The first three First Trust AlphaDEX Dividend ETFs have completed their initial offering of units for both the common class and adviser class units of the ETFs and have begun trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
First Trust AlphaDEX Canadian Dividend Plus ETF will primarily invest in a portfolio of higher yielding Canadian dividend paying stocks, as well as provide unitholders with monthly distributions. In addition, First Trust AlphaDEX Canadian Dividend Plus ETF will from time to time write call options on a portion of the portfolio in order to produce additional income.
First Trust AlphaDEX US Dividend Plus ETF (CAD-Hedged) will primarily invest in a portfolio of higher yielding US dividend paying stocks, as well as provide unitholders with monthly distributions. In addition, First Trust AlphaDEX US Dividend Plus ETF (CAD-Hedged) will from time to time write call options on a portion of the portfolio in order to produce additional income.
First Trust AlphaDEX Emerging Market Dividend ETF (CAD-Hedged) will primarily invest in a portfolio of dividend paying equity securities domiciled in emerging markets and selected from the countries represented by the S&P/BMI Emerging Markets Index. The ETF will also provide unitholders with monthly distributions.
“Today, FT Portfolios Canada Co is making available the successful rules-based AlphaDEX fundamental stock selection methodology to Canadian investors with our first set of Fundamentally Weighted Dividend ETFs,” says Fraser Howell, FT Portfolio Canada’s president and chief financial officer. “The First Trust AlphaDEX Dividend ETF family provides investors with broad market exposure to higher yielding dividend paying stocks across different geographies.”
“When you look at the Canadian ETF marketplace today, the majority of ETFs and assets under management are tied to market capitalisation weighted indices which, by their very nature, overweight larger potentially overvalued companies and underweight smaller, potentially undervalued companies,” adds Karl Cheong, the senior vice president, head of product development at FT Portfolios Canada. “We believe this is an optimal time for Canadians to diversify their portfolios into fundamental strategies and we are committed to providing investors with opportunities to capitalise on companies that may have stronger investment merit through ETFs using the proprietary AlphaDEXTM methodology.”
