FTGS
First Trust Growth Strength ETF
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund
ETFIndex fund
Expense ratio1
0.60%
Net assets2
$1.16B
Holdings2
51
Category
US Equity
2025 return3
12.82%

Investment objective & strategy

As of April 30, 2025 · prospectus

Objective. The First Trust Growth Strength TM ETF (the Fund ) seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the Funds fees and expenses) of an equity index called The Growth Strength TM Index (the Index ).

Strategy. Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in the securities that comprise the Index. The Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Index. The Index is developed, maintained and sponsored by Nasdaq, Inc. (the Index Provider ). The Index Provider may, from time to time, exercise reasonable discretion as it deems appropriate in order to ensure Index integrity. According to the Index Provider, the Index seeks to provide exposure to well-capitalized companies with strong market positions. The companies are screened for strong balance sheets, a high degree of liquidity, the ability to generate earnings and cash … Under normal market conditions, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in the securities that comprise the Index. The Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate, before fees and expenses, the performance of the Index. The Index is developed, maintained and sponsored by Nasdaq, Inc. (the Index Provider ). The Index Provider may, from time to time, exercise reasonable discretion as it deems appropriate in order to ensure Index integrity. According to the Index Provider, the Index seeks to provide exposure to well-capitalized companies with strong market positions. The companies are screened for strong balance sheets, a high degree of liquidity, the ability to generate earnings and cash flow growth and a record of financial strength and profit growth. The Index is composed of 50 securities selected objectively based on cash on hand, debt ratios and revenue and cash flow growth. The Index s initial selection universe is composed of all the securities comprising the Nasdaq US Benchmark TM Index. The Index then excludes all securities that do not meet the size and liquidity requirements of the Index and duplicate (multiple share classes) companies. To be eligible for inclusion in the Index, a security must have at least $1 billion in cash or short-term equivalents, after removing restricted cash, have a long-term debt to market capitalization ratio less than 30%, have a positive shareholder equity and have a return on equity greater than 15%. A security must also have positive cash flow and revenue figures three years prior to be eligible for inclusion in the Index. The eligible securities are then ranked by their three-year revenue percentage growth and three-year cash flow percentage growth. Those rankings are then combined equally and securities ranked outside the lowest 15 by combined rank within each Industry, as determined by the Industry Classification Benchmark ("ICB"), are excluded. In the event that multiple securities share the fifteenth-lowest combined rank, only the security among them with the highest free float market capitalization may be selected. The 50 securities with the lowest combined ranks are chosen for inclusion in the Index. In the case of ties in combined ranks, the security with highest free float market capitalization is selected. Once finalized, each security is equally-weighted. The Fund may invest in real estate investment trusts ( "REITs" ). The Index is rebalanced and reconstituted quarterly and the Fund will make corresponding changes to its portfolio shortly after the Index changes are made public. The Indexs quarterly rebalance and reconstitution schedule may cause the Fund to experience a higher rate of portfolio turnover. The Fund will be concentrated in an industry or a group of industries to the extent that the Index is so concentrated. As of March 31, 2025, the Index was composed of 50 securities and the Fund had significant investments in information technology companies, although this may change from time to time. The Funds investments will change as the Index changes and, as a result, the Fund may have significant investments in jurisdictions or investment sectors that it may not have had as of March 31, 2025. To the extent the Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in a given jurisdiction or investment sector, the Fund may be exposed to the risks associated with that jurisdiction or investment sector. The Fund is classified as non-diversified under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the 1940 Act ).

Top holdings

As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT
SecurityTickerValue% of fund
UNITED THERAPEUTICS CORP DEL $31.46M 2.71%
BAKER HUGHES CO $29.10M 2.51%
ROSS STORES INC $27.78M 2.39%
SLB LTD $27.12M 2.34%
GARMIN LTD $27.02M 2.33%
NETFLIX INC $26.95M 2.32%
FORTINET INC $26.74M 2.30%
F5 INC $26.61M 2.29%
TRANE TECHNOLOGIES PLC $26.39M 2.27%
ARCH CAPITAL GROUP LTD $26.12M 2.25%
View all holdings →

Allocation by sector

As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT
View portfolio breakdown →

Portfolio moves

Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026
Opened
10
Exited
10
Increased
19
Decreased
22
Unchanged
0

How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.

View portfolio moves →

Similar funds

Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight

Advisers

As of December 31, 2025 · N-CEN
FirmRole
First Trust Advisors L.P. Adviser

Footnotes

  1. Expense ratio as of April 30, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
  2. Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
  3. Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. Computed by compounding the twelve monthly total returns the fund reported in its SEC N-PORT filings for 2025 (the latest prospectus does not yet chart this year).

Machine-readable: JSON · Markdown. Programmatic access via the agent surface.