If you're interested in broad exposure to the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market, look no further than the First Trust NASDAQ Transportation ETF (FTXR), a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on September 20, 2016.
Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.
Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Industrials - Transportation/Shipping is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 2, placing it in top 13%.
Index Details
The fund is sponsored by First Trust Advisors. It has amassed assets over $1.07 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Transportation/Shipping segment of the equity market. FTXR seeks to match the performance of the Nasdaq US Smart Transportation Index before fees and expenses.
The Nasdaq US Smart Transportation Index is a modified factor weighted index, designed to provide exposure to US companies within the transportation industry.
Costs
Since cheaper funds tend to produce better results than more expensive funds, assuming all other factors remain equal, it is important for investors to pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio.
Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.6%, making it on par with most peer products in the space.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.97%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector -- about 69.8% of the portfolio, followed by Consumer Discretionary.
Looking at individual holdings, General Motors Company (GM) accounts for about 8.09% of total assets, followed by Union Pacific Corporation (UNP) and Tesla, Inc. (TSLA).The top 10 holdings account for about 58.23% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF return is roughly 16.79% so far this year and it's up approximately 38.18% in the last one year (as of 07/06/2026). In that past 52-week period, it has traded between $31.654 and $45.572.
The ETF has a beta of 1.28 and standard deviation of 22.44% for the trailing three-year period. With about 44 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.
Alternatives
First Trust NASDAQ Transportation ETF carries a Zacks ETF Rank of 3 (Hold), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Thus, FTXR is a reasonable option for those seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs area of the market. Investors might also want to consider some other ETF options in the space.
U.S. Global Jets ETF (JETS) tracks U.S. Global Jets Index and the iShares U.S. Transportation ETF (IYT) tracks Dow Jones Transportation Average Index. U.S. Global Jets ETF has $952.48 million in assets, iShares U.S. Transportation ETF has $2.27 billion. JETS has an expense ratio of 0.6%, and IYT charges 0.38%.
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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First Trust NASDAQ Transportation ETF (FTXR): ETF Research Reports
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).