FDN vs TECB

FDNCFirst Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund

TECBAiShares U.S. Tech Breakthrough Multisector ETF

In short

FDN The original internet ETF. Since 2006 it has held about 40 US companies that earn at least half their revenue from the internet, split between commerce and services: pure-play by construction, concentrated by design, and priced above the thematic average.

TECB Five breakthroughs (AI and robotics, cloud and data, cybersecurity, genomics, fintech) in one iShares index fund, priced well under the typical US thematic ETF. Multisector by design, so healthcare and finance names sit beside the chip and software crowd.

Stated mandate

FDN The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index. It normally invests at least 90% of net assets in securities comprising that index.

TECB TECB seeks to track an index of U.S. companies that may benefit from robotics and artificial intelligence, cloud and data technology, cybersecurity, genomics and immunology, and financial technology.

Why people hold it

• FDN Launched in 2006, it is the elder statesman of internet funds: nearly two decades of continuous operation and a multi-billion-dollar asset base.
• Genuinely pure-play. A company must earn at least 50% of its sales from the internet to enter the index, which holds roughly 40 of the largest, most actively traded names.spindices.com
• No stock-picking. It replicates the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index, normally keeping at least 90% of net assets in the index's own constituents.ftportfolios.com
• Sits in the upper half of the US thematic funds we review, with easy day-to-day trading a big part of why.

• TECB 0.30% a year, roughly half the median expense ratio in its US thematic peer group. With themes, cost is the one edge you keep no matter which breakthrough actually breaks through.
• Roughly 170 stocks spread across five themes rather than a concentrated bet on one idea, so no single storyline carries the fund by itself.ishares.com
• Rules pick the stocks, not a manager's mood: it follows the NYSE FactSet U.S. Tech Breakthrough Index and has tracked it tightly since the 2020 launch, among the cleaner builds in its thematic group.ishares.com

Worth knowing

• FDN At 0.49% a year it runs above the typical US thematic fund (median 0.35%), and cohort leaders like TECB (0.30%) and LRND (0.14%) charge less for tech-flavored exposure.
• Roughly 40 non-diversified holdings: the biggest internet names drive most of the ride, in both directions.ftportfolios.com
• Built for price exposure, not income. Payouts have been absent recently, so cash flow is not the point here.

• TECB This is a growth-theme basket with no ballast. Five fast-moving innovation sleeves can swing harder than the broad market in both directions.
• Volume is light next to the megacap tech giants. For quick in-and-out trades, the bid-ask spread can cost more than the fee does.
• Cheap, but not the cheapest on the block: LRND charges 0.14% for a broad US R&D-leaders screen that overlaps some of the same territory.

Full FDN profile⁠

Full TECB profile⁠