FBT Outperforms Benchmark NASDAQ Biotech Index and S&P 500 Index Over Past 5 Years

WHEATON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Trust Advisors L.P. (“First Trust”), a leading provider of investment products and services that help financial advisors meet the financial needs and objectives of their clients, is pleased to mark the fifth anniversary of the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund (NYSE Arca: FBT). This exchange-traded fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the fund’s fees and expenses) of the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index^SM.

Since its inception on June 19, 2006, FBT has delivered an average annual total return of 17.16% through June 30, 2011. The fund has outperformed its benchmark, the NASDAQ Biotech Index, by 7.79% per year, and the broad market S&P 500 Index by 13.73% per year during that time. FBT, which had $550 million in assets as of June 30, 2011, is the top-performing exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the Morningstar health category for the past five years ended June, 30, 2011 (out of 13 ETFs) and has received a 5-Star Overall Morningstar Rating^TM.*

Quarter End Performance (as of 6/30/11)	Quarter		YTD		1 Yr.		3 Yr.		5 Yr.		10 Yr.		Since Fund Inception
Fund Performance^1
NAV	6.43	%	12.21	%	41.92	%	24.81	%	16.37	%	N/A		17.16	%
After Tax Held	6.43	%	12.21	%	41.92	%	24.81	%	16.27	%	N/A		17.07	%
After Tax Sold	4.18	%	7.94	%	27.25	%	21.70	%	14.38	%	N/A		15.10	%
Market Price	6.43	%	12.20	%	42.01	%	24.85	%	16.37	%	N/A		17.18	%
Index Performance
NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index^SM2	6.63	%	12.56	%	42.77	%	25.57	%	17.08	%	9.09	%	17.89	%
NASDAQ Biotech Index	6.53	%	14.34	%	39.79	%	12.29	%	8.71	%	1.08	%	9.37	%
S&P Composite 1500 Health Care Index	7.26	%	14.19	%	29.54	%	8.08	%	5.78	%	3.40	%	5.95	%
S&P 500 Index	0.10	%	6.02	%	30.69	%	3.34	%	2.94	%	2.72	%	3.43	%

Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results and current performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate and shares when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. You can obtain performance information which is current through the most recent month-end by visiting www.ftportfolios.com.

“FBT is a pure-play biotech fund, comprised of 20 stocks, that mirrors the tremendous growth of the biotechnology industry,” said Ryan Issakainen, Senior Vice President and Exchange-Traded Fund Strategist for First Trust. “Our fund provides equally-weighted exposure to each of its holdings, rather than the traditional market-cap weighted approach followed by many ETFs. This has enabled FBT to benefit from positive news coming out of small- and mid-sized biotech companies, such as breakthrough treatments and M&A announcements. Because the performance of biotech stocks is significantly impacted by these sorts of company-specific events, we believe it is important to give equal exposure to companies in the biotech industry, without diluting performance with too many holdings,” Issakainen concluded.

As of June 30, 2011, FBT held 20 stocks with market capitalizations ranging from a maximum of $54.4 billion to a minimum of $559 million. FBT’s top 10 holdings are Affymetrix, Biogen Idec, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Illumina, Myriad Genetics, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Sequenom, Celgene, Amgen and Cephalon. The fund is rebalanced quarterly.

“Demographic trends suggest that biotechnology companies will play an increasingly important role in the U.S. healthcare industry as baby boomers reach retirement age and require new treatments as they enter their golden years,” said Issakainen. ”The industry has also historically seen a lot of consolidation. There’s no indication that these trends will change any time soon, making owning a biotech index fund an attractive and efficient way for investors to gain exposure to the industry, in our opinion.”

The First Trust NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index Fund, along with the more than 200 investment products managed or supervised by First Trust or its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P., including ETFs, Unit Investment Trusts (UITs), mutual funds, closed-end funds, variable annuities, structured products, products for the retirement market, and managed accounts, are made available to investors through financial advisors.

You should consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing. Contact First Trust Portfolios L.P. at 1-800-621-1675 or visit www.ftportfolios.com to obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information about the fund. The prospectus or summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

For more information about FBT, see the FBT Summary Page.

For more information about First Trust, please contact Chris Moon of JCPR at 973-850-7304 or by email at [e-mail].

About First Trust

Based in Wheaton, IL, First Trust and its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P. provide a broad range of investment products and services that help financial advisors meet the financial needs and objectives of their clients. Among the firms’ more than 200 investment product offerings are its family of 60 Exchange-Traded Funds, including the AlphaDEX^® series of ETFs. As of June 30, 2011, 17 First Trust ETFs, including 10 AlphaDEX^® ETFs, received a 4- or 5-Star Overall Morningstar Rating^TM.* Founded in 1991 with the goal of offering investors a better way to invest, First Trust is nationally recognized for its proprietary, rules-based, quantitative investment methodology which it makes available in several of its product lines. As of 6/30/11, the firms managed or supervised $51 billion in assets. For more information, visit www.ftportfolios.com.

¹After Tax Held returns represent return after taxes on distributions. Assumes shares have not been sold. After Tax Sold returns represent the return after taxes on distributions and the sale of fund shares. Returns do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. Market Price returns are based on the midpoint of the bid/ask spread. Returns are average annualized total returns, except those for periods of less than one year, which are cumulative. The fund’s performance reflects fee waivers and expense reimbursements, absent which performance would have been lower. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

²Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Performance information for the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index^SM is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent actual fund performance. No representation is being made that any investment will achieve performance similar to that shown. The Index does not charge management fees or brokerage expenses, and no such fees or expenses were deducted from the performance shown. Indexes are unmanaged and an investor cannot invest directly in an index.

Principal Risk Factors

The fund’s shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the fund. One of the principal risks of investing in the fund is market risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular stock owned by the fund, fund shares or stocks in general may fall in value.

The fund’s return may not match the return of the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index^SM. The fund may not be fully invested at times. Securities held by the fund will generally not be bought or sold in response to market fluctuations. The fund may invest in small capitalization and mid capitalization companies. Such companies may experience greater price volatility than larger, more established companies. Investors buying or selling fund shares on the secondary market may incur customary brokerage commissions. Investors who sell fund shares may receive less than the share’s net asset value. Shares may be sold throughout the day on the exchange through any brokerage account. However, shares may only be redeemed directly from the fund by authorized participants, in very large creation/redemption units.

The fund is concentrated in stocks of companies in the biotechnology 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 biotechnology sector are subject to fierce competition, substantial research and development costs, governmental regulations, pricing constraints, and their products and services may be subject to rapid obsolescence.

The fund invests in health care companies. Health care companies are subject to extensive competition, generic drug sales or the loss of patent protection, product liability litigation and increased government regulation. Research and development costs of bringing new drugs to market are substantial, and there is no guarantee that the product will ever come to market.

The 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.

The NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index^SM is a trademark of NYSE Euronext or its affiliates (“NYSE Euronext”) and is licensed for use by First Trust. The fund is not sponsored or endorsed by NYSE Euronext. NYSE Euronext makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the fund or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in the fund or the ability of the fund to track the performance of the various sectors represented in the stock market. NYSE Euronext has no obligation to take the needs of the owners of the fund into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Index. NYSE Euronext is not responsible for and has not participated in any determination or calculation made with respect to issuance or redemption of the fund.

The NASDAQ Biotech Index includes securities of NASDAQ-listed companies classified as either Biotechnology or Pharmaceuticals which also meet other eligibility criteria. The S&P Composite 1500 Health Care Index is a capitalization-weighted index of companies classified by GICS as health care within the S&P Composite 1500 Index. The S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index of 500 stocks used to measure large-cap U.S. stock market performance.

©2011 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Morningstar Rating^TM information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

*As of June 30, 2011, this fund was rated 5 stars among 132 funds in the Health category for the 3 year period and 5 stars among 123 funds for the 5 year period. The Morningstar Rating^TM is provided for those exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) with at least a three-year history. Ratings are based on the ETF’s Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure which accounts for variation in monthly performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. An ETF’s risk-adjusted return includes a brokerage commission estimate. This estimate is intended to reflect what an average investor would pay when buying or selling an ETF. PLEASE NOTE, this estimate is subject to change and the actual brokerage commission an investor pays may be higher or lower than this estimate. Morningstar compares each ETF’s risk-adjusted return to the open-end mutual fund rating breakpoints for that category. Consistent with the open-end mutual fund ratings, the top 10% of ETFs in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The overall rating for an ETF is based on a weighted average of the time-period ratings (e.g., the ETF’s 3, 5, and 10 year rating). The determination of an ETF’s rating does not affect the retail open end mutual fund data published by Morningstar. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.