First Trust dividend and income ETFs

Type

What the fund sells calls on.

The fund owns stocks and sells the right to buy them at a set price. It collects a fee (premium) for that right, which is paid out as income. In exchange, big rises in the stocks are partly given up. A tag such as 1.25x marks leverage; "new" means under 12 months of history, too short to score.

Full definition in the glossary →

Income Durability Score

Out of 100, coloured from red (0) to green (100).

How well the fund has turned its yield into something you could actually keep. It is built from income, capital, risk and cost measures with fixed, published weights.

How we score →

Yield

A year of distributions divided by today's unit price. A high yield is not a high return: if the price falls as much as you were paid, you have gained nothing.

Full definition in the glossary →

Total return

This column is the total return over the last 12 months.

Price change plus all distributions, assuming distributions are reinvested. This is the number that tells you whether the payout was earned.

Full definition in the glossary →

MER

Management expense ratio: the fund's yearly management fee and operating costs as a share of its value, already taken out of returns. Trading costs come on top, as the trading expense ratio (TER) in the fund's ETF Facts; the score's fee measure adds the two.

Full definition in the glossary →

Worst drop (maximum drawdown)

The biggest fall from a high to a later low, in total return, so paying out a distribution does not count as a fall. A fund that fell 30% needs a 43% gain to get back.

Full definition in the glossary →

Risk rating

The fund company's own rating from Low to High, in its ETF Facts, based on how much the fund's returns have varied. It describes past ups and downs, not the chance of a future loss.

Full definition in the glossary →

Liquidity

How easily you can buy or sell without moving the price, rated Very high to Very low by the average dollars traded per day. Thinly traded funds can have wide gaps between the buying and selling price; use limit orders.

Full definition in the glossary →

Volatility

Over the last 36 months.

How much returns bounce around, measured as an annualized standard deviation. Higher means a bumpier ride. It counts rises as well as falls, so the score uses downside deviation instead.

Full definition in the glossary →

Beta

How far the fund tends to move when the S&P 500 moves, over the last 36 months. A beta of 0.7 means it moved about 0.7% for each 1% move in the index.

Full definition in the glossary →

Up and down capture

This column is up capture: the share of its own benchmark's gains the fund took in rising months. The fund's page names the benchmark.

How much of its own benchmark's gains (up) and losses (down) the fund took over the last 36 months. Down capture under 100% means the calls cushioned the falls; leverage pushes both above 100%.

Full definition in the glossary →

Up and down capture

This column is down capture: the share of its own benchmark's losses the fund took in falling months. The fund's page names the benchmark.

How much of its own benchmark's gains (up) and losses (down) the fund took over the last 36 months. Down capture under 100% means the calls cushioned the falls; leverage pushes both above 100%.

Full definition in the glossary →

Total return

This column is the total return per year over the last 3 years.

Price change plus all distributions, assuming distributions are reinvested. This is the number that tells you whether the payout was earned.

Full definition in the glossary →

Return of capital (ROC)

The share of last year's payout classed as return of capital.

A part of the payout that is treated as your own money coming back. It is not taxed right away, but it lowers your cost base, so you may owe more tax when you sell.

Full definition in the glossary →