ETF Evaluator: Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF () Follow This ETF

Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF Overview

Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF (MDIV) is a passively managed Allocation Aggressive Allocation exchange-traded fund (ETF). First Trust launched the ETF in 2012.

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 NASDAQ U.S. Multi-Asset Diversified Income IndexSM. The fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net assets (including investment borrowings) in the common stocks and/or depositary receipts, REITs, preferred securities, MLPs and ETF that comprise the index. The index is designed to provide exposure to five asset segments, each selected to result in a consistent and high yield for the index. These five asset segments are: equity securities, REITs, preferred securities, MLPs and high yield corporate bonds.

About Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF (MDIV)

There are 7 members of the management team with an average tenure of 12.26 years: Daniel Lindquist (2012), Jon Erickson (2012), David McGarel (2012), Stan Ueland (2012), Chris Peterson (2016), Erik Russo (2020) and Roger Testin (2012). 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 Multi-Asset Divers Inc TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF has 126 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 32.2% 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.

Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF is part of the Allocation global asset class and is within the Allocation ETF group. Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF has 2.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 61.0% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 17.9% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 18.9% (16.9% domestic bond, 2.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF has 0.8% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $429 million in total assets, which is above the $237 million average for the Aggressive Allocation 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.

MDIV 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 Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Aggressive Allocation category. Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF has an expense ratio of 0.71%, which is 21% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. 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. Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 68%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 85% for the Aggressive Allocation category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF returned 2.3%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Aggressive Allocation category had an average return of 1.6%. 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.

Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF has a trailing yield of 6.75%, which is above the 5.86% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly 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.

Multi-Asset Diversified Income ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 11.4%, 0.9 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 13.0% over the past year (grade of D), 10.2% over the past three years (grade of C) and 6.8% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 4.8% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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