Should You Invest in the First Trust Indxx NextG ETF?

Launched on 02/17/2011, the First Trust Indxx NextG ETF NXTG is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Technology - Telecom segment of the equity market.

Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Technology - Telecom is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 11, placing it in bottom 31%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $398.16 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Technology - Telecom segment of the equity market. NXTG seeks to match the performance of the INDXX 5G & NEXTG THEMATIC INDEX before fees and expenses.

The Indxx 5G & NextG Thematic Index tracks the performance of companies engaged in the smartphone segment of the telecom and technology sectors.

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 0.70%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.88%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Looking at individual holdings, Nvidia Corporation NVDA accounts for about 2.99% of total assets, followed by Micron Technology, Inc. MU and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (adr) TSM.

The top 10 holdings account for about 18.51% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF return is roughly 12% so far this year and is up about 20.05% in the last one year (as of 07/15/2024). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $64.60 and $85.48.

The ETF has a beta of 0.86 and standard deviation of 17.14% for the trailing three-year period. With about 107 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust Indxx NextG 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, NXTG is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Technology ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.

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