The First Trust Utilities AlphaDEX Fund (NYSEArca: FXU), a smart beta spin on utilities, is another utilities ETF to consider. FXU is up almost 5% this year.
Like the other AlphaDEX funds, FXU is “based “on growth factors including three, six 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.
“The XLU has a dividend yield of more than 3 percent, which is significantly above that of the S&P 500 and of the U.S. 10-year Treasury note. Stocks with high yields often rise when interest rates fall, since the lower yields in the bond market can make holding high-dividend stocks a more attractive prospect,” according to CNBC.
No sector is as negatively correlated to rising interest rates as utilities, meaning the longer the Fed resists raising interest rates, the longer high-yielding utilities stocks and ETFs remain compelling destinations for yield-starved investors.
For more information on defensive ETFs, visit our defensive ETF category.