WHEATON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Trust Advisors L.P. (“FTA”) announced today that aggregate assets under management for the exchange-traded funds advised by FTA now exceed $6 billion. FTA launched its first exchange-traded fund in September of 2005 and has since grown its product line to include a total of 44 ETFs covering a broad range of equity asset classes and high growth market segments.
“Reaching $6 billion assets under management for ETFs is a very exciting milestone,” said Robert F. Carey, CFA, and Chief Investment Officer of First Trust. “At First Trust, we remain focused on developing products that provide investors with targeted, efficient exposure to specialized segments of the market.”
In addition, FTA expects to launch the industry’s first Smartphone ETF on February 18, 2011. The First Trust NASDAQ CEA Smartphone Index Fund is expected to be listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market® under the ticker symbol FONE. The Fund provides a way to gain exposure to various companies involved in all aspects of the smartphone value chain including hardware manufacturers, operating system providers, chip makers, software manufacturers and service providers. The Fund will seek investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the Fund’s fees and expenses) of an equity index called the NASDAQ OMX CEA Smartphone IndexSM.
“First Trust is extremely pleased to launch another pioneering exchange-traded fund,” said Mr. Carey. “We continually evaluate opportunities to broaden the First Trust family of ETFs, and FONE will enhance our unique specialty sector offerings.”
First Trust Advisors L.P., the Fund’s investment advisor, along with its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P., are privately-held companies which provide a variety of investment services, including asset management, financial advisory services, and municipal and corporate investment banking, with collective assets under management or supervision of over $43 billion as of January 31, 2011 through closed-end funds, unit investment trusts, mutual funds, separate managed accounts and exchange-traded funds. For more information, please visit www.ftportfolios.com.
You should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the Fund before investing. The prospectus for the Fund contains this and other important information and is available free of charge by calling toll-free at 1-800-621-1675 or visiting www.ftportfolios.com. A prospectus should be read carefully before investing.
Past performance is no assurance of future results. Principal Risk Factors: The Fund’s shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the Fund. An investment in the Fund involves risk similar to those of investing in any fund of equity securities traded on exchanges. The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield of an index. You should anticipate that the value of the Fund’s shares will decline, more or less, in correlation with any decline in the value of the index. The Fund’s return may not match the return of the index. Unlike the Fund, the index does not actually hold a portfolio of securities and therefore does not incur the expenses incurred by the Fund. The Fund may invest in small capitalization and mid capitalization companies. Such companies may experience greater price volatility than larger, more established companies. The risks of investing in the Fund are spelled out in its prospectus, shareholder report, and other regulatory filings.
Investors buying or selling Fund shares on the secondary market may incur brokerage commissions. Investors who sell Fund shares may receive less than the share’s net asset value. Unlike shares of open-end mutual funds, investors are generally not able to purchase Fund shares directly from the Fund and individual shares are not redeemable. However, specified large blocks of shares called “creation units” can be purchased from, or redeemed to, the Fund.
The First Trust NASDAQ CEA Smartphone Index Fund invests in securities of companies in the information technology sector. You should be aware that an investment in a portfolio which is concentrated in a particular sector involves additional risks, including limited diversification. The companies engaged in the information technology sector are subject to fierce competition, high research and development costs, and their products and services may be subject to rapid obsolescence.
The Smartphone industry is characterized by intense competition and new market entrants, which could negatively impact profit margins and overall revenues. The Smartphone industry is in the early stages of development and can be extremely volatile.
An investment in the Fund is subject to additional risks, including currency fluctuations, political risks, withholding, the lack of adequate financial information, and exchange control restrictions impacting foreign issuers. Risks associated with investing in foreign securities may be more pronounced in emerging markets where the securities markets are substantially smaller, less developed, less liquid, less regulated, and more volatile than the U.S. and developed foreign markets.
The First Trust NASDAQ CEA Smartphone Index Fund is classified as “non-diversified.” A non-diversified fund generally may invest a larger percentage of its assets in the securities of a smaller number of issuers. As a result, the Fund may be more susceptible to the risks associated with these particular companies, or to a single economic, political or regulatory occurrence affecting these companies.
NASDAQ®, NASDAQ OMX®, Consumer Electronics Association, and NASDAQ OMX CEA Smartphone IndexSM are trademarks of NASDAQ OMX and Consumer Electronics Association, (which with its affiliates is referred to as the “Corporations”) and are licensed for use by First Trust Advisors L.P. The Product has not been passed on by the Corporations as to its legality or suitability. The Product is not issued, endorsed, sold, or promoted by the Corporations. THE CORPORATIONS MAKE NO WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCT.