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Is First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW) a Strong ETF Right Now?

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A smart beta exchange traded fund, the First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW - Free Report) debuted on 08/08/2017, and offers broad exposure to the Style Box - Large Cap Blend category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

The ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on market capitalization weighted indexes that are designed to represent the market or a particular segment of the market.

Market cap weighted indexes work great for investors who believe in market efficiency. They provide a low-cost, convenient and transparent way of replicating market returns.

On the other hand, some investors who believe that it is possible to beat the market by superior stock selection opt to invest in another class of funds that track non-cap weighted strategies--popularly known as smart beta.

By attempting to pick stocks that have a better chance of risk-return performance, non-cap weighted indexes are based on certain fundamental characteristics, or a combination of such.

This area offers many different investment choices, such as simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies; however, not all of these strategies can deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors. EDOW has been able to amass assets over $229.54 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Large Cap Blend. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Equal Weight Index.

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.

Cost & Other Expenses

Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.

Annual operating expenses for EDOW are 0.50%, which makes it on par with most peer products in the space.

EDOW's 12-month trailing dividend yield is 1.88%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Most ETFs are very transparent products, and disclose their holdings on a daily basis. ETFs also offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, though it's still important for investors to research a fund's holdings.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 20.20% of the portfolio. Financials and Industrials round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Salesforce, Inc. (CRM - Free Report) accounts for about 3.66% of the fund's total assets, followed by Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) and Amgen Inc. (AMGN - Free Report) .

EDOW's top 10 holdings account for about 34.5% of its total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, EDOW has added about 6.16%, and was up about 12.65% in the last one year (as of 08/02/2024). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $28.08 and $35.05.

EDOW 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 is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Large Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

IShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY - Free Report) tracks S&P 500 Index. IShares Core S&P 500 ETF has $494.56 billion in assets, SPDR S&P 500 ETF has $555.03 billion. IVV has an expense ratio of 0.03% and SPY charges 0.09%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Style Box - Large Cap Blend.

Bottom Line

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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