ETF Evaluator: First Trust Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF () Follow This ETF

First Trust Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF Overview

First Trust Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF (HSMV) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Small Blend exchange-traded fund (ETF). First Trust launched the ETF in 2020.

The investment seeks to provide investors with capital appreciation. Under normal market conditions, the fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing at least 80% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in small- and/or mid-capitalization common stocks listed and traded on U.S. national securities exchanges that Sub-Advisor believes exhibit low future expected volatility. It is non-diversified.

About First Trust Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF (HSMV)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 6.32 years: Scott Ladner (2020), Michael Dickson (2020) and Steven Clark (2020). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 1000 TR index with a weighting of 100% and Russell 3000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. First Trust Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF has 152 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 15.8% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

First Trust Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. First Trust Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF has 0.9% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 99.0% There is 0.9% 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 Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF has 0.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $35 million in total assets, which is below the $4 billion average for the Small Blend 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.

HSMV 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 Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Small Blend category. First Trust Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF has an expense ratio of 0.80%, which is 89% 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 Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 66%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 50% for the Small Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, First Trust Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF returned 2.2%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Small Blend category had an average return of -2.1%. 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 Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF has a trailing yield of 1.86%, which is above the 1.17% 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 Horizon Managed Vol S/M ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 10.5%, 7.5 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 12.8% over the past year (grade of F), 8.9% over the past three years (grade of F) and 4.9% per year over the past five years (grade of F).

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