* Excluding cash. Holdings are subject to change.
*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.
After 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 determined by using the midpoint of the national best bid offer price ("NBBO") as of the time that the fund's NAV is calculated. Returns are average annualized total returns, except those for periods of less than one year, which are cumulative.
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.
**Performance information for each listed index is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent actual fund performance. Indexes do 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.
On June 30, 2025, the fund acquired the assets and adopted the performance history of the First Trust Specialty Finance and Financial Opportunities Fund (FGB), a closed-end fund. As FGB and the fund have a number of differences, including that FGB utilized leverage while the fund does not utilize leverage. FGB's past performance is not indicative of how the fund will, or is expected to, perform in the future.
Blended Benchmark - The Benchmark consists of a 70/20/10 blend of the MarketVector™ US Business Development Companies Liquid Index which tracks the performance of the largest and most liquid Business Development Companies that are listed and incorporated in the United States, the FTSE NARIET Mortgage REIT Index which is a free-float adjusted, market capitalization-weighted index of U.S. Mortgage REITs and the S&P SmallCap Financials Index which is comprised of the S&P SmallCap 600 companies that are classified as members of the GICS? Financials sector. The Blended Benchmark return is calculated by using the monthly return of the three indices during each period shown above. At the beginning of each month, the three indices are rebalanced, to account for divergence from that ratio that occurred during the course of each month to the ratios noted above. The monthly returns are then compounded for each period shown above, giving the performance for the Blended Benchmark for each period shown above.
MarketVector™ US Business Development Companies Liquid Index - The Index tracks the performance of the largest and most liquid Business Development Companies that are listed and incorporated in the United States.
MSCI USA IMI Financials Index - The Index is designed to measure the performance of the large, mid and small cap segments of the US Financials sector equity universe.
S&P 500® Index - The Index is an unmanaged index of 500 companies used to measure large-cap U.S. stock market performance.
You should consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing. You can download a prospectus or summary prospectus, or contact First Trust Portfolios L.P. at 1-800-621-1675 to request 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.
You could lose money by investing in a fund. An investment in a fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed. There can be no assurance that a fund's objective(s) will be achieved. Investors buying or selling shares on the secondary market may incur customary brokerage commissions. Please refer to each fund's prospectus and Statement of Additional Information for additional details on a fund's risks. The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor.
Unlike mutual funds, shares of the fund may only be redeemed directly from a fund by authorized participants in very large creation/redemption units. If a fund's authorized participants are unable to proceed with creation/redemption orders and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, fund shares may trade at a premium or discount to a fund's net asset value and possibly face delisting and the bid/ask spread may widen.
An investment in a Business Development Company ("BDC") may present a greater risk of loss due to the company's youth, limited track record, limited product line, use of leverage, or small market share. These companies may also have issues related to liquidity or capital resources which may result in a greater risk of default on fixed income securities or non-payment of dividends on stock. Additionally, the BDC's shares may trade at a market price above or below its net asset value, or an active market may not develop for its shares which may result in losses to the fund.
Current market conditions risk is the risk that a particular investment, or shares of the fund in general, may fall in value due to current market conditions. For example, changes in governmental fiscal and regulatory policies, disruptions to banking and real estate markets, actual and threatened international armed conflicts and hostilities, and public health crises, among other significant events, could have a material impact on the value of the fund's investments.
A fund is susceptible to operational risks through breaches in cyber security. Such events could cause a fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss.
A fund may be dependent on a portfolio manager's expertise. Loss of any portfolio manager could adversely affect a sub-advisor's ability to manage a fund, and there is no guarantee a suitable replacement could be found.
Companies that issue dividend-paying securities are not required to continue to pay dividends on such securities. Therefore, there is a possibility that such companies could reduce or eliminate the payment of dividends in the future.
Equity securities may decline significantly in price over short or extended periods of time, and such declines may occur in the equity market as a whole, or they may occur in only a particular country, company, industry or sector of the market.
Financial services companies are subject to the adverse effects of economic recession, currency exchange rates, government regulation, decreases in the availability of capital, volatile interest rates, portfolio concentration in geographic markets, industries or products, and competition from new entrants in their fields of business.
A fund may be a constituent of one or more indices or models which could greatly affect a fund's trading activity, size and volatility.
As inflation increases, the present value of a fund's assets and distributions may decline.
The portfolio managers of an actively managed portfolio will apply investment techniques and risk analyses that may not have the desired result.
Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or shares of a fund in general may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as general economic conditions, political events, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Shares of a fund could decline in value or underperform other investments as a result. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious disease or other public health issues, recessions, natural disasters or other events could have significant negative impact on a fund.
A fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for fund shares due to a limited number of market makers. Decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the underlying values of a fund's portfolio securities and a fund's market price.
A fund classified as "non-diversified" may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, a fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers, experience increased volatility and be highly concentrated in certain issuers.
A fund and a fund's advisor may seek to reduce various operational risks through controls and procedures, but it is not possible to completely protect against such risks. The fund also relies on third parties for a range of services, including custody, and any delay or failure related to those services may affect the fund's ability to meet its objective.
High portfolio turnover may result in higher levels of transaction costs and may generate greater tax liabilities for shareholders.
The market price of a fund's shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in the fund's net asset value ("NAV") as well as the relative supply of and demand for shares on the exchange, and a fund's investment advisor cannot predict whether shares will trade below, at or above their NAV.
Real Estate Investment Trusts ("REITs") are subject to the risks of investing in real estate, including, but not limited to, changes in the real estate market, vacancy rates and competition, volatile interest rates and economic recession. Increases in interest rates typically lower the present value of a REIT's future earnings stream and may make financing property purchases and improvements more costly. The value of a fund will generally decline when investors in REIT stocks anticipate or experience rising interest rates.
A fund with significant exposure to a single asset class, country, region, industry, or sector may be more affected by an adverse economic or political development than a broadly diversified fund.
Securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies may experience greater price volatility and be less liquid than larger, more established companies.
A fund may invest in specialty finance companies, such as REITs and other lenders to certain small businesses. These companies can be sensitive to interest rate changes, capital availability, economic conditions, and borrower defaults, which may result in volatile performance and potential losses.
Trading on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or other reasons. There can be no assurance that a fund's requirements to maintain the exchange listing will continue to be met or be unchanged.
First Trust Advisors L.P. (FTA) is the adviser to the First Trust fund(s). FTA is an affiliate of First Trust Portfolios L.P., the distributor of the fund(s).
CUSIP identifiers have been provided by CUSIP Global Services, managed on behalf of the American Bankers Association by FactSet Research Systems Inc. and are not for use or dissemination in a manner that would serve as a substitute for any CUSIP service. The CUSIP Database, ©2025 CUSIP Global Services. "CUSIP" is a registered trademark of the American Bankers Association.
