FAB vs IWD

FABCFirst Trust Multi Cap Value AlphaDEX Fund

IWDAiShares Russell 1000 Value ETF

In short

FAB One of the original 2007 AlphaDEX funds: rather than buying value by size, it scores stocks on value and growth factors, cuts the weakest ranks, and tier-weights the roughly 700 survivors across large, mid and small caps.

IWD The original Russell 1000 Value tracker, live since 2000 and still one of the most traded ways to own the value half of US large caps. Roughly 900 stocks, followed closely, at a price that reflects the plumbing.

Stated mandate

FAB The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Multi Cap ValueTM Index. It normally invests at least 90% of net assets in securities comprising that Index.

IWD The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. large- and mid-cap stocks that may be undervalued relative to comparable companies.

Why people hold it

• FAB The rules rank stocks on value and growth factors, drop the lowest-ranked names, then sort the keepers into five weight tiers, so higher-ranked picks get the bigger slice.sec.govnasdaq.com
• Weights follow rank, not market cap (equal weighting inside each tier), so the portfolio has a different shape than cap-weighted value peers like VTV and IWD.nasdaq.com
• Roughly 700 holdings reaching down into mid and small caps, a wider value net than a large-cap-only screen.
• It sticks to the job description: at least 90% of net assets in its Nasdaq index constituents, and it has tracked that index closely.

• IWD Follows the Russell 1000 Value Index closely, one of the tightest index-following records among US value funds.
• About 900 large- and mid-cap names, so no single stock or sector drives the result.
• Trading since 2000 and actively traded, it is among the easier value ETFs to move in and out of, in size.

Worth knowing

• FAB At 0.66% a year it costs several times the roughly 0.20% median for US value ETFs. The quant screening and reweighting is what the fee buys.
• Shares change hands thinly, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads and more slippage on bigger orders than the giants of the category.
• The index is reconstituted and rebalanced quarterly, so the roster turns over faster than a slow-moving cap-weighted index, which can add trading and tax friction.sec.gov

• IWD At 0.18% a year, it costs more than several broad value rivals (VTV 0.03%, SCHV 0.04%, IUSV 0.04%). The extra buys the Russell index and the trading depth.
• Holding roughly 900 names out of a 1,000-stock parent index, the value tilt is wide and mild, not a concentrated deep-value bet.ishares.com
• Distributions land quarterly, and the amount rides on what the underlying companies pay.

Full FAB profile⁠

Full IWD profile⁠