First Trust Multi-Manager Small Cap Opportunities ETF
$26.91−0.36 (−1.30%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.95%
- Fund size
- $53M
- 1Y return
- +16.1%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 0.00%
- Holdings
- 204
- Volume · 30D
- 0M sh
- NAV per share
- $27.18
- 52W range
The ETF.net MMSC Grade
Score 31 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 8Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.BScore 68Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.FScore 23Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.BScore 56Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.BScore 56Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 72Category rank
Our read on MMSC
DTwo small-cap shops, one ticker. Driehaus and Stephens each feed stock ideas to First Trust, which decides how much money each sleeve runs. Active small-cap stock picking priced like the boutique product it is.
The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation and normally invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities issued by small capitalization companies.
Why people hold it
- Genuinely multi-manager: Driehaus Capital Management and Stephens Investment Management Group both recommend names, and First Trust's investment committee sets each sub-adviser's slice.sec.govftportfolios.com
- The sub-advisers are non-discretionary. They pitch, First Trust decides and trades, which keeps one desk accountable for what actually lands in the portfolio.sec.gov
- Roughly 200 holdings, so no single small-cap name drives the fund. Active picking without the single-manager concentration risk.
- The mandate is written down: at least 80% of net assets in small-cap equities, aiming for long-term capital appreciation. Live since 2021.ftportfolios.com
Worth knowing
- 0.95% a year is boutique-active pricing, roughly four times the 0.25% charged by systematic small-cap peers like AVUV and AVSC, and well above the active small-cap median.
- Small asset base and light trading next to the small-cap index giants, so bid-ask spreads can run wider. Limit orders are the standard workaround.
- Built for capital appreciation, not income. A regular distribution stream has not been part of the profile.
MMSC Holdings
- Stocks
- 204
- 15%
- TWST
Sectors
- Health Care27.1%
- Technology25.5%
- Industrials17.9%
- Consumer Discr.10.4%
- Financials9.1%
- Energy4.0%
- Cons. Staples2.4%
- Materials1.8%
- Communication1.2%
- Real Estate0.5%
- Utilities0.2%
Geography
- United States91.32%
- Canada2.31%
- United Kingdom1.40%
- Ireland1.29%
- Israel1.03%
- Hong Kong0.88%
- Cayman Islands0.76%
- Greece0.40%
- 0.62%
MMSC 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 | MMSC |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +13.9% |
| 1 month | −4.8% |
| 3 months | −6.2% |
| 1 year | +16.1% |
| 3 years | +21.5% |
| 5 years | — |
| 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 | MMSC |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +13.9% | |
| 2025 | +15.4% | |
| 2024 | +22.2% | |
| 2023 | +18.7% | |
| 2022 | −31.0% | |
| 2021 | +1.0% |
MMSC in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on MMSC yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
MMSC Dividends
- 0.00%
No distributions in the last 12 months.
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 13, 2024 | Dec 31, 2024 | $0.09 |
MMSC Risk
- 20.3%
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.
- 0.76
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.
- −40.8%
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.
- 1.34
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
MMSC Cost
- The middle half of US Active Small-Cap funds
- Median 0.55%
36 of the 39 US Active Small-Cap funds charge less.