First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund

Frequently Asked Questions About FEM

What does FEM invest in?

FEM does not promise broad exposure to emerging markets, trying instead to build a portfolio of stocks positioned to outperform. The fund uses a selection methodology focused on growth and value factors to screen firms by scoring each security twice by both growth and value characteristics, assigning whatever score is highest as the stock's style score. It then takes the 150 top-scoring stocks and breaks them into quintiles, giving higher-scoring quintiles greater weight in the index. The index is rebalanced and reconstituted semi-annually.

What is the expense ratio of FEM?

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (FEM) charges an expense ratio of 0.80%. This is the annual fee deducted from fund assets to cover management and operations.

How big is FEM?

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (FEM) manages $747.4M in total assets. AUM determines bid-ask liquidity and the fund's vulnerability to closure — funds below ~$50M are at higher risk of liquidation.

Is FEM actively managed or an index fund?

FEM's management style is described in the fund's prospectus. See the description on the Summary tab for the published strategy.

When was FEM launched?

First Trust Emerging Markets AlphaDEX Fund (FEM) launched in April 2011 and is managed by First Trust.

How has FEM performed?

FEM's total return — price change plus reinvested distributions — is charted at the top of this page. Switch the price chart to Total Return and pick a 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, or 10-year window to read the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over each horizon.