | $0.21 |
| Jun 30, 2026 | Jul 2, 2026 | $0.20 |
| May 29, 2026 | Jun 2, 2026 | $0.21 |
| Apr 30, 2026 | May 4, 2026 | $0.20 |
| Mar 31, 2026 | Apr 2, 2026 | $0.21 |
| Feb 27, 2026 | Mar 3, 2026 | $0.19 |
| Jan 30, 2026 | Feb 3, 2026 | $0.21 |
| Dec 29, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.20 |
| Nov 28, 2025 | Dec 2, 2025 | $0.20 |
| Oct 31, 2025 | Nov 4, 2025 | $0.21 |
| Sep 30, 2025 | Oct 2, 2025 | $0.21 |
FTSM Risk
- 0.4%
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.
- 0.28
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.
- −0.7%
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.
- 0.05
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FTSM Cost
- The middle half of Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds
- Median 0.19%
62 of the 77 Cash & Ultra-Short Income funds charge less.