Is First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF (FXD) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Products that are based on market cap weighted indexes, which are strategies designed to reflect a specific market segment or the market as a whole, have traditionally dominated the ETF industry.

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.

However, some investors believe in the possibility of beating the market through exceptional stock selection, and choose a different type of fund that tracks non-cap weighted strategies: smart beta.

This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.

While this space offers a number of choices to investors, including simplest equal-weighting, fundamental weighting and volatility/momentum based weighting methodologies, not all these strategies have been able to deliver superior results.

Fund Sponsor & Index

Managed by First Trust Advisors, FXD has amassed assets over $272.27 million, making it one of the larger ETFs in the Consumer Discretionary ETFs. This particular fund seeks to match the performance of the StrataQuant Consumer Discretionary Index before fees and expenses.

The StrataQuant Consumer Discretionary Index employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the Russell 1000 Index.

Cost & Other Expenses

When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor. And, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins in the long term if all other factors remain equal.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.60%.

It's 12-month trailing dividend yield comes in at 0.60%.

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.

Representing 76.6% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Consumer Discretionary sector; Industrials and Telecom round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Lyft, Inc. (class A) (LYFT) accounts for about 1.61% of total assets, followed by Sirius Xm Holdings Inc. (SIRI) and Fox Corporation (class A) (FOXA).

The top 10 holdings account for about 15.42% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

Year-to-date, the First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF has added about 3.85% so far, and was up about 9.67% over the last 12 months (as of 07/31/2026). FXD has traded between $62.05 $72.23 in this past 52-week period.

FXD has a beta of 1.12 and standard deviation of 20.49% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 113 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

First Trust Consumer Discretionary AlphaDEX ETF is not a suitable option for investors seeking to outperform the Consumer Discretionary ETFs segment of the market. Instead, there are other ETFs in the space which investors should consider.

Vanguard Consumer Discretionary Index Fund ETF Shares (VCR) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Consumer Discretionary 25/50 Index and the State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLY) tracks Consumer Discretionary Select Sector Index. Vanguard Consumer Discretionary Index Fund ETF Shares has $5.99 billion in assets, State Street Consumer Discretionary Select Sector SPDR ETF has $21.87 billion. VCR has an expense ratio of 0.09% and XLY changes 0.08%.

Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Consumer Discretionary ETFs

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

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