ETF Evaluator: First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF (AIRR) Follow This ETF

First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF Overview

First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF (AIRR) is a passively managed Sector Equity Industrials exchange-traded fund (ETF). First Trust launched the ETF in 2014.

The investment seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the fund's fees and expenses) of an index called the Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance ® Index (the "index"). The fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in the equity securities that comprise the index. The index is designed to measure the performance of small and mid cap U.S. companies in the industrial and community banking sectors.

About First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF (AIRR)

There are 7 members of the management team with an average tenure of 11.13 years: Daniel Lindquist (2014), Jon Erickson (2014), David McGarel (2014), Stan Ueland (2014), Chris Peterson (2016), Erik Russo (2021) and Roger Testin (2014). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100% and Russell 2500 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF has 59 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 31.1% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Sector Equity ETF group. First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 99.8% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF has 0.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $10 billion in total assets, which is above the $1 billion average for the Industrials category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

AIRR Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Industrials category. First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF has an expense ratio of 0.69%, which is 35% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a F. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 60%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 40% for the Industrials category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF returned -12.1%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Industrials category had an average return of -4.0%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF has a trailing yield of 0.09%, which is below the 1.11% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 19.2%, 6.6 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 34.4% over the past year (grade of A), 29.3% over the past three years (grade of A) and 23.4% per year over the past five years (grade of A) and 20.0% per year over the past 10 years (grade of A).

First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF Risk

A basic investment concept is that risk should be rewarded. Standard deviation measures the degree of variation in return experienced relative to the average return for an ETF. It notes the recent volatility of the ETF but does not explain the elements impacting the volatility. For example, portfolio concentration or exposure to foreign investments can impact the volatility and should be examined to gain an understanding of the ETF.

The total risk index relates the volatility of the ETF to the volatility of all ETFs. It can help you understand the volatility of an ETF across all categories. Ratios above 1.00 indicate higher risk than average. First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF has a high total risk index of 2.11 because of its standard deviation of 25.9%.

The category risk index relates the volatility of an ETF to the average volatility for ETFs in the same investment category. First Trust RBA Amer Indl RenaisTM ETF has a high category risk of 1.26, giving it a category risk grade of F. Letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon these relative rankings.