ETF Evaluator: First Trust Innovation Leaders ETF () Follow This ETF

First Trust Innovation Leaders ETF Overview

First Trust Innovation Leaders ETF (ILDR) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Growth exchange-traded fund (ETF). First Trust launched the ETF in 2021.

The investment seeks to provide capital appreciation. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in common stock and depository receipts issued by U.S. and non-U.S. companies that may benefit from the development or application of scientific and technological innovation. The fund’s investments will be concentrated in the information technology sector, and therefore, may be concentrated in one or more industries within the information technology sector. The fund is non-diversified.

About First Trust Innovation Leaders ETF (ILDR)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 5.19 years: David McGarel (2021), Chris Peterson (2021), Robert Hensley (2021) and Jared Wollen (2021). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: Russell 3000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Russell 3000 Growth TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. First Trust Innovation Leaders ETF has 82 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 42.1% 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 Innovation Leaders ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity ETF group. First Trust Innovation Leaders ETF has 10.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 89.8% There is 10.0% 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 Innovation Leaders ETF has 0.3% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $294 million in total assets, which is below the $8 billion average for the Large Growth 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.

ILDR 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 Innovation Leaders ETF expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Large Growth category. First Trust Innovation Leaders ETF has an expense ratio of 0.75%, which is 52% 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 Innovation Leaders ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 57%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 74% for the Large Growth category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, First Trust Innovation Leaders ETF returned -7.3%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Large Growth category had an average return of -3.8%. 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 Innovation Leaders ETF has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 0.53% category average. The fund normally distributes its income 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 Innovation Leaders ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 10.4%, 4.2 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 19.7% over the past year (grade of B), 24.4% over the past three years (grade of A) and 10.6% per year over the past five years (grade of C).

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