ETF Evaluator: First Trust Rising Dividend Achiev ETF (RDVY) Follow This ETF

First Trust Rising Dividend Achiev ETF Overview

First Trust Rising Dividend Achiev ETF (RDVY) is a passively managed U.S. Equity Large Value 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 fees and expenses) of the NASDAQ U.S. Rising Dividend Achievers TM Index. The fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in the common stock and depositary receipts that comprise the index. According to the index Provider, the index measures the performance of a selection of securities that have increased their dividend value over the previous three year and five-year annual periods. The index is comprised of four Sub-Portfolios.

About First Trust Rising Dividend Achiev ETF (RDVY)

There are 7 members of the management team with an average tenure of 11.25 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 NASDAQ US Rising Div Achiever TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. First Trust Rising Dividend Achiev ETF has 73 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 24.7% 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 Rising Dividend Achiev ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. First Trust Rising Dividend Achiev ETF has 2.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 97.9% There is 2.0% 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 Rising Dividend Achiev ETF has 0.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $24 billion in total assets, which is above 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.

RDVY 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 Rising Dividend Achiev ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Large Value category. First Trust Rising Dividend Achiev ETF has an expense ratio of 0.47%, which is 26% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. 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 Rising Dividend Achiev ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 69%, 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 Rising Dividend Achiev ETF returned -0.0%, which earned it a grade of F, 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 Rising Dividend Achiev ETF has a trailing yield of 0.84%, which is below the 1.70% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

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 Rising Dividend Achiev ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 17.2%, 2.8 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 29.2% over the past year (grade of B), 19.6% over the past three years (grade of A) and 12.9% per year over the past five years (grade of A) and 16.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of A).

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