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Should First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW) Be on Your Investing Radar?

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Designed to provide broad exposure to the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market, the First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 08/08/2017.

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $231.55 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Large Cap Blend segment of the US equity market.

Why Large Cap Blend

Large cap companies usually have a market capitalization above $10 billion. Overall, they are usually a stable option, with less risk and more sure-fire cash flows than mid and small cap companies.

Blend ETFs usually hold a mix of growth and value stocks as well as stocks that exhibit both value and growth characteristics.

Costs

Investors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.50%, putting it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.85%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector--about 19.50% of the portfolio. Financials and Industrials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, 3m Company (MMM - Free Report) accounts for about 4.21% of total assets, followed by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS - Free Report) and Apple Inc. (AAPL - Free Report) .

The top 10 holdings account for about 36.82% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

EDOW seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Equal Weight Index before fees and expenses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average Equal Weight Index is an equally weighted index designed to be a price neutral version of the price-weighted DJIA.

The ETF has added roughly 7.88% so far this year and is up about 18.16% in the last one year (as of 07/17/2024). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $28.08 and $34.87.

The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 14.29% for the trailing three-year period. With about 31 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, EDOW is a sufficient option for those seeking exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

The iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report) track a similar index. While iShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $511.02 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $563.46 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.

Bottom-Line

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

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