First Trust, the eighth-largest U.S. ETF issuer, is looking to expand its European presence, using its successful AlphaDEX methodology as a cornerstone for growth across the Atlantic.
Illinois-based First Trust last year launched three exchanged traded funds that trade on the London Stock Exchange and the issuer is hoping to meet increased demand. First Trust CEO Derek Fulton told the Financial Times the company is hoping to launch a Europe-listed equivalent of the First Trust Europe AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FEP) by the end of this year.
FEP, which just celebrated its third anniversary, has been one of the top-performing diversified Europe ETFs since the start of 2013 and has quietly amassed $788.2 million in assets under management. [Different ETF Avenues to Europe]
Like the other AlphaDEX ETFs, FEP’s holdings are selected based “on growth factors including 3-, 6- and 12-month price appreciation, sales to price and one year sales growth, and separately on value factors including book value to price, cash flow to price and return on assets,” according to First Trust.
Fulton also told the FT First Trust would like to launch Europe-listed ETFs tracking U.S. small-caps, sectors and single-country Europe ETFs.
The First Trust Switzerland AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FSZ) and the First Trust United Kingdom AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FKU) are among the single-country AlphaDEX offerings available to U.S. investors. [This Switzerland ETF is Soaring]
Overall, First Trust offers 18 international ETFs benchmarked to AlphaDEX indices. The firm also 12 size/style AlphaDEX ETFs and nine AlphaDEX sector funds. The First Trust Health Care AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FXH), home to almost $1.9 billion in assets under management, is the largest of the AlphaDEX sector funds.