Investment objective & strategy
As of April 30, 2025 · prospectusObjective. The First Trust Growth Strength TM Portfolio (the " Fund" ) seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation.
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 Growth Strength TM Index (the Index ). The Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate, before fees and expenses, the total return performance of the Index, which includes dividends paid by the common stocks in the Index. The Fund will generally employ a full replication strategy, meaning that it will normally invest in all of the securities comprising the Index in proportion to their weightings in the Index. The Index is developed, maintained and sponsored by Nasdaq, Inc. (the Index Provider ). The Index Provider may, from time to time, exercise … 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 Growth Strength TM Index (the Index ). The Fund, using an indexing investment approach, attempts to replicate, before fees and expenses, the total return performance of the Index, which includes dividends paid by the common stocks in the Index. The Fund will generally employ a full replication strategy, meaning that it will normally invest in all of the securities comprising the Index in proportion to their weightings in 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 by the Index Provider objectively based on cash on hand, debt ratios and revenue and cash flow growth. The Indexs 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 and short-term investments, 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 the highest free float market capitalization is chosen for inclusion in the Index. 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. As of March 31, 2025, the Index had a market capitalization range between $22.05 billion and $5.58 trillion. As of March 31, 2025, the Fund had significant investments in information technology companies and financial companies, although this may change from time to time. The Fund's 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| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| UNITED THERAPEUTICS CORP DEL | — | $1.04M | 2.66% |
| BAKER HUGHES CO | — | $963.86K | 2.46% |
| ROSS STORES INC | — | $920.03K | 2.35% |
| SLB LTD | — | $898.50K | 2.29% |
| GARMIN LTD | — | $895.09K | 2.28% |
| NETFLIX INC | — | $892.75K | 2.28% |
| FORTINET INC | — | $885.76K | 2.26% |
| F5 INC | — | $881.30K | 2.25% |
| TRANE TECHNOLOGIES PLC | — | $874.32K | 2.23% |
| ARCH CAPITAL GROUP LTD | — | $865.16K | 2.21% |
Portfolio moves
Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026How 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 Growth Strength ETF · FTGS | 98% | 0.60% |
| FT Vest Growth Strength & Target Income ETF · FGSI | 69% | 0.85% |
| First Trust Capital Strength Portfolio | 31% | 0.85% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| First Trust Advisors L.P. | Adviser |
Footnotes
- Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
Machine-readable: JSON · Markdown. Programmatic access via the agent surface.