If you're interested in broad exposure to the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market, look no further than the First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX ETF (FXH), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 05/08/2007.

While an excellent vehicle for long term investors, passively managed ETFs are a popular choice among institutional and retail investors due to their low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Healthcare - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 6, placing it in top 38%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.29 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market. FXH seeks to match the performance of the StrataQuant Health Care Index before fees and expenses.

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

Costs

Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.62%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.31%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

ETFs offer a 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.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Universal Health Services, Inc. (class B) (UHS) accounts for about 2.66% of total assets, followed by Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC) and Roivant Sciences Ltd. (ROIV).

The top 10 holdings account for about 23.18% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

The ETF has gained about 8.65% and is up roughly 15.24% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 09/24/2024), respectively. FXH has traded between $90.04 and $113.83 during this last 52-week period.

The ETF has a beta of 0.76 and standard deviation of 16.61% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 78 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

Alternatives

First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, FXH is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT) tracks MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index and the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV) tracks Health Care Select Sector Index. Vanguard Health Care ETF has $18.74 billion in assets, Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF has $41.90 billion. VHT has an expense ratio of 0.10% and XLV charges 0.09%.

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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First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX ETF (FXH): ETF Research Reports

Universal Health Services, Inc. (UHS) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Tenet Healthcare Corporation (THC) : Free Stock Analysis Report

Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLV): ETF Research Reports

Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT): ETF Research Reports

Roivant Sciences Ltd. (ROIV) : Free Stock Analysis Report

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Zacks Investment Research