ETF Evaluator: First Trust Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF (HUSV) Follow This ETF

First Trust Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF Overview

First Trust Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF (HUSV) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Value exchange-traded fund (ETF). First Trust launched the ETF in 2016.

The investment seeks to provide capital appreciation. The fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets in common stocks of domestic companies listed and traded on U.S. national securities exchanges that the sub-advisor believes exhibit low future expected volatility. To implement this strategy, the sub-advisor employs volatility forecasting models to forecast future expected volatility. The strategy is largely quantitative and rules-based, but also includes multiple parameters over which the sub-advisor may exercise discretion in connection with its active management of the fund.

About First Trust Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF (HUSV)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 9.94 years: Scott Ladner (2016), Michael Dickson (2016) and Steven Clark (2016). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 1 primary benchmark: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100%. First Trust Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF has 102 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 26.4% 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 Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. First Trust Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF has 1.2% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 98.5% There is 1.2% 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 Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF has 0.3% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $73 million in total assets, which is below the $5 billion average for the Large Value 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.

HUSV 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 Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Large Value category. First Trust Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF has an expense ratio of 0.70%, which is 87% 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 Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 84%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 40% for the Large Value category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, First Trust Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF returned 4.5%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Large Value category had an average return of 2.4%. 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 Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF has a trailing yield of 1.27%, which is below the 1.70% 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 Hrzn MgdVolatil Domestic ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 6.7%, 7.7 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 5.1% over the past year (grade of F), 9.1% over the past three years (grade of F) and 6.0% per year over the past five years (grade of F).

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