First Trust Launches Global AlphaDEX ETF

First Trust has launched an exchange traded fund (ETF) that offers investors exposure to global equities that are selected and weighted based on merit, and not size, compared to traditional indexing.

The First Trust Global AlphaDEX UCITS ETF looks at the growth and value of companies to select stocks from the NASDAQ Developed Markets Index, which is designed to return higher rewards to investors over traditional indexes. The ETF costs 0.70 percent per year in fees, and will rise to 0.80 percent on 18 November 2016. The underlying index contains 499 stocks, with the biggest concentrations in consumer discretionary stocks at over 17.6 percent, and financials at almost 17 percent: the top holding is footwear company Sketchers at 0.51 percent.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange (ticker FGBL) and on Euronext Paris, this fund is the sixth ETF from the provider to follow the AlphaDEX methodology, and the seventh ETF in Europe in its overall range.

In August the provider also brought to market an ETF that tracks
initial public offerings and company spin-offs in the U.S. Before that, the First Trust Japan AlphaDEX UCITS ETF came to London on 24 June.