Investment objective & strategy
As of Feb. 28, 2025 · prospectusObjective. The First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Europe ETF's (the Fund ) investment objective is to provide capital appreciation.
Strategy. Under normal market conditions, the Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in a portfolio of equity securities of European companies, including through investments in common stock, depositary receipts, and common and preferred shares of real estate investment trusts ( REITs ), and forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions used to hedge the Funds exposure to the currencies in which the equity securities of such European companies are denominated (each, a European currency and, collectively, the European currencies ). European companies are those companies (i) whose securities are traded principally on a stock exchange in a European country, (ii) that have a primary business office … Under normal market conditions, the Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in a portfolio of equity securities of European companies, including through investments in common stock, depositary receipts, and common and preferred shares of real estate investment trusts ( REITs ), and forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions used to hedge the Funds exposure to the currencies in which the equity securities of such European companies are denominated (each, a European currency and, collectively, the European currencies ). European companies are those companies (i) whose securities are traded principally on a stock exchange in a European country, (ii) that have a primary business office in a European country, or (iii) that have at least 50% of their assets in, or derive at least 50% of their revenues or profits from, a European country. The Fund considers a European country to be any member country of the European Union or any country included in the MSCI Europe Index. The Fund generally focuses its European company investments in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and/or the United Kingdom. The securities in which the Fund may invest must be listed on a U.S. or non-U.S. securities exchange. The Fund may invest in small, mid and large capitalization companies. The Fund utilizes a dynamic currency hedging strategy through the use of forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions to hedge up to 100% of the Funds currency exposure. As a result of this hedging strategy, the portion of the Funds portfolio securities which are subject to currency hedging transactions may vary widely, from 0% to 100% of the portfolio securities. A forward contract on foreign currency is an obligation to purchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may be any fixed number of days agreed upon by the parties from the date of the contract, at a price set on the date of the contract. A forward foreign currency exchange contract may reduce the Funds exposure to changes in the value of the currency it will deliver and increase its exposure to changes in the value of the currency it will receive for the duration of the contract. The effect on the value of the Fund is similar to selling securities denominated in one currency and purchasing securities denominated in another currency. The Fund also may enter into currency spot transactions as part of its dynamic currency hedging strategy. A currency spot transaction is an agreement between two parties to buy or sell a specific currency for delivery on a date that is typically two business days from the date of the agreement, as opposed to a date set in the future. The underlying currencies of the forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions included in the Funds policy relating to the investment of at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) will be limited to European currencies. The Fund also may invest up to 20% of its net assets in equity securities of non-European companies, including companies in emerging market countries, with a particular focus on companies in Canada, Israel and the United States, and forward foreign currency exchange contracts and currency spot transactions used to hedge the Funds exposure to non-European currencies as well as any proxy currency hedging transactions involving non-European currencies determined to be representative of, and serve as a proxy for, European currencies. The Fund will limit its investments in emerging market countries in the aggregate to no more than 20% of its net assets. The Fund considers an emerging market country to be any country whose issuers are included in the Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Markets Index and/or those countries considered to be developing by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation or the United Nations. The Fund considers an emerging market issuer to be one (i) domiciled or with a principal place of business or primary securities trading market in an emerging market country, or (ii) that derives a substantial portion of its total revenues or profits from emerging market countries. The equity securities of non-European companies in which the Fund may invest include investments in common stock, depositary receipts and common and preferred shares of REITs. In selecting the portfolio securities of the Fund, RiverFront Investment Group, LLC, the Funds sub- advisor ( RIG or the Sub-Advisor ), assembles a portfolio of eligible countries and/or securities based on several core attributes, including, but not limited to, value, quality and momentum. The Sub-Advisor considers multiple factors within each core attribute, such as the price-to-book value of a security when determining value and a companys cash as a percentage of the companys market capitalization when determining quality. The Sub-Advisor then assigns each qualifying security a score based on its core attributes and selects the individual securities with the highest scores for investment. In doing so, the Sub-Advisor utilizes its proprietary optimization process to maximize the percentage of high-scoring securities included in the portfolio in accordance with country, sector and risk factor ( e.g. , beta, quality, volatility) limitations, subject to the Sub-Advisor's fundamental active overlay. The Sub-Advisor also considers the market capitalization of the companies in which the Fund may invest, and the trading volume of a companys shares in the secondary market. The strategy is largely quantitative and rules-based, but also includes multiple parameters over which the Sub-Advisor may exercise discretion (including, but not limited to, the number of holdings and the weightings of particular holdings) in connection with its active management of the Fund. In managing the Funds currency exposure, the Sub-Advisor deploys a dynamic currency hedging strategy based on a proprietary hedging methodology that considers a combination of quantitative measures, such as interest rate differentials, central bank balance sheet expansion/contraction and price momentum, and qualitative measures, such as formal and informal guidance from central bankers. To the extent permitted under applicable law, percentage limitations described in this prospectus are generally as of the time of investment by the Fund and may be exceeded on a going-forward basis as a result of market fluctuations affecting the Funds portfolio securities. As of January 31, 2025, the Fund had significant investments in U.K. issuers and European issuers, although this may change from time to time. 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.
Top holdings
As of Oct. 31, 2025 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASML Holding NV | — | $353.45K | 4.88% |
| NOKIA OYJ | — | $242.80K | 3.35% |
| Novartis AG (Registered) | NVSEF | $215.62K | 2.98% |
| NESTLE SA (REG) | — | $205.97K | 2.84% |
| BBVA | — | $192.54K | 2.66% |
| ROCHE HOLDINGS AG (GENUSSCHEINE) | — | $181.45K | 2.50% |
| ALLIANZ SE (REGD) | — | $176.19K | 2.43% |
| 3I GROUP PLC | — | $161.50K | 2.23% |
| LVMH MOET HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON SE | MC | $155.22K | 2.14% |
| UNILEVER PLC | — | $151.14K | 2.09% |
Portfolio moves
Jul 31, 2025 → Oct 31, 2025How 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.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| First Trust RiverFront Dynamic Developed International ETF · RFDI | 33% | 0.83% |
| Goldman Sachs ActiveBeta(R) Europe Equity ETF · GSEU | 30% | 0.25% |
| JPMorgan BetaBuilders Europe ETF · BBEU | 30% | 0.09% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| First Trust Advisors L.P. | Adviser |
| RiverFront Investment Group, LLC | Sub-adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of February 28, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of October 31, 2025, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
- Total return for calendar year 2024, before tax and after fund expenses. As reported in the fund's prospectus performance bar chart.
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