The First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF (FYX) made its debut on 05/08/2007, and is a smart beta exchange traded fund that provides broad exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Blend category of the market.

What Are Smart Beta ETFs?

Market cap weighted indexes were created to reflect the market, or a specific segment of the market, and the ETF industry has traditionally been dominated by products based on this strategy.

Market cap weighted indexes offer a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way of replicating market returns, and are a good option for investors who believe in market efficiency.

But, there are some investors who would rather invest in smart beta funds; these funds track non-cap weighted strategies, and are a strong option for those who prefer choosing great stocks in order to beat the market.

These indexes attempt to select stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance, based on certain fundamental characteristics or a combination of such characteristics.

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

FYX is managed by First Trust Advisors, and this fund has amassed over $1.38 billion, which makes it one of the average sized ETFs in the Style Box - Small Cap Blend. FYX seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Small Cap Core Index before fees and expenses.

The NASDAQ AlphaDEX Small Cap Core Index is an enhanced index which employs the AlphaDEX stock selection methodology to select stocks from the NASDAQ US 700 Small Cap Index.

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.

With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.58%.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.92%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer diversified exposure and thus minimize single stock risk, but it is still important to delve into a fund's holdings before investing. Most ETFs are very transparent products and many disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

Representing 21.3% of the portfolio, the fund has heaviest allocation to the Financials sector; Healthcare and Industrials round out the top three.

When you look at individual holdings, Everforth Incorporated (EFOR) accounts for about 0.56% of the fund's total assets, followed by Cbiz, Inc. (CBZ) and Conmed Corporation (CNMD).

Its top 10 holdings account for approximately 4.43% of FYX's total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, FYX return is roughly 23.47%, and was up about 28.98% in the last one year (as of 09/16/2026). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $103.66 and $146.67.

The fund has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 20.13% for the trailing three-year period, which makes FYX a medium risk choice in this particular space. With about 526 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk .

Alternatives

First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF is a reasonable option for investors seeking to outperform the Style Box - Small Cap Blend segment of the market. However, there are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider.

Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap ETF (VB) tracks CRSP US Small Cap Index and the iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF (IJR) tracks S&P SmallCap 600 Index. Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap ETF has $78.49 billion in assets, iShares Core S&P Small-Cap ETF has $106 billion. VB has an expense ratio of 0.03% and IJR changes 0.06%.

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 - Small 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

.

Boost Your Portfolio with Our Top ETF Insights

Zacks' exclusive Fund Newsletter delivers actionable information, top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, straight to your inbox every week.

Don’t miss out on this valuable resource. It’s free!

Get it now >>

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

 

First Trust Small Cap Core AlphaDEX ETF (FYX): ETF Research Reports

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research