First Trust to liquidate HDMV, a $15 million international low-volatility ETF

Ten years after it launched, First Trust is closing the international fund in its Horizon managed-volatility lineup. The First Trust Horizon Managed Volatility Developed International ETF CHDMV owns developed-market stocks listed outside the United States that Horizon Investments selected for low expected volatility. As of September 10 it had $15.3 million in net assets and charges 0.80%. iShares MSCI EAFE Min Vol Factor ETF AEFAV holds developed-market stocks outside the United States and Canada that, as a group, have lower volatility than the MSCI EAFE Index. It had $5.44 billion as of Monday and charges 0.20%.

$15.3 million after ten years

The filing gives one reason: the board determined that termination and liquidation are in the fund’s best interests. It does not cite assets, fees, performance, or trading. The board of First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund III approved the termination on Wednesday, September 9, on the advisor’s recommendation, and the firm filed the prospectus supplement on Monday.

The product opened on August 24, 2016. Net assets were $87 million at July 31, 2021, and $15.3 million as of September 10, with 400,002 shares outstanding.

Over the 30 days through that date it traded an average of 1,189 shares a day. Financials, utilities, and real estate were 32%, 16%, and 15% of a 156-stock portfolio as of Monday.

Those figures fit the usual pattern of an ETF that stayed too small for too long, at a fee larger funds in the same idea do not need to charge.

Performance was not a blow-up. For the year through August 31, net asset value returned 13.88% and the market price 13.81%. Since inception, those figures were 5.88% and 5.86% annualized. The MSCI EAFE Index returned 21.62% and 9.37% annualized over the same windows. A low-volatility book can lag a strong developed-market year and still post a gain.

On September 9 the same board approved a parallel liquidation of the First Trust Horizon Managed Volatility Small/Mid ETF CHSMV, a U.S. small- and mid-cap fund with $9.5 million as of September 10.

Cash at NAV, with a capital gain or loss

This is a cash liquidation, not a conversion. If you sell on the exchange before the close on January 8, 2027, you receive the market price, and customary brokerage charges may apply. Creations and redemptions stop at that same close, and the shares are then delisted.

Anyone still on the books as of the liquidation date, on or around January 15, will receive a cash amount equal to the net asset value of those shares after the fund has paid, or set aside money for, its charges, taxes, expenses, and liabilities. First Trust says shareholders generally will recognize a capital gain or loss on that redemption.

Around January 8 the fund is also expected to stop pursuing its investment objective, so the low-volatility process does not run to the final payout. The practical choice is to sell in the market over the next four months or wait for cash at NAV.

Developed-international low volatility after CHDMV

The basic idea remains easy to own. Invesco S&P International Developed Low Volatility ETF BIDLV tracks a 200-stock developed-international low-volatility index, had $335 million as of September 13, and charges 0.25%. Both AEFAV and BIDLV do the same job at a fraction of the fee and a multiple of the size.

First Trust is not leaving managed volatility entirely. First Trust Horizon Managed Volatility Domestic ETF CHUSV, the U.S. stock fund launched the same day as CHDMV in 2016, remains open, with $56 million as of September 13 and a 0.70% expense ratio. That is a domestic book, not a substitute for the international one being wound up.

The sponsor kept that fund and is liquidating the two smaller ones. What died was a price point, not the strategy.