AMEX debuts ETFs by First Trust

The American Stock Exchange began trading 17 exchange traded funds managed by First Trust Advisors LP this morning. Sixteen of the funds, called AlphaDEX funds, are designed to track the performance of a group of custom "enhanced" indexes created and administered by either the Amex or New York-based Standard & Poor's. Seven of the AlphaDEX funds—three "Core Series," two "Style Series" and two "Multi Cap Series"—are based on a family of indexes created and administered by S&P to create "alpha" returns that surpass benchmarks. In addition, nine "Sector Series" AlphaDEX funds seek to replicate the performance of Amex's StrataQuant family of indexes, which are modified equal-dollar weighted indexes that utilize the AlphaDEX screening method to identify and select stocks objectively from the Russell 1000 Index. StrataQuant indexes cover the following sectors: industrials, materials, technology, utilities, consumer discretionary, consumer staples, energy, financials and health care. Each of the nine funds contains between 35 and 75 stocks, with the exception of financials, which contains 151. First Trust also launched the First Trust S&P REIT Index Fund which tracks, an equity index called the S&P REIT Composite Index. Dan Waldron, senior vice president at First Trust, said that the new ETFs are aimed at financial advisers that are looking to compile a portfolio comprising the best stocks in the economy. Each of the indexes carries a 0.70% expense ratio. The 17 new ETFs bring the number of U.S. ETFs to 515, of which 306 are traded on the Amex. Lisle, Ill.-based First Trust manages $30 billion and now has 29 ETF products.