First Trust Materials AlphaDEX Fund
$81.19−1.22 (−1.49%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.64%
- Fund size
- $380M
- 1Y return
- +35.2%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 1.32%
- Holdings
- 39
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $80.92
- 52W range
The ETF.net FXZ Grade
Score 38 of 100 sits in the D 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 9Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.BScore 57Category 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.BScore 59Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 77Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.CScore 48Category rank
Our read on FXZ
DMost materials ETFs hand you the sector exactly as the market weights it. FXZ re-sorts it: the AlphaDEX rules rank Russell 1000 materials stocks on growth and value measures, then hold roughly 40 of them. Same sector, different shopping list.
The fund seeks to track the performance of the StrataQuant® Materials Index, an equity index that applies the AlphaDEX® methodology to selected Russell 1000® materials-sector stocks.
Why people hold it
- Not a cap-weighted sector wrapper. The AlphaDEX screen ranks Russell 1000 materials names on growth and value measures and keeps roughly 40, so weight follows the screen rather than company size.ftportfolios.com
- In a sector where a handful of chemical and industrial-gas giants dominate cap-weighted funds, the rules push meaningful weight toward smaller and mid-sized materials companies.ftportfolios.com
- Running since 2007, which gives the methodology a long public track record across full commodity and rate cycles instead of a few years of backtest.
Worth knowing
- Cost is the trade-off: 0.64% a year, one of the pricier options in the materials group, where the big cap-weighted funds (XLB, VAW, FMAT) charge single-digit basis points.
- A screened portfolio of roughly 40 names can behave quite differently from the plain materials sector in either direction. It tracks the StrataQuant Materials Index, not the sector everyone quotes.
- Trading is moderate rather than heavy, so spreads and order size matter more here than with the most heavily traded funds in the category. Distributions come quarterly.
FXZ Holdings
- Stocks
- 39
- 46%
- NEM
Sectors
- Materials83.2%
- Industrials13.5%
- Consumer Discr.3.2%
Geography
- United States96.68%
- Netherlands1.90%
- United Kingdom1.43%
FXZ 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 | FXZ |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +27.7% |
| 1 month | −5.7% |
| 3 months | +0.1% |
| 1 year | +35.2% |
| 3 years | +11.3% |
| 5 years | +10.3% |
| 10 years | +10.9% |
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 | FXZ |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +27.7% | |
| 2025 | +16.3% | |
| 2024 | −16.3% | |
| 2023 | +16.2% | |
| 2022 | −0.9% | |
| 2021 | +30.8% | |
| 2020 | +22.5% |
FXZ in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FXZ yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FXZ Dividends
- 1.32%
- $1.09
- $0.16 per share
- Quarterly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.16 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.24 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.37 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.31 |
| Jun 26, 2025 | Jun 30, 2025 | $0.23 |
| Mar 27, 2025 | Mar 31, 2025 | $0.21 |
| Dec 13, 2024 | Dec 31, 2024 | $0.34 |
| Sep 26, 2024 | Sep 30, 2024 | $0.28 |
| Jun 27, 2024 | Jun 28, 2024 | $0.21 |
| Mar 21, 2024 | Mar 28, 2024 | $0.19 |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Dec 29, 2023 | $0.31 |
| Sep 22, 2023 | Sep 29, 2023 | $0.32 |
FXZ Risk
- 19.4%
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.
- 0.38
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.
- −34.0%
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.
- 0.92
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FXZ Cost
- The middle half of Materials (Broad) funds
- Median 0.37%
12 of the 14 Materials (Broad) funds charge less.