First Trust Senior Loan Fund (FTSL)
Investment Objective/Strategy - The First Trust Senior Loan Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund. The fund's primary investment objective is to provide high current income by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of first lien senior floating-rate bank loans ("Senior Loans"). The fund's secondary investment objective is the preservation of capital. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest in at least 80% of its net assets in Senior Loans that are made predominantly to businesses operating in North America and may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in non-Senior Loan debt securities, warrants, equity securities and securities of other investment companies.
There can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objectives will be achieved.
Fund Overview
TickerFTSL
Fund TypeSenior Loan
Investment AdvisorFirst Trust Advisors L.P.
Investor Servicing AgentBank of New York Mellon Corp
CUSIP33738D309
ISINUS33738D3098
Intraday NAVFTSLIV
Fiscal Year-End10/31
ExchangeNasdaq
Inception5/1/2013
Inception Price$50.00
Inception NAV$50.00
Total Expense Ratio*0.87%
* As of 3/1/2024
Current Fund Data (as of 10/7/2024)
Closing NAV1$46.10
Closing Market Price2$46.09
Bid/Ask Midpoint$46.08
Bid/Ask Discount0.04%
30-Day Median Bid/Ask Spread30.02%
Total Net Assets$2,178,135,417
Outstanding Shares47,250,002
Daily Volume329,196
Average 30-Day Daily Volume323,433
Closing Market Price 52-Week High/Low$46.40 / $45.35
Closing NAV 52-Week High/Low$46.41 / $45.39
Number of Holdings (excluding cash)213
Top Holdings (as of 10/7/2024)*
Holding Percent
IRB HOLDING CORP ARGIHC TL B 1L USD 1.78%
ATHENAHEALTH INC ATHENA TL 1L USD 1.68%
MEDLINE BORROWER LP MEDIND TL B 1L USD 1.67%
1011778 BC ULC BCULC TL B5 1L USD 1.57%
CAMELOT US ACQUISITION LLC CCC TL B 1L USD 1.46%
AMWINS GROUP INC AMWINS TL B 1L USD 1.44%
ASSUREDPARTNERS INC ASSPAR TL B5 1L USD 1.36%
SEDGWICK CMS INC SEDGEW TL B 1L USD 1.34%
GENESYS CLOUD SERVICES GCTI TL B 1L USD 1.33%
MILANO ACQUISITION CORP MILACQ TL 1L USD 1.33%

* Excluding cash.  Holdings are subject to change.

Overall Morningstar RatingTM (as of 9/30/2024)4

Among 209 funds in the Bank Loan category. This fund was rated 3 stars/209 funds (3 years), 3 stars/204 funds (5 years), 4 stars/166 funds (10 years) based on risk adjusted returns.
Distribution Information
Dividend per Share Amt (as of 10/8/2024)5$0.2900
30-Day SEC Yield (as of 9/30/2024)67.76%
12-Month Distribution Rate (as of 9/30/2024)77.70%
Distribution Rate (as of 9/30/2024)87.56%
Fund Characteristics (as of 10/7/2024)
Weighted Average Effective Duration90.56 Years
Weighted Average Maturity4.86 Years
Weighted Average Price$98.07
Weighted Average Coupon7.81%
Weighted Average Yield-To-Maturity108.07%
Weighted Average Yield-to-Worst117.99%
Days to Reset1223.68 Days
3-Month Term SOFR134.64%
Percent of Assets with Interest Rate Floors41.91%
Please note: Weighted average maturity excludes defaulted assets. Weighted average price excludes equity prices.
Asset Type Breakdown (as of 9/30/2024)
Asset Percent
Loan 88.35%
Bond 11.65%
Equity 0.00%
Please note that percentage of 0.00 indicates an amount less than 0.01%.
Credit Quality (as of 9/30/2024)
Credit Quality Percent
BBB 0.15%
BBB- 6.87%
BB+ 3.09%
BB 6.81%
BB- 7.41%
B+ 16.94%
B 32.56%
B- 19.26%
CCC+ 4.62%
CCC 0.31%
CCC- 0.49%
NR 1.49%
The ratings are by S&P Global Ratings. A credit rating is an assessment provided by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) of the creditworthiness of an issuer with respect to debt obligations except for those debt obligations that are only privately rated. Ratings are measured on a scale that generally ranges from AAA (highest) to D (lowest). Investment grade is defined as those issuers that have a long-term credit rating of BBB- or higher. "NR" indicates no rating. The credit ratings shown relate to the creditworthiness of the issuers of the underlying securities in the Fund, and not to the Fund or its shares. Credit ratings are subject to change.
Bid/Ask Premium/Discount (as of 10/7/2024)
  2023 Q1 2024 Q2 2024 Q3 2024
Days Traded at Premium 39 17 46 20
Days Traded at Discount 211 44 17 44
Top Industry Exposure (as of 9/30/2024)
Software 20.74%
Insurance 15.48%
Health Care Technology 7.74%
Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure 7.68%
Containers & Packaging 5.51%
Professional Services 5.11%
Media 4.69%
Commercial Services & Supplies 4.19%
Health Care Providers & Services 3.63%
Food Products 3.01%
Hypothetical Growth of $10,000 Since Inception (as of 10/7/2024) *


Month End Performance (as of 9/30/2024)
  3 Month YTD 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year Since
Fund
Inception14
Fund Performance *
Net Asset Value (NAV) 2.37% 5.57% 8.77% 5.13% 4.70% 4.04% 3.80%
After Tax Held 1.58% 3.13% 5.42% 2.47% 2.52% 2.09% 1.89%
After Tax Sold 1.40% 3.26% 5.12% 2.75% 2.64% 2.21% 2.04%
Market Price 2.32% 5.55% 8.35% 5.04% 4.64% 4.00% 3.78%
Index Performance **
Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index 5.20% 4.45% 11.57% -1.39% 0.33% 1.84% 1.70%
Morningstar® LSTA® US Leveraged Loan Index 2.09% 6.59% 9.62% 6.47% 5.74% 4.86% 4.66%
Quarter End Performance (as of 9/30/2024)
  3 Month YTD 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year Since
Fund
Inception14
Fund Performance *
Net Asset Value (NAV) 2.37% 5.57% 8.77% 5.13% 4.70% 4.04% 3.80%
After Tax Held 1.58% 3.13% 5.42% 2.47% 2.52% 2.09% 1.89%
After Tax Sold 1.40% 3.26% 5.12% 2.75% 2.64% 2.21% 2.04%
Market Price 2.32% 5.55% 8.35% 5.04% 4.64% 4.00% 3.78%
Index Performance **
Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index 5.20% 4.45% 11.57% -1.39% 0.33% 1.84% 1.70%
Morningstar® LSTA® US Leveraged Loan Index 2.09% 6.59% 9.62% 6.47% 5.74% 4.86% 4.66%
3-Year Statistics (as of 9/30/2024)
  Standard Deviation Alpha Beta Sharpe Ratio Correlation
FTSL 4.10% -1.34 1.03 0.42 0.96
Morningstar® LSTA® US Leveraged Loan Index 3.84% --- 1.00 0.80 1.00
Standard Deviation is a measure of price variability (risk). Alpha is an indication of how much an investment outperforms or underperforms on a risk-adjusted basis relative to its benchmark.Beta is a measure of price variability relative to the market. Sharpe Ratio is a measure of excess reward per unit of volatility. Correlation is a measure of the similarity of performance.

*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.

Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index - The Index covers the investment-grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market, including Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, MBS, ABS, and CMBS.

Morningstar® LSTA® US Leveraged Loan Index - The Index, formerly the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index, is a market value-weighted index that is designed to deliver comprehensive, precise coverage of the US leveraged loan market.

Footnotes
1 The NAV represents the fund's net assets (assets less liabilities) divided by the fund's outstanding shares.
2 Fund shares are purchased and sold on an exchange at their market price rather than net asset value (NAV), which may cause the shares to trade at a price greater than NAV (premium) or less than NAV (discount).
3 The median bid-ask spread is calculated by identifying the national best bid and national best offer ("NBBO") for the fund as of the end of each 10 second interval during each trading day of the last 30 calendar days and dividing the difference between each such bid and offer by the midpoint of the NBBO. The median of those values is identified and that value is expressed as a percentage rounded to the nearest hundredth.
4
The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product 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 Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.
5 Most recent distribution paid or declared to today's date. Subject to change in the future. There is no guarantee that the fund will declare dividends.
6 The 30-day SEC yield is calculated by dividing the net investment income per share earned during the most recent 30-day period by the maximum offering price per share on the last day of the period and includes the effects of fee waivers and expense reimbursements, if applicable.
7 12-Month Distribution Rate is calculated by dividing the sum of the fund's trailing 12-month ordinary distributions paid or declared by the NAV price. Distribution rates may vary.
8 Distribution Rate is calculated by dividing the fund's most recent ordinary distribution paid or declared, on an annualized basis, by the NAV price. Distribution rates may vary.
9 A measure of a bond's sensitivity to interest rate changes that reflects the change in a bond's price given a change in yield. Given that senior loans typically pay a floating rate of interest, they tend to have an effective duration of almost zero. As such, we estimate the duration for senior loans to be approximately 0.25 years.
10 The annualized return that would be earned on a debt security if held to maturity, weighted by the value of each debt security in the fund's portfolio. The calculation does not include the effect of fund fees and expenses.
11 YTW is the measure of the lowest possible yield that can be received on a fixed income security with an early retirement provision without the issuer defaulting. The calculation does not include the effect of fund fees and expenses.
12 The average number of days until the floating component of a loan resets.
13 Term SOFR Reference Rates provide an indicative, forward-looking measurement of SOFR rates, based on market expectations implied from leading derivatives markets. The Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) is a broad measure of the cost of borrowing cash overnight collateralized by Treasury securities. The SOFR includes all trades in the Broad General Collateral Rate plus bilateral Treasury repurchase agreement (repo) transactions.
14 Inception Date is 5/1/2013

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.

Risk Considerations

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.

Investments in bank loans are subject to the same risks as other debt securities, but the risks may be heightened because of limited public information available and because loan borrowers may be leveraged and tend to be more adversely affected by changes in market or economic conditions. The secondary market for bank loans may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods.

During periods of falling interest rates if an issuer calls higher-yielding debt instruments, a fund may be forced to invest the proceeds at lower interest rates, likely resulting in a decline in the fund's income.

A fund that effects all or a portion of its creations and redemptions for cash rather than in-kind may be less tax-efficient.

Covenant-lite loans contain fewer maintenance covenants than traditional loans and may not include terms that allow the lender to monitor the financial performance of the borrower and declare a default if certain criteria are breached. This may hinder a fund's ability to mitigate problems and increase a fund's exposure to losses on such investments.

An issuer or other obligated party of a debt security may be unable or unwilling to make dividend, interest and/or principal payments when due and the value of a security may decline as a result.

Ratings assigned by a credit rating agency are opinions of such entities, not absolute standards of credit quality and they do not evaluate risks of securities. Any shortcomings or inefficiencies in the process of determining credit ratings may adversely affect the credit ratings of the securities held by a fund and their perceived or actual credit risk.

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. As a means to fight inflation, the Federal Reserve and certain foreign central banks have raised interest rates; however, the Federal Reserve has recently lowered interest rates and may continue to do so. Recent and potential future bank failures could result in disruption to the broader banking industry or markets generally and reduce confidence in financial institutions and the economy as a whole, which may also heighten market volatility and reduce liquidity. Ongoing armed conflicts between Russia and Ukraine in Europe and among Israel, Hamas and other militant groups in the Middle East, have caused and could continue to cause significant market disruptions and volatility within the markets in Russia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. The hostilities and sanctions resulting from those hostilities have and could continue to have a significant impact on certain fund investments as well as fund performance and liquidity. The COVID-19 global pandemic, or any future public health crisis, and the ensuing policies enacted by governments and central banks have caused and may continue to cause significant volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets, negatively impacting global growth prospects.

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.

Investments in debt securities subject the holder to the credit risk of the issuer and the value of debt securities will generally change inversely with changes in interest rates. In addition, debt securities generally do not trade on a securities exchange making them less liquid and more difficult to value.

Defaulted securities pose a much greater risk that principal will not be repaid than non-defaulted securities which may result in losses for a fund.

Distressed securities are speculative and often illiquid or trade in low volumes and thus may be more difficult to value and pose a substantial risk of default.

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.

Extension risk is the risk that, when interest rates rise, certain obligations will be paid off by the issuer (or other obligated party) more slowly than anticipated, causing the value of these debt securities to fall. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of debt securities, making their market value more sensitive to changes in interest rates.

Floating rate securities are structured so that the security's coupon rate fluctuates based upon the level of a reference rate. As a result, the coupon on floating rate securities will generally decline in a falling interest rate environment, causing a fund to experience a reduction in the income it receives from the security. A floating rate security's coupon rate resets periodically according to the terms of the security. Consequently, in a rising interest rate environment, floating rate securities with coupon rates that reset infrequently may lag behind the changes in market interest rates.

High yield securities, or "junk" bonds, are less liquid and are subject to greater market fluctuations and risk of loss than securities with higher ratings, and therefore, are considered to be highly speculative.

A fund's income may decline when interest rates fall or if there are defaults in its portfolio.

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.

Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the debt securities in a fund's portfolio will decline because of rising interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally lower for shorter term debt securities and higher for longer-term debt securities.

If a fund invests in securities of another investment company, a fund may bear its ratable share of that investment company's expenses as well as a fund's advisory and administrative fees, which may result in duplicative expenses. A fund may also incur brokerage costs if purchasing or selling shares of exchange-traded investment companies.

To the extent a fund invests in floating or variable rate obligations that use the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") as a reference interest rate, it is subject to LIBOR Risk. LIBOR has ceased to be made available as a reference rate and there is no assurance that any alternative reference rate, including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"), will be similar to or produce the same value or economic equivalence as LIBOR. The unavailability or replacement of LIBOR may affect the value, liquidity or return on certain fund investments and may result in costs incurred in connection with closing out positions and entering into new trades. Any potential effects of the transition away from LIBOR on a fund or on certain instruments in which a fund invests is difficult to predict and could result in losses to the fund.

Certain fund investments may be subject to restrictions on resale, trade over-the-counter or in limited volume, or lack an active trading market. Illiquid securities may trade at a discount and may be subject to wide fluctuations in market value.

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.

Securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to additional risks, including currency fluctuations, political risks, withholding, lack of liquidity, lack of adequate financial information, and exchange control restrictions impacting non-U.S. 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.

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.

Prepayment risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt security will repay principal prior to the scheduled maturity date. Debt securities allowing prepayment may offer less potential for gains during a period of declining interest rates, as a fund may be required to reinvest the proceeds of any prepayment at lower interest rates.

Companies that issue loans tend to be highly leveraged and thus are more susceptible to the risks of interest deferral, default and/or bankruptcy. Loans are usually rated below investment grade but may also be unrated. As a result, the risks associated with these loans are similar to the risks of high-yield fixed income instruments. The senior loan market has seen a significant increase in loans with weaker lender protections which may impact recovery values and/or trading levels in the future.

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.

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.

Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and U.S. government sponsored instrumentalities may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.

A fund may hold securities or other assets that may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur because the asset or security does not trade on a centralized exchange, or in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including "fair valued" assets or securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. There is no assurance that a fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time.

Warrants and rights do not include the right to dividends, voting, or to the assets of the issuer and the value of the warrants and rights does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities. The market for warrants and rights may be limited.

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).

©2024 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Morningstar RatingTM 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.

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Not FDIC Insured • Not Bank Guaranteed • May Lose Value