FIRST TRUST
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund
Book 3
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF (DWPP)
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW)
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF (FCTR)
Annual Report
December 31, 2021
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
ANNUAL REPORT
DECEMBER 31, 2021
Shareholder Letter.......................................................... 2
Market Overview............................................................. 3
Fund Performance Overview
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF (TUSA)....................... 4
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF (DWPP).................. 6
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW)............................... 8
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF (FCTR)......................... 10
Notes to Fund Performance Overview.......................................... 12
Understanding Your Fund Expenses............................................ 13
Portfolio of Investments
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF (TUSA)....................... 14
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF (DWPP).................. 29
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (EDOW)............................... 36
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF (FCTR)......................... 37
Statements of Assets and Liabilities........................................ 40
Statements of Operations.................................................... 41
Statements of Changes in Net Assets......................................... 42
Financial Highlights........................................................ 44
Notes to Financial Statements............................................... 46
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm..................... 55
Additional Information...................................................... 56
Board of Trustees and Officers.............................................. 59
Privacy Policy.............................................................. 61
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CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
as amended. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the goals,
beliefs, plans or current expectations of First Trust Advisors L.P. ("First
Trust" or the "Advisor") and its representatives, taking into account the
information currently available to them. Forward-looking statements include all
statements that do not relate solely to current or historical fact. For example,
forward-looking statements include the use of words such as "anticipate,"
"estimate," "intend," "expect," "believe," "plan," "may," "should," "would" or
other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes.
Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of
any series of First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund (the "Trust") described in this
report (each such series is referred to as a "Fund" and collectively, as the
"Funds") to be materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. When
evaluating the information included in this report, you are cautioned not to
place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which reflect the
judgment of the Advisor and its representatives only as of the date hereof. We
undertake no obligation to publicly revise or update these forward-looking
statements to reflect events and circumstances that arise after the date hereof.
PERFORMANCE AND RISK DISCLOSURE
There is no assurance that any Fund described in this report will achieve its
investment objective. Each Fund is subject to market risk, which is the
possibility that the market values of securities owned by the Fund will decline
and that the value of the Fund's shares may therefore be less than what you paid
for them. Accordingly, you can lose money by investing in a Fund. See "Risk
Considerations" in the Additional Information section of this report for a
discussion of certain other risks of investing in the Funds.
Performance data quoted represents past performance, which is no guarantee of
future results, and current performance may be lower or higher than the figures
shown. For the most recent month-end performance figures, please visit
www.ftportfolios.com or speak with your financial advisor. Investment returns,
net asset value and share price will fluctuate and Fund shares, when sold, may
be worth more or less than their original cost.
The Advisor may also periodically provide additional information on Fund
performance on each Fund's webpage at www.ftportfolios.com.
HOW TO READ THIS REPORT
This report contains information that may help you evaluate your investment. It
includes details about each Fund and presents data and analysis that provide
insight into each Fund's performance and investment approach.
By reading the market overview by Robert F. Carey, Chief Market Strategist of
the Advisor, you may obtain an understanding of how the market environment
affected the performance of each Fund. The statistical information that follows
may help you understand each Fund's performance compared to that of relevant
market benchmarks.
It is important to keep in mind that the opinions expressed by personnel of the
Advisor are just that: informed opinions. They should not be considered to be
promises or advice. The opinions, like the statistics, cover the period through
the date on the cover of this report. The material risks of investing in each
Fund are spelled out in its prospectus, statement of additional information, and
other Fund regulatory filings.
Page 1
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SHAREHOLDER LETTER
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
ANNUAL LETTER FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND CEO
DECEMBER 31, 2021
Dear Shareholders:
First Trust is pleased to provide you with the annual report for certain funds
in the First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund (the "Funds"), which contains detailed
information about the Funds for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021.
Being that this is a year-end review, I would like to touch on the state of the
business climate and securities markets in the U.S. The two biggest stories in
2021 were clearly the ongoing fight against the coronavirus ("COVID-19")
pandemic and the surge in the rate of inflation, which I believe is a byproduct
of that fight. The COVID-19 pandemic is closing in on its second anniversary and
it continues to curb economic activity in the U.S. and abroad. It is nearly as
challenging today as it was at its peak in 2020.
The emergence of the Omicron variant in the latter half of 2021 was particularly
disappointing because we had been making some inroads into fully reopening the
U.S. economy until its arrival. Americans were dining out. Airline travel was
picking up and people were even taking cruises again. We have learned that the
Omicron variant, while seemingly not as dangerous as its predecessor, the Delta
variant, at least in terms of the number of deaths to date, is still extremely
contagious, especially for those individuals who have not been vaccinated. The
U.S. federal government has funneled trillions of dollars of stimulus and
subsidies into the financial system to mitigate the economic fallout from the
pandemic. That level of support is unprecedented and has likely fueled much of
the surge in inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index ("CPI"). The
standard definition for inflation is "too many dollars chasing too few goods."
The explosion of the U.S. money supply has easily overwhelmed the volume of
goods available to consumers. Global supply chain bottlenecks, including the
backlog of container ships at ports in Southern California, have also
contributed to the shortages of goods. In December 2021, the trailing 12-month
rate on the CPI was 7.0%, up from 1.4% last December, according to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. The last time inflation was this elevated was in
1982.
Since the onset of COVID-19, companies and millions of employees have scrambled
to adapt to the new normal of working remotely, typically from home. What an
amazing thing to watch. While opinions may vary, it has become evident that the
workplace culture has probably changed forever. According to Barron's magazine,
we should look for more of a hybrid arrangement moving forward that would entail
workers being at the office for three days a week and home for two. I do not
believe that the stock and bond markets would have performed nearly as well over
the past two years had U.S. businesses not overcome the adversity brought their
way by COVID-19. Oh, and the trillions of dollars from the government. In 2021,
the S&P 500(R) Index posted a total return of 28.71%, and that came on the heels
of an 18.40% gain in 2020, according to Bloomberg. From 1926-2021 (a span of 96
years), the S&P 500(R) Index posted an average annual total return of 10.44%,
according to Morningstar/Ibbotson Associates. Investors should relish these
outsized returns. Bond investors have earned more modest total returns over the
past two years. Bond returns were higher for most bond categories in 2020 due to
the artificially depressed yield on the 10-Year Treasury Note ("T-Note"). The
10-Year T-Note yield trended higher in 2021, putting some pressure on bond
prices. Expect the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy by raising
short-term interest rates. It could begin as early as March 2022. While the
markets could experience some near-term pain, I believe normalizing interest
rates and bond yields will prove to be a healthy and necessary transition for
the markets long-term.
Thank you for giving First Trust the opportunity to play a role in your
financial future. We value our relationship with you and will report on the
Funds again in six months.
Sincerely,
/s/ James A. Bowen
James A. Bowen
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Chief Executive Officer of First Trust Advisors L.P.
Page 2
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MARKET OVERVIEW
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
ANNUAL REPORT
DECEMBER 31, 2021
ROBERT F. CAREY, CFA
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST
FIRST TRUST ADVISORS L.P.
Mr. Carey is responsible for the overall management of research and analysis of
the First Trust product line. Mr. Carey has more than 30 years of experience as
an Equity and Fixed-Income Analyst and is a recipient of the Chartered Financial
Analyst ("CFA") designation. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at
Champaign-Urbana with a B.S. in Physics. He is also a member of the Investment
Analysts Society of Chicago and the CFA Institute. Mr. Carey has appeared as a
guest on such programs as Bloomberg TV, CNBC, and WBBM Radio, and has been
quoted by several publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The Wall
Street Reporter, Bloomberg News Service, and Registered Rep.
STATE OF THE ECONOMY/INVESTING
Inflation surged in 2021 and it looks as though it is here to stay. Federal
Reserve (the "Fed") Chairman Jerome Powell has changed his expectations on
inflation from characterizing it as transitory to it being more persistent in
nature. In the hopes of keeping inflation from becoming entrenched, the Fed
announced it will expedite the tapering of its monthly bond buying program as of
December 2021. This program has been successful at pushing down intermediate and
longer maturity bond yields and keeping them artificially low to help stimulate
economic activity. The Fed will reduce its purchases of Treasuries and
mortgage-backed securities by $30 billion per month. At that pace, it should be
done buying bonds in the open market by the end of March 2022. They also foresee
hiking short-term interest rates three times in 2022. The Federal Funds target
rate (upper bound) is currently at 0.25%. The trailing 12-month Consumer Price
Index rate stood at 7.0% in December 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics. That is up significantly from 1.4% in December 2020 and well above
its 2.3% average rate over the past 30 years.
The global growth forecast from the International Monetary Fund ("IMF") released
in October 2021 sees real gross domestic product growth rising by 4.9% worldwide
in 2022, down from its 5.9% projection for 2021. The IMF is calling for a 5.2%
growth rate for the U.S. in 2022, down from its 6.0% estimate for 2021. As has
been the case for many years, Emerging Market and Developing Economies are
expected to grow faster than Advanced Economies. Their 2022 growth rate
estimates are 5.1% and 4.5%, respectively.
The exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") and related exchange-traded products ("ETPs")
industry grew significantly in 2021. ETFGI, an independent research and
consultancy firm, reported that total assets invested in ETFs/ETPs listed in the
U.S. stood at an all-time high of $7.21 trillion as of year-end, up 31.81% from
the $5.47 trillion at the end of 2020, according to its own release. Net inflows
to ETFs/ETPs listed in the U.S. hit a record high of $919.78 billion in 2021,
topping the prior record of $490.19 billion in 2020. U.S. ETF/ETP assets
represent approximately 72% of total global ETF/ETP assets.
U.S. STOCKS AND BONDS
In 2021, three of the major U.S. stock indices posted substantial double-digit
gains. The S&P 500(R) Index, S&P MidCap 400(R) Index and S&P SmallCap 600(R)
Index posted total returns of 28.71%, 24.76%, and 26.82%, respectively,
according to Bloomberg. All 11 major sectors that comprise the S&P 500(R) Index
posted positive double-digit total returns. The top-performing sectors were
Energy, Real Estate, Financials and Information Technology, up 54.64%, 46.14%,
35.04% and 34.53%, respectively, while the worst-performing sector was
Utilities, up 17.67%. As we have noted often, we believe that when the major
stock indices are trading at or near their record highs in maturing bull
markets, corporate earnings need to continue to grow to drive the market higher.
Bloomberg's consensus year-over-year earnings growth rate estimates for the S&P
500(R) Index for 2022 and 2023 were 8.74% and 9.97%, respectively, as of
December 31, 2021. These projections, while positive, are more typical than
Bloomberg's 2021 growth estimate of 47.26%, which reflects a robust rebound from
the coronavirus-induced -12.44% earnings growth rate posted in 2020.
The yield on the benchmark 10-Year Treasury Note closed trading on December 31,
2021, at 1.51%, according to Bloomberg. The 1.51% yield stood 52 basis points
("bps") below its 2.03% average for the 10-year period ended December 31, 2021.
Its yield rose 59 bps in 2021. The more than half-point rise was enough of a
headwind to push the returns of taxable investment-grade bonds into negative
territory. It was risk-on for investors in 2021. The top performing fixed-income
bond category we track was high yield corporates. The Bloomberg U.S. Corporate
High Yield Index posted a total return of 5.28% for the year. Investors were
willing to accept more risk to garner a higher return. The good news is that the
default rate on speculative-grade (high yield) debt is low by historical
standards. Moody's reported that its global speculative-grade default rate stood
at 1.7% in December. Moody's puts the historical average default rate at 4.1%
(1983-2021). Its baseline scenario sees the default rate increasing to 2.4% by
December 2022 but staying well below its average.
FOREIGN STOCKS AND BONDS
The U.S. dollar appreciated by 6.37% against a basket of major currencies in
2021, as measured by the U.S. Dollar Index ("DXY"), according to Bloomberg. The
DXY closed 2021 at a reading of 95.67, above its 20-year average of 88.89. The
stronger U.S. dollar likely had a negative influence on the returns of unhedged
foreign securities held by U.S. investors.
The Bloomberg EM Hard Currency Aggregate Index of emerging markets debt posted a
total return of -2.57% (USD), while the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index of
higher quality debt declined 4.71% (USD). With respect to equities, the MSCI
Emerging Markets Index of stocks posted a total return of -2.54% (USD), while
the MSCI World ex USA Index rose by 12.62% (USD) on a total return basis,
according to Bloomberg.
Page 3
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FUND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW (UNAUDITED)
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FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
The First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF (the "Fund") seeks investment
results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the Fund's fees
and expenses) of an equity index called the NASDAQ AlphaDEX(R) Total US Market
Index (the "Index"). The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its net
assets (including investment borrowings) in the common stocks that comprise the
Index. The Index is a modified market capitalization index designed to
quantitatively identify and select U.S. exchange-listed securities issued by
small, mid and large cap U.S. companies that exhibit growth and value factors
and appear to have the greatest potential for capital appreciation. The Index is
rebalanced and reconstituted quarterly and the Fund will make corresponding
changes to its portfolio shortly after the Index changes are made public. The
Fund's shares are listed for trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC. The first
day of secondary market trading in shares of the Fund was December 7, 2006.
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PERFORMANCE
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AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURNS
1 Year 5 Years 10 Years Inception 5 Years 10 Years Inception
Ended Ended Ended (12/5/06) Ended Ended (12/5/06)
12/31/21 12/31/21 12/31/21 to 12/31/21 12/31/21 12/31/21 to 12/31/21
FUND PERFORMANCE
NAV 25.12% 13.86% 12.03% 7.62% 91.35% 211.33% 202.44%
Market Value 25.31% 13.87% 12.04% 7.63% 91.48% 211.72% 203.03%
INDEX PERFORMANCE
NASDAQ AlphaDEX(R) Total US Market Index* 26.08% 14.72% N/A N/A 98.68% N/A N/A
Russell 3000(R) Index 25.66% 17.97% 16.30% 10.54% 128.45% 352.85% 352.91%
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* On January 9, 2015, the Fund's underlying index changed from the Value
Line(R) Equity Allocation Index to the NASDAQ AlphaDEX(R) Total US Market
Index. Therefore, the Fund's performance and total returns shown for the
periods prior to January 9, 2015, are not necessarily indicative of the
performance the Fund, based on its current index, would have generated.
Since the Fund's current underlying index had an inception date of
September 8, 2014, it was not in existence for all of the periods
disclosed. (See Notes to Fund Performance Overview on page 12.)
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
The Fund generated a net asset value ("NAV") return of 25.12% during the
12-month period covered by this report. During the same period, the Russell
3000(R) Index (the "Benchmark") generated a return of 25.66%. The sector with
the highest allocation in the Fund was the Financials sector, which received a
19.7% weighting. Investments in this sector returned 35.4% and contributed 6.4%
to the Fund's total overall performance. The worst performing sector were the
investments in the Communication Services sector, which returned 5.3%. These
investments received an allocation of 5.1% and contributed 0.7% to the Fund's
total return. On a relative basis, the Fund slightly underperformed the
Benchmark. The greatest area of underperformance was in the investments in
Information Technology stocks. Investments in this sector caused -2.3% of
underperformance. Meanwhile, investments in the Consumer Discretionary sector
caused 0.9% of outperformance for the Fund versus the Benchmark.
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Nasdaq(R) and NASDAQ AlphaDEX(R) Total US Market Index are registered trademarks
and service marks of Nasdaq, Inc. (together with its affiliates hereinafter
referred to as the "Corporations") and are licensed for use by First Trust.
AlphaDEX(R) is a registered trademark owned by First Trust that has been
licensed to Nasdaq, Inc. for use in the name of the Index. The Fund has not been
passed on by the Corporations as to its legality or suitability. The Fund is not
issued, endorsed, sold or promoted by the Corporations. THE CORPORATIONS MAKE NO
WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE FUND.
Page 4
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FUND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW (UNAUDITED) (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA) (CONTINUED)
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% OF TOTAL
SECTOR CLASSIFICATION LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS
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Financials 20.8%
Information Technology 15.2
Consumer Discretionary 14.4
Health Care 12.5
Industrials 11.6
Materials 5.6
Utilities 5.1
Energy 3.8
Consumer Staples 3.8
Real Estate 3.6
Communication Services 3.6
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Total 100.0%
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% OF TOTAL
TOP TEN HOLDINGS LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS
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Micron Technology, Inc. 0.5%
D.R. Horton, Inc. 0.5
Lennar Corp., Class A 0.5
AutoZone, Inc. 0.5
Fortinet, Inc. 0.5
KKR & Co., Inc. 0.5
DuPont de Nemours, Inc. 0.5
Tractor Supply Co. 0.5
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. 0.5
PerkinElmer, Inc. 0.5
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Total 5.0%
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PERFORMANCE OF A $10,000 INITIAL INVESTMENT
DECEMBER 31, 2011 - DECEMBER 31, 2021
First Trust
Total US Market Russell 3000(R)
AlphaDEX(R) ETF Index
12/11 $10,000 $10,000
06/12 10,174 10,932
12/12 10,874 11,641
06/13 12,443 13,278
12/13 14,642 15,547
06/14 15,380 16,626
12/14 14,988 17,499
06/15 15,165 17,838
12/15 14,091 17,583
06/16 14,550 18,220
12/16 16,271 19,822
06/17 17,499 21,592
12/17 19,433 24,010
06/18 20,294 24,783
12/18 17,465 22,751
06/19 20,446 27,008
12/19 21,893 29,809
06/20 19,110 28,772
12/20 24,884 36,039
06/21 29,502 41,484
12/21 31,133 45,285
Performance figures assume reinvestment of all distributions and do not reflect
the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or the
redemption or sale of Fund shares. An index is a statistical composite that
tracks a specified financial market or sector. Unlike the Fund, the index does
not actually hold a portfolio of securities and therefore does not incur the
expenses incurred by the Fund. These expenses negatively impact the performance
of the Fund. The Fund's past performance does not predict future performance.
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF DISCOUNTS AND PREMIUMS
Information showing the number of days the market price of the Fund's shares was
greater (at a premium) and less (at a discount) than the Fund's net asset value
for the most recently completed year, and the most recently completed calendar
quarters since that year (or life of the Fund, if shorter) is available at
https://www.ftportfolios.com/Retail/etf/home.aspx.
Page 5
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FUND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW (UNAUDITED) (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP)
The First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF (the "Fund") seeks
investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the
Fund's fees and expenses) of an index called the Nasdaq Dorsey Wright People's
Portfolio Index (the "Index"). The Fund will normally invest at least 80% of its
total assets (including investment borrowings) in the common stocks or an
exchange-traded fund ("ETF") that comprise the Index. The Index is a modified
market-capitalization weighted index designed to tactically allocate exposure to
one of three allocations: (i) Nasdaq US 500 Large Cap Index; (ii) Nasdaq US 500
Large Cap Equal Weight Index; or (iii) First Trust Enhanced Short Maturity ETF
("FTSM") (each, an "Underlying Allocation"), based on daily relative strength
readings. The Nasdaq US 500 Large Cap Index and the Nasdaq US 500 Large Cap
Equal Weight Index (each, an "Underlying Equity Index") are equity indices that
seek to provide exposure to the 500 securities with the highest float-adjusted
market capitalization comprising the Nasdaq US Benchmark Index. Therefore, each
Underlying Equity Index is composed of the same constituent securities. What
differs, however, is the methodology each Underlying Equity Index utilizes to
assign security weights. The Nasdaq US 500 Large Cap Index assigns security
weights based on market capitalization and the Nasdaq US 500 Large Cap Equal
Weight Index weights components equally. The third Underlying Allocation is
FTSM. FTSM is an actively-managed ETF that invests in short-duration securities,
which are primarily U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade securities. The
Index is rebalanced and reconstituted periodically and the Fund will make
corresponding changes to its portfolio shortly after the Index changes are made
public. The Fund's shares are listed for trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC.
The first day of secondary market trading in shares of the Fund was August 30,
2012.
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PERFORMANCE
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AVERAGE ANNUAL CUMULATIVE
TOTAL RETURNS TOTAL RETURNS
1 Year 5 Years Inception 5 Years Inception
Ended Ended (8/29/12) Ended (8/29/12)
12/31/21 12/31/21 to 12/31/21 12/31/21 to 12/31/21
FUND PERFORMANCE
NAV 25.71% 9.36% 7.71% 56.43% 100.19%
Market Value 25.77% 9.32% 7.71% 56.14% 100.07%
INDEX PERFORMANCE
Nasdaq Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio Index* 26.48% N/A N/A N/A N/A
S&P 500(R) Index 28.71% 18.47% 16.20% 133.41% 306.45%
Nasdaq US 500 Large Cap Index 26.48% 18.70% N/A 135.62% N/A
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* On August 18, 2017, the Fund's underlying index changed from the CBOE(R)
VIX(R) Tail Hedge Index to the Nasdaq Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio
Index (the "Index"). Therefore, the Fund's performance and total returns
shown for the periods prior to August 18, 2017, are not necessarily
indicative of the performance the Fund, based on its current index, would
have generated. Since the Index had an inception date of July 24, 2017, it
was not in existence for all of the periods disclosed.
(See Notes to Fund Performance Overview on page 12.)
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
The Fund generated a NAV return of 25.71% during the 12-month period covered by
this report. During the same period, the S&P 500(R) Index (the "Benchmark")
generated a return of 28.71%. The Information Technology sector received the
largest allocation in the Fund during the period with a weight of 29.9% and
generated the largest contribution to the Fund's return at 9.2%. Investments in
the Utilities sector generated the smallest contribution to the Fund's return
during the period at 0.4%. On a relative basis, the Fund underperformed the
Benchmark. The Fund's investments in the Communication Services sector were the
largest source of underperformance compared to the Benchmark where the Fund
underperformed by -1.0%. The Fund's relative underperformance was marginally
reduced by investments in the Financials sector where the Fund outperformed the
Benchmark by 0.1%.
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Nasdaq(R) and Nasdaq Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio Index are registered
trademarks and service marks of Nasdaq, Inc. (together with its affiliates
hereinafter referred to as the "Corporations") and are licensed for use by First
Trust. The Fund has not been passed on by the Corporations as to its legality or
suitability. The Fund is not issued, endorsed, sold or promoted by the
Corporations. THE CORPORATIONS MAKE NO WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH
RESPECT TO THE FUND.
Page 6
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FUND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW (UNAUDITED) (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP) (CONTINUED)
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% OF TOTAL
SECTOR CLASSIFICATION LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS
-----------------------------------------------------------
Information Technology 31.3%
Health Care 13.7
Consumer Discretionary 12.8
Financials 10.4
Communication Services 8.5
Industrials 7.7
Consumer Staples 6.0
Real Estate 2.8
Energy 2.6
Utilities 2.4
Materials 1.8
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Total 100.0%
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% OF TOTAL
TOP TEN HOLDINGS LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS
-----------------------------------------------------------
Apple, Inc. 7.1%
Microsoft Corp. 6.4
Amazon.com, Inc. 3.8
Tesla, Inc. 2.3
Alphabet, Inc., Class A 2.2
Meta Platforms, Inc., Class A 1.9
NVIDIA Corp. 1.7
UnitedHealth Group, Inc. 1.2
JPMorgan Chase & Co. 1.2
Johnson & Johnson 1.1
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Total 28.9%
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PERFORMANCE OF A $10,000 INITIAL INVESTMENT
AUGUST 29, 2012 - DECEMBER 31, 2021
First Trust
Dorsey Wright S&P 500(R)
People's Portfolio ETF Index
08/12 $10,000 $10,000
12/12 9,863 10,193
06/13 10,686 11,602
12/13 11,738 13,494
06/14 12,251 14,457
12/14 13,525 15,342
06/15 13,175 15,531
12/15 12,730 15,554
06/16 12,551 16,151
12/16 12,800 17,414
06/17 13,952 19,040
12/17 15,579 21,214
06/18 15,782 21,776
12/18 14,292 20,284
06/19 17,139 24,045
12/19 18,609 26,673
06/20 14,206 25,851
12/20 15,925 31,580
06/21 18,157 36,396
12/21 20,019 40,645
Performance figures assume reinvestment of all distributions and do not reflect
the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or the
redemption or sale of Fund shares. An index is a statistical composite that
tracks a specified financial market or sector. Unlike the Fund, the index does
not actually hold a portfolio of securities and therefore does not incur the
expenses incurred by the Fund. These expenses negatively impact the performance
of the Fund. The Fund's past performance does not predict future performance.
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF DISCOUNTS AND PREMIUMS
Information showing the number of days the market price of the Fund's shares was
greater (at a premium) and less (at a discount) than the Fund's net asset value
for the most recently completed year, and the most recently completed calendar
quarters since that year (or life of the Fund, if shorter) is available at
https://www.ftportfolios.com/Retail/etf/home.aspx.
Page 7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FUND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW (UNAUDITED) (CONTINUED)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST DOW 30 EQUAL WEIGHT ETF (EDOW)
The First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF (the "Fund") seeks investment results
that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the Fund's fees and
expenses) of an equity index called the Dow Jones Industrial Average(R) Equal
Weight Index (the "Index"). The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its
net assets (including investment borrowings) in the common stocks that comprise
the Index. The Index is an equal weight version of the Dow Jones Industrial
Average(R) (the "DJIA"). The 30 securities comprising the DJIA are issued by
blue-chip U.S. companies covering all industries, with the exception of
transportation and utilities. Inclusion in the DJIA is not governed by
quantitative rules but rather is based on the following criteria: (i) the
company is not a utility or in the transportation business; (ii) the company has
a premier reputation in its field; (iii) the company has a history of successful
growth; (iv) there is wide interest in the company among individual and
institutional investors; and (v) the company should be incorporated and
headquartered in the U.S. Whenever one component is changed, the others are
reviewed. For the sake of historical continuity, composition changes are rarely
made. In the event that there is a change in the components of the DJIA, the
component removed from the DJIA will simultaneously be removed from the Index
and the component that replaces the removed component will be added to the Index
at the same weight as the component that was removed. The Index is rebalanced
quarterly and reconstituted as needed and the Fund will make corresponding
changes to its portfolio shortly after the Index changes are made public. The
Fund's shares are listed for trading on the NYSE Arca, Inc. The first day of
secondary market trading in shares of the Fund was August 9, 2017.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PERFORMANCE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AVERAGE ANNUAL CUMULATIVE
TOTAL RETURNS TOTAL RETURNS
1 Year Inception Inception
Ended (8/8/17) (8/8/17)
12/31/21 to 12/31/21 to 12/31/21
FUND PERFORMANCE
NAV 18.63% 13.22% 72.63%
Market Value 18.59% 13.22% 72.63%
INDEX PERFORMANCE
Dow Jones Industrial Average(R) Equal Weight Index 19.35% 13.94% 77.53%
Dow Jones Industrial Average(R) 20.95% 14.51% 81.46%
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(See Notes to Fund Performance Overview on page 12.)
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
The Fund generated a NAV return of 18.63% during the 12-month period covered by
this report. During the same period, the Dow Jones Industrial Average(R) (the
"Benchmark") generated a return of 20.95%. The Information Technology sector
received the largest investment allocation during the period with an average
weight of 23.5%. This sector also generated the largest contribution to the
Fund's return at 5.6%. Investments in the Communication Services sector
generated the largest negative contribution to the Fund's return at -0.7%. On a
relative basis, the Fund underperformed the Benchmark. The largest source of
underperformance came from the Consumer Discretionary sector where the Fund
underperformed the Benchmark by -0.7%. The Industrials sector generated positive
relative performance for the Fund where the Fund outperformed by 0.9% versus the
Benchmark.
-----------------------------
Dow Jones Industrial Average(R) Equal Weight Index ("Index") is a product of S&P
Dow Jones Indices LLC or its affiliates ("SPDJI") and has been licensed for use
by First Trust. S&P(R) is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial
Services LLC ("S&P"); Dow Jones(R) is a registered trademark of Dow Jones
Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"); and these trademarks have been licensed
for use by SPDJI and sublicensed for certain purposes by First Trust. The Fund
is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDJI, Dow Jones, S&P, or their
respective affiliates and none of such parties make any representation regarding
the advisability of investing in such product nor do they have any liability for
any errors, omissions, or interruptions of the Index.
Page 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FUND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW (UNAUDITED) (CONTINUED)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST DOW 30 EQUAL WEIGHT ETF (EDOW) (CONTINUED)
-----------------------------------------------------------
% OF TOTAL
SECTOR CLASSIFICATION LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS
-----------------------------------------------------------
Information Technology 23.3%
Health Care 13.8
Consumer Staples 13.7
Industrials 13.1
Financials 13.0
Consumer Discretionary 9.8
Communication Services 6.7
Materials 3.4
Energy 3.2
-------
Total 100.0%
=======
-----------------------------------------------------------
% OF TOTAL
TOP TEN HOLDINGS LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS
-----------------------------------------------------------
International Business Machines Corp. 3.5%
Cisco Systems, Inc. 3.5
Amgen, Inc. 3.5
Merck & Co., Inc. 3.5
Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. 3.5
Procter & Gamble (The) Co. 3.4
Coca-Cola (The) Co. 3.4
UnitedHealth Group, Inc. 3.4
Dow, Inc. 3.4
Verizon Communications, Inc. 3.4
-------
Total 34.5%
=======
PERFORMANCE OF A $10,000 INITIAL INVESTMENT
AUGUST 8, 2017 - DECEMBER 31, 2021
Dow Jones Industrial
First Trust Dow 30 Average(R) Equal Dow Jones Industrial
Equal Weight ETF Weight Index Average(R)
08/17 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
12/17 11,102 11,124 11,302
06/18 11,024 11,069 11,219
12/18 11,004 11,079 10,908
06/19 12,615 12,739 12,588
12/19 13,676 13,849 13,674
06/20 12,342 12,576 12,521
12/20 14,552 14,874 15,004
06/21 16,500 16,922 17,072
12/21 17,263 17,753 18,146
Performance figures assume reinvestment of all distributions and do not reflect
the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or the
redemption or sale of Fund shares. An index is a statistical composite that
tracks a specified financial market or sector. Unlike the Fund, the indices do
not actually hold a portfolio of securities and therefore do not incur the
expenses incurred by the Fund. These expenses negatively impact the performance
of the Fund. The Fund's past performance does not predict future performance.
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF DISCOUNTS AND PREMIUMS
Information showing the number of days the market price of the Fund's shares was
greater (at a premium) and less (at a discount) than the Fund's net asset value
for the most recently completed year, and the most recently completed calendar
quarters since that year (or life of the Fund, if shorter) is available at
https://www.ftportfolios.com/Retail/etf/home.aspx.
Page 9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FUND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW (UNAUDITED) (CONTINUED)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST LUNT U.S. FACTOR ROTATION ETF (FCTR)
The First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF (the "Fund") seeks investment
results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the Fund's fees
and expenses) of an equity index called the Lunt Capital Large Cap Factor
Rotation Index (the "Index"). The Fund will normally invest at least 90% of its
net assets (including investment borrowings) in the common stocks that comprise
the Index. The Index is owned and was developed by Lunt Capital Management, Inc.
(the "Index Provider"). The Index is calculated and maintained by Nasdaq, Inc.
The Index is designed to track the performance of U.S. securities exhibiting
desirable factor exposure. The Index utilizes the Index Provider's risk-adjusted
relative strength methodology to allocate exposure to securities exhibiting
either high or low levels of the characteristics associated with one of four
primary investing factors: momentum, value, quality and volatility. The Index is
rebalanced and reconstituted periodically and the Fund will make corresponding
changes to its portfolio after the Index changes are made public. The Fund's
shares are listed for trading on CBOE BZX Exchange, Inc. The first day of
secondary market trading in shares of the Fund was July 26, 2018.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PERFORMANCE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AVERAGE ANNUAL CUMULATIVE
TOTAL RETURNS TOTAL RETURNS
1 Year Inception Inception
Ended (7/25/18) (7/25/18)
12/31/21 to 12/31/21 to 12/31/21
FUND PERFORMANCE
NAV 21.22% 18.77% 80.60%
Market Value 21.21% 18.78% 80.65%
INDEX PERFORMANCE
Lunt Capital Large Cap Factor Rotation Index 22.10% 19.68% 85.40%
Nasdaq US 500 Large Cap Index 26.48% 18.63% 79.85%
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(See Notes to Fund Performance Overview on page 12.)
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
The Fund generated a NAV return of 21.22% during the 12-month period covered by
this report. During the same period, the Nasdaq US 500 Large Cap Index (the
"Benchmark") generated a return of 26.48%. The Health Care sector received the
largest allocation in the Fund during the period with an average weight of
19.8%. The Fund's investments in the Energy sector generated the largest
contribution to the Fund's return at 5.5% while investments in the Communication
Services sector generated the largest negative contribution at -0.7%. On a
relative basis, the Fund underperformed the Benchmark. The Information
Technology sector was the largest source of underperformance where the Fund
lagged the Benchmark by -7.0%. A portion of the Fund's relative underperformance
was reduced by investments in the Energy sector where the Fund outperformed the
Benchmark by 3.2%.
-----------------------------
Lunt Capital Management, Inc. ("Lunt") and the Lunt Capital Large Cap Factor
Rotation Index ("Lunt Index") are trademarks of Lunt and have been licensed for
use for certain purposes by First Trust. The First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor
Rotation ETF is based on the Lunt Index and is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or
promoted by Lunt, and Lunt makes no representation regarding the advisability of
trading in such fund. Lunt has contracted with Nasdaq, Inc. to calculate and
maintain the Lunt Index. The Fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted
by Nasdaq, Inc. or its affiliates (Nasdaq, with its affiliates, hereinafter
referred to as the "Corporations"). The Corporations have not passed on the
legality or suitability of, or the accuracy or adequacy of descriptions and
disclosures relating to, the Fund. The Corporations make no representation or
warranty, express or implied to the owners of the Fund or any member of the
public regarding the advisability of investing in securities generally or in the
Fund particularly, or the ability of the Lunt Index to track general stock
performance.
Page 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FUND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW (UNAUDITED) (CONTINUED)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST LUNT U.S. FACTOR ROTATION ETF (FCTR) (CONTINUED)
-----------------------------------------------------------
% OF TOTAL
SECTOR CLASSIFICATION LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS
-----------------------------------------------------------
Information Technology 32.5%
Health Care 19.2
Industrials 10.5
Consumer Discretionary 10.4
Financials 9.7
Consumer Staples 9.1
Communication Services 4.1
Real Estate 2.2
Materials 1.8
Utilities 0.5
-------
Total 100.0%
=======
-----------------------------------------------------------
% OF TOTAL
TOP TEN HOLDINGS LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS
-----------------------------------------------------------
Procter & Gamble (The) Co. 1.8%
Quest Diagnostics, Inc. 1.7
Cloudflare, Inc., Class A 1.7
Moody's Corp. 1.6
Colgate-Palmolive Co. 1.6
Costco Wholesale Corp. 1.5
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. 1.5
Bill.com Holdings, Inc. 1.4
Monster Beverage Corp. 1.4
Zscaler, Inc. 1.3
-------
Total 15.5%
=======
PERFORMANCE OF A $10,000 INITIAL INVESTMENT
JULY 25, 2018 - DECEMBER 31, 2021
First Trust Lunt U.S. Lunt Capital Large Cap Nasdaq US 500
Factor Rotation ETF Factor Rotation Index Large Cap Index
07/18 $10,000 $10,000 $10,000
12/18 8,791 8,813 8,869
06/19 10,828 10,901 10,567
12/19 11,459 11,578 11,711
06/20 11,988 12,168 11,509
12/20 14,899 15,184 14,220
06/21 17,627 18,031 16,261
12/21 18,060 18,540 17,985
Performance figures assume reinvestment of all distributions and do not reflect
the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or the
redemption or sale of Fund shares. An index is a statistical composite that
tracks a specified financial market or sector. Unlike the Fund, the indices do
not actually hold a portfolio of securities and therefore do not incur the
expenses incurred by the Fund. These expenses negatively impact the performance
of the Fund. The Fund's past performance does not predict future performance.
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION OF DISCOUNTS AND PREMIUMS
Information showing the number of days the market price of the Fund's shares was
greater (at a premium) and less (at a discount) than the Fund's net asset value
for the most recently completed year, and the most recently completed calendar
quarters since that year (or life of the Fund, if shorter) is available at
https://www.ftportfolios.com/Retail/etf/home.aspx.
Page 11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES TO FUND PERFORMANCE OVERVIEW (UNAUDITED)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total returns for the periods since inception are calculated from the inception
date of each Fund. "Average Annual Total Returns" represent the average annual
change in value of an investment over the periods indicated. "Cumulative Total
Returns" represent the total change in value of an investment over the periods
indicated. The total returns would have been lower if certain fees had not been
waived and expenses reimbursed by the Advisor.
Each Fund's per share net asset value ("NAV") is the value of one share of the
Fund and is computed by dividing the value of all assets of the Fund (including
accrued interest and dividends), less all liabilities (including accrued
expenses and dividends declared but unpaid), by the total number of outstanding
shares. The price used to calculate market return ("Market Price") is determined
by using the midpoint of the national best bid and offer price ("NBBO") as of
the time that the Fund's NAV is calculated. Under SEC rules, the NBBO consists
of the highest displayed buy and lowest sell prices among the various exchanges
trading the Fund at the time the Fund's NAV is calculated. Prior to January 1,
2019, the price used was the midpoint between the highest bid and the lowest
offer on the stock exchange on which shares of the Fund were listed for trading
as of the time that the Fund's NAV was calculated. Since shares of each Fund did
not trade in the secondary market until after the Fund's inception, for the
period from inception to the first day of secondary market trading in shares of
the Fund, the NAV of each Fund is used as a proxy for the secondary market
trading price to calculate market returns. NAV and market returns assume that
all distributions have been reinvested in each Fund at NAV and Market Price,
respectively.
An index is a statistical composite that tracks a specified financial market or
sector. Unlike each Fund, the indices do not actually hold a portfolio of
securities and therefore do not incur the expenses incurred by each Fund. These
expenses negatively impact the performance of each Fund. Also, market returns do
not include brokerage commissions that may be payable on secondary market
transactions. If brokerage commissions were included, market returns would be
lower. The total returns presented reflect the reinvestment of dividends on
securities in the indices. The returns presented do not reflect the deduction of
taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or the redemption or
sale of Fund shares. The investment return and principal value of shares of each
Fund will vary with changes in market conditions. Shares of each Fund may be
worth more or less than their original cost when they are redeemed or sold in
the market. Each Fund's past performance is no guarantee of future performance.
Page 12
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
UNDERSTANDING YOUR FUND EXPENSES
DECEMBER 31, 2021 (UNAUDITED)
As a shareholder of First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF, First Trust
Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF, First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF or
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF (each a "Fund" and collectively, the
"Funds"), you incur two types of costs: (1) transaction costs; and (2) ongoing
costs, including management fees, distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees, if
any, and other Fund expenses. This Example is intended to help you understand
your ongoing costs of investing in the Funds and to compare these costs with the
ongoing costs of investing in other funds.
The Example is based on an investment of $1,000 invested at the beginning of the
period and held through the six-month period ended December 31, 2021.
ACTUAL EXPENSES
The first line in the following table provides information about actual account
values and actual expenses. You may use the information in this line, together
with the amount you invested, to estimate the expenses that you paid over the
period. Simply divide your account value by $1,000 (for example, an $8,600
account value divided by $1,000 = 8.6), then multiply the result by the number
in the first line under the heading entitled "Expenses Paid During the Six-Month
Period" to estimate the expenses you paid on your account during this six-month
period.
HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLE FOR COMPARISON PURPOSES
The second line in the following table provides information about hypothetical
account values and hypothetical expenses based on each Fund's actual expense
ratio and an assumed rate of return of 5% per year before expenses, which is not
each Fund's actual return. The hypothetical account values and expenses may not
be used to estimate the actual ending account balance or expenses you paid for
the period. You may use this information to compare the ongoing costs of
investing in the Funds and other funds. To do so, compare this 5% hypothetical
example with the 5% hypothetical examples that appear in the shareholder reports
of the other funds.
Please note that the expenses shown in the table are meant to highlight your
ongoing costs only and do not reflect any transactional costs such as brokerage
commissions. Therefore, the second line in the table is useful in comparing
ongoing costs only, and will not help you determine the relative total costs of
owning different funds. In addition, if these transactional costs were included,
your costs would have been higher.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANNUALIZED
EXPENSE RATIO EXPENSES PAID
BEGINNING ENDING BASED ON THE DURING THE
ACCOUNT VALUE ACCOUNT VALUE SIX-MONTH SIX-MONTH
JULY 1, 2021 DECEMBER 31, 2021 PERIOD PERIOD (b)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
Actual $1,000.00 $1,055.40 0.70% (a) $3.63
Hypothetical (5% return before expenses) $1,000.00 $1,021.68 0.70% (a) $3.57
FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO
ETF (DWPP)
Actual $1,000.00 $1,102.50 0.60% $3.18
Hypothetical (5% return before expenses) $1,000.00 $1,022.18 0.60% $3.06
FIRST TRUST DOW 30 EQUAL WEIGHT ETF (EDOW)
Actual $1,000.00 $1,046.20 0.50% $2.58
Hypothetical (5% return before expenses) $1,000.00 $1,022.68 0.50% $2.55
FIRST TRUST LUNT U.S. FACTOR ROTATION ETF (FCTR)
Actual $1,000.00 $1,024.60 0.65% $3.32
Hypothetical (5% return before expenses) $1,000.00 $1,021.93 0.65% $3.31
(a) These expense ratios reflect an expense cap. See Note 3 in Notes to
Financial Statements.
(b) Expenses are equal to the annualized expense ratio as indicated in the
table multiplied by the average account value over the period (July 1,
2021 through December 31, 2021), multiplied by 184/365 (to reflect the
six-month period).
Page 13
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS -- 99.9%
AEROSPACE & DEFENSE -- 1.0%
242 AAR Corp. (a) $ 9,445
101 Axon Enterprise, Inc. (a) 15,857
218 BWX Technologies, Inc. 10,438
140 Curtiss-Wright Corp. 19,414
200 General Dynamics Corp. 41,694
122 Huntington Ingalls Industries,
Inc. 22,782
89 L3Harris Technologies, Inc. 18,978
57 Lockheed Martin Corp. 20,258
184 Maxar Technologies, Inc. 5,434
56 Mercury Systems, Inc. (a) 3,083
164 Northrop Grumman Corp. 63,480
78 Parsons Corp. (a) 2,625
169 Textron, Inc. 13,047
140 Triumph Group, Inc. (a) 2,594
--------------
249,129
--------------
AIR FREIGHT & LOGISTICS -- 0.7%
404 Air Transport Services Group,
Inc. (a) 11,870
160 Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings,
Inc. (a) 15,059
136 C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. 14,638
329 Expeditors International of
Washington, Inc. 44,182
360 FedEx Corp. 93,110
76 Hub Group, Inc., Class A (a) 6,402
--------------
185,261
--------------
AIRLINES -- 0.0%
287 American Airlines Group, Inc. (a) 5,154
212 SkyWest, Inc. (a) 8,332
--------------
13,486
--------------
AUTO COMPONENTS -- 1.0%
189 Adient PLC (a) 9,049
1,187 American Axle & Manufacturing
Holdings, Inc. (a) 11,075
263 Aptiv PLC (a) 43,382
680 BorgWarner, Inc. 30,648
470 Dana, Inc. 10,725
28 Dorman Products, Inc. (a) 3,164
122 Fox Factory Holding Corp. (a) 20,752
534 Gentex Corp. 18,610
161 Gentherm, Inc. (a) 13,991
442 Goodyear Tire & Rubber (The)
Co. (a) 9,423
58 LCI Industries 9,040
189 Lear Corp. 34,578
94 Patrick Industries, Inc. 7,585
239 Standard Motor Products, Inc. 12,521
732 Tenneco, Inc., Class A (a) 8,272
103 XPEL, Inc. (a) (b) 7,033
--------------
249,848
--------------
AUTOMOBILES -- 1.4%
4,179 Ford Motor Co. 86,798
1,871 General Motors Co. (a) 109,697
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
AUTOMOBILES (CONTINUED)
481 Harley-Davidson, Inc. $ 18,129
102 Tesla, Inc. (a) 107,792
239 Thor Industries, Inc. 24,801
144 Winnebago Industries, Inc. 10,788
--------------
358,005
--------------
BANKS -- 5.8%
166 1st Source Corp. 8,234
151 Ameris Bancorp 7,502
366 Associated Banc-Corp. 8,268
212 Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp. 7,906
282 Banc of California, Inc. 5,533
43 BancFirst Corp. 3,034
411 Bancorp (The), Inc. (a) 10,402
461 Bank of America Corp. 20,510
410 Bank OZK 19,077
124 BankUnited, Inc. 5,246
142 Banner Corp. 8,615
97 Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. 2,758
262 BOK Financial Corp. 27,638
342 Brookline Bancorp, Inc. 5,537
426 Byline Bancorp, Inc. 11,651
263 Cadence Bank 7,835
127 Cathay General Bancorp 5,460
1,124 Citigroup, Inc. 67,878
500 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. 23,625
33 City Holding Co. 2,699
138 Columbia Banking System, Inc. 4,515
219 Comerica, Inc. 19,053
177 Commerce Bancshares, Inc. 12,167
261 ConnectOne Bancorp, Inc. 8,537
99 Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc. 12,481
303 Customers Bancorp, Inc. (a) 19,807
257 CVB Financial Corp. 5,502
91 Eagle Bancorp, Inc. 5,309
151 East West Bancorp, Inc. 11,881
58 Enterprise Financial Services
Corp. 2,731
674 F.N.B. Corp. 8,176
61 FB Financial Corp. 2,673
923 Fifth Third Bancorp 40,197
121 First Bancorp 5,532
398 First BanCorp 5,484
318 First Busey Corp. 8,624
21 First Citizens BancShares, Inc.,
Class A 17,427
383 First Commonwealth Financial
Corp. 6,163
334 First Financial Bancorp 8,143
99 First Foundation, Inc. 2,461
89 First Hawaiian, Inc. 2,432
1,443 First Horizon Corp. 23,564
130 First Interstate BancSystem, Inc.,
Class A 5,287
124 First Merchants Corp. 5,194
513 Fulton Financial Corp. 8,721
68 German American Bancorp, Inc. 2,651
212 Glacier Bancorp, Inc. 12,020
111 Hancock Whitney Corp. 5,552
Page 14 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
BANKS (CONTINUED)
163 Heartland Financial USA, Inc. $ 8,249
400 Hilltop Holdings, Inc. 14,056
222 Home BancShares, Inc. 5,406
362 Hope Bancorp, Inc. 5,325
1,268 Huntington Bancshares, Inc. 19,553
34 Independent Bank Corp. 2,772
73 Independent Bank Group, Inc. 5,267
188 International Bancshares Corp. 7,969
241 JPMorgan Chase & Co. 38,162
2,737 KeyCorp 63,307
123 Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. 10,737
118 M&T Bank Corp. 18,122
199 Meta Financial Group, Inc. 11,872
129 National Bank Holdings Corp.,
Class A 5,668
217 NBT Bancorp, Inc. 8,359
244 OceanFirst Financial Corp. 5,417
414 OFG Bancorp 10,996
617 Old National Bancorp 11,180
62 Origin Bancorp, Inc. 2,661
126 Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. 5,044
173 PacWest Bancorp 7,814
21 Park National Corp. 2,884
188 Pinnacle Financial Partners, Inc. 17,954
100 PNC Financial Services Group
(The), Inc. 20,052
302 Popular, Inc. 24,776
39 Preferred Bank 2,800
248 Prosperity Bancshares, Inc. 17,930
3,702 Regions Financial Corp. 80,704
218 Renasant Corp. 8,273
154 Republic Bancorp, Inc., Class A 7,829
178 S&T Bancorp, Inc. 5,611
171 Sandy Spring Bancorp, Inc. 8,222
78 Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida 2,760
101 ServisFirst Bancshares, Inc. 8,579
64 Signature Bank 20,702
266 Simmons First National Corp.,
Class A 7,868
137 Southside Bancshares, Inc. 5,729
237 SouthState Corp. 18,986
152 SVB Financial Group (a) 103,093
402 Synovus Financial Corp. 19,244
131 Texas Capital Bancshares,
Inc. (a) 7,893
32 Tompkins Financial Corp. 2,675
252 TowneBank 7,961
120 TriCo Bancshares 5,155
130 Triumph Bancorp, Inc. (a) 15,480
668 Truist Financial Corp. 39,111
243 Trustmark Corp. 7,888
330 U.S. Bancorp 18,536
54 UMB Financial Corp. 5,730
387 Umpqua Holdings Corp. 7,446
216 United Bankshares, Inc. 7,837
159 United Community Banks, Inc. 5,715
1,324 Valley National Bancorp 18,205
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
BANKS (CONTINUED)
132 Veritex Holdings, Inc. $ 5,251
48 Webster Financial Corp. 2,680
1,274 Wells Fargo & Co. 61,127
307 WesBanco, Inc. 10,742
216 Western Alliance Bancorp 23,252
98 Wintrust Financial Corp. 8,900
380 Zions Bancorp N.A. 24,001
--------------
1,469,209
--------------
BEVERAGES -- 0.2%
327 Celsius Holdings, Inc. (a) 24,384
7 Coca-Cola Consolidated, Inc. 4,334
80 MGP Ingredients, Inc. 6,799
127 Molson Coors Beverage Co.,
Class B 5,887
--------------
41,404
--------------
BIOTECHNOLOGY -- 2.2%
343 Alector, Inc. (a) 7,083
254 Alkermes PLC (a) 5,908
208 Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a) 35,273
300 Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (a) 12,141
242 Avid Bioservices, Inc. (a) 7,062
546 BioCryst Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (a) 7,562
211 Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding
Co., Ltd. (a) 29,078
171 Blueprint Medicines Corp. (a) 18,316
242 Celldex Therapeutics, Inc. (a) 9,351
292 Cytokinetics, Inc. (a) 13,309
680 Dynavax Technologies Corp. (a) 9,568
261 Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. (a) 11,346
561 Gilead Sciences, Inc. 40,734
144 Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (a) 5,790
540 Horizon Therapeutics PLC (a) 58,190
157 Inhibrx, Inc. (a) 6,856
800 Ironwood Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (a) 9,328
178 Kymera Therapeutics, Inc. (a) 11,301
67 Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. (a) 9,828
257 Moderna, Inc. (a) 65,273
47 Morphic Holding, Inc. (a) 2,227
81 Myriad Genetics, Inc. (a) 2,236
106 Natera, Inc. (a) 9,899
113 Novavax, Inc. (a) 16,167
716 OPKO Health, Inc. (a) 3,444
183 Prothena Corp. PLC (a) 9,040
98 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (a) 61,889
187 REGENXBIO, Inc. (a) 6,115
294 Sage Therapeutics, Inc. (a) 12,507
127 Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc. (a) 11,436
408 uniQure N.V. (a) 8,462
128 United Therapeutics Corp. (a) 27,658
--------------
544,377
--------------
BUILDING PRODUCTS -- 1.0%
109 Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. 14,838
44 Allegion PLC 5,827
160 American Woodmark Corp. (a) 10,432
61 Armstrong World Industries, Inc. 7,083
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 15
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
BUILDING PRODUCTS (CONTINUED)
568 Builders FirstSource, Inc. (a) $ 48,683
30 Carlisle Cos., Inc. 7,444
358 Cornerstone Building Brands,
Inc. (a) 6,244
41 CSW Industrials, Inc. 4,955
197 Fortune Brands Home & Security,
Inc. 21,059
319 Griffon Corp. 9,085
313 JELD-WEN Holding, Inc. (a) 8,251
343 Owens Corning 31,042
273 PGT Innovations, Inc. (a) 6,140
317 Resideo Technologies, Inc. (a) 8,252
164 Simpson Manufacturing Co., Inc. 22,807
116 Trex Co., Inc. (a) 15,663
153 UFP Industries, Inc. 14,078
366 Zurn Water Solutions Corp. 13,322
--------------
255,205
--------------
CAPITAL MARKETS -- 4.8%
78 Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. 12,832
287 Apollo Global Management, Inc. 20,787
398 Ares Management Corp., Class A 32,345
184 B. Riley Financial, Inc. 16,350
1,141 Bank of New York Mellon (The)
Corp. 66,269
848 Blackstone, Inc. 109,723
300 Brightsphere Investment Group,
Inc. 7,680
621 Carlyle Group (The), Inc. 34,093
48 Cboe Global Markets, Inc. 6,259
62 Cohen & Steers, Inc. 5,736
381 Cowen, Inc., Class A 13,754
378 Donnelley Financial Solutions,
Inc. (a) 17,819
176 Evercore, Inc., Class A 23,910
30 FactSet Research Systems, Inc. 14,580
241 Federated Hermes, Inc. 9,057
150 Focus Financial Partners, Inc.,
Class A (a) 8,958
791 Franklin Resources, Inc. 26,491
227 GCM Grosvenor, Inc., Class A 2,383
209 Goldman Sachs Group (The), Inc. 79,953
827 Golub Capital BDC, Inc. (c) 12,769
142 Houlihan Lokey, Inc. 14,700
1,219 Invesco Ltd. 28,061
791 Jefferies Financial Group, Inc. 30,691
1,620 KKR & Co., Inc. 120,690
257 Lazard Ltd., Class A 11,213
188 LPL Financial Holdings, Inc. 30,097
176 Moelis & Co., Class A 11,002
604 Morgan Stanley 59,289
68 Morningstar, Inc. 23,255
98 MSCI, Inc. 60,044
409 Nasdaq, Inc. 85,894
94 Piper Sandler Cos. 16,780
132 PJT Partners, Inc., Class A 9,780
254 Raymond James Financial, Inc. 25,502
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
CAPITAL MARKETS (CONTINUED)
469 Sculptor Capital Management, Inc. $ 10,013
298 SEI Investments Co. 18,160
464 State Street Corp. 43,152
307 StepStone Group, Inc., Class A 12,762
346 Stifel Financial Corp. 24,365
119 StoneX Group, Inc. (a) 7,289
100 T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. 19,664
72 Tradeweb Markets, Inc., Class A 7,210
299 Victory Capital Holdings, Inc.,
Class A 10,922
42 Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. 12,478
--------------
1,214,761
--------------
CHEMICALS -- 3.3%
263 AdvanSix, Inc. 12,427
180 Albemarle Corp. 42,079
198 Ashland Global Holdings, Inc. 21,317
112 Avient Corp. 6,266
402 Axalta Coating Systems Ltd. (a) 13,314
36 Balchem Corp. 6,070
196 Celanese Corp. 32,940
211 CF Industries Holdings, Inc. 14,935
51 Chase Corp. 5,078
404 Chemours (The) Co. 13,558
1,407 Corteva, Inc. 66,523
1,371 Dow, Inc. 77,763
1,450 DuPont de Nemours, Inc. 117,131
117 Eastman Chemical Co. 14,146
1,084 Element Solutions, Inc. 26,319
129 FMC Corp. 14,176
358 GCP Applied Technologies,
Inc. (a) 11,334
40 H.B. Fuller Co. 3,240
993 Huntsman Corp. 34,636
73 Ingevity Corp. (a) 5,234
31 Innospec, Inc. 2,800
421 Kronos Worldwide, Inc. 6,319
339 Livent Corp. (a) 8,265
1,051 LyondellBasell Industries N.V.,
Class A 96,934
112 Minerals Technologies, Inc. 8,193
822 Mosaic (The) Co. 32,296
16 NewMarket Corp. 5,483
609 Olin Corp. 35,030
573 Orion Engineered Carbons S.A. 10,520
11 Quaker Chemical Corp. 2,539
151 RPM International, Inc. 15,251
69 Stepan Co. 8,576
754 Valvoline, Inc. 28,117
322 Westlake Chemical Corp. 31,276
--------------
830,085
--------------
COMMERCIAL SERVICES & SUPPLIES
-- 0.4%
58 ABM Industries, Inc. 2,369
1,453 ADT, Inc. 12,220
51 Brady Corp., Class A 2,749
354 BrightView Holdings, Inc. (a) 4,984
Page 16 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
COMMERCIAL SERVICES & SUPPLIES
(CONTINUED)
69 Casella Waste Systems, Inc.,
Class A (a) $ 5,894
113 Clean Harbors, Inc. (a) 11,274
141 Copart, Inc. (a) 21,379
146 Deluxe Corp. 4,688
154 Harsco Corp. (a) 2,573
104 Healthcare Services Group, Inc. 1,850
142 HNI Corp. 5,971
108 IAA, Inc. (a) 5,467
478 KAR Auction Services, Inc. (a) 7,466
151 Matthews International Corp.,
Class A 5,537
211 Montrose Environmental Group,
Inc. (a) 14,878
24 UniFirst Corp. 5,050
--------------
114,349
--------------
COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
-- 0.6%
264 Calix, Inc. (a) 21,112
458 Ciena Corp. (a) 35,252
530 Extreme Networks, Inc. (a) 8,321
30 F5, Inc. (a) 7,341
213 Juniper Networks, Inc. 7,606
281 Lumentum Holdings, Inc. (a) 29,721
84 Motorola Solutions, Inc. 22,823
409 NETGEAR, Inc. (a) 11,947
97 NetScout Systems, Inc. (a) 3,209
94 Viasat, Inc. (a) 4,187
--------------
151,519
--------------
CONSTRUCTION & ENGINEERING
-- 0.8%
89 Ameresco, Inc., Class A (a) 7,248
157 Arcosa, Inc. 8,274
73 Comfort Systems USA, Inc. 7,223
313 Construction Partners, Inc.,
Class A (a) 9,205
37 Dycom Industries, Inc. (a) 3,469
153 EMCOR Group, Inc. 19,491
114 IES Holdings, Inc. (a) 5,773
272 MasTec, Inc. (a) 25,100
131 MYR Group, Inc. (a) 14,482
53 NV5 Global, Inc. (a) 7,321
533 Primoris Services Corp. 12,781
258 Quanta Services, Inc. 29,582
76 Valmont Industries, Inc. 19,038
556 WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings
Corp. (a) 22,707
--------------
191,694
--------------
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS -- 0.0%
44 Eagle Materials, Inc. 7,324
163 Summit Materials, Inc.,
Class A (a) 6,543
--------------
13,867
--------------
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
CONSUMER FINANCE -- 1.6%
1,546 Ally Financial, Inc. $ 73,605
487 Capital One Financial Corp. 70,659
40 Credit Acceptance Corp. (a) 27,507
479 Discover Financial Services 55,353
266 Encore Capital Group,
Inc. (a) (c) 16,521
378 Enova International, Inc. (a) 15,483
370 LendingClub Corp. (a) 8,947
530 Navient Corp. 11,247
132 Nelnet, Inc., Class A 12,894
107 OneMain Holdings, Inc. 5,354
248 PRA Group, Inc. (a) 12,452
249 PROG Holdings, Inc. (a) 11,232
334 SLM Corp. 6,570
1,210 Synchrony Financial 56,132
56 World Acceptance Corp. (a) 13,744
--------------
397,700
--------------
CONTAINERS & PACKAGING -- 0.8%
99 AptarGroup, Inc. 12,126
113 Avery Dennison Corp. 24,472
387 Berry Global Group, Inc. (a) 28,553
58 Crown Holdings, Inc. 6,416
618 Graphic Packaging Holding Co. 12,051
162 Greif, Inc., Class A 9,780
701 International Paper Co. 32,933
183 O-I Glass, Inc. (a) 2,202
128 Packaging Corp. of America 17,427
390 Ranpak Holdings Corp. (a) 14,656
322 Sealed Air Corp. 21,725
137 Silgan Holdings, Inc. 5,869
236 Westrock Co. 10,469
--------------
198,679
--------------
DISTRIBUTORS -- 0.2%
468 LKQ Corp. 28,094
46 Pool Corp. 26,036
--------------
54,130
--------------
DIVERSIFIED CONSUMER SERVICES
-- 0.3%
208 Adtalem Global Education,
Inc. (a) 6,149
22 Graham Holdings Co., Class B 13,856
89 Grand Canyon Education, Inc. (a) 7,628
209 H&R Block, Inc. 4,924
972 Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Co. (a) 15,649
196 Service Corp. International 13,914
111 Strategic Education, Inc. 6,420
218 Stride, Inc. (a) 7,266
141 Terminix Global Holdings,
Inc. (a) 6,378
--------------
82,184
--------------
DIVERSIFIED FINANCIAL SERVICES
-- 0.6%
361 Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.,
Class B (a) 107,939
420 Cannae Holdings, Inc. (a) 14,763
383 Voya Financial, Inc. 25,397
--------------
148,099
--------------
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 17
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
DIVERSIFIED TELECOMMUNICATION
SERVICES -- 0.8%
1,451 AT&T, Inc. $ 35,695
512 EchoStar Corp., Class A (a) 13,491
1,054 Frontier Communications Parent,
Inc. (a) 31,082
62 IDT Corp., Class B (a) 2,738
148 Iridium Communications, Inc. (a) 6,111
797 Liberty Latin America Ltd.,
Class C (a) 9,086
1,898 Lumen Technologies, Inc. 23,820
1,461 Verizon Communications, Inc. 75,913
--------------
197,936
--------------
ELECTRIC UTILITIES -- 2.8%
176 ALLETE, Inc. 11,678
316 Alliant Energy Corp. 19,424
729 American Electric Power Co., Inc. 64,859
401 Duke Energy Corp. 42,065
1,067 Edison International 72,823
592 Entergy Corp. 66,689
378 Evergy, Inc. 25,935
479 Eversource Energy 43,579
1,224 Exelon Corp. 70,698
1,100 FirstEnergy Corp. 45,749
128 Hawaiian Electric Industries,
Inc. 5,312
171 IDACORP, Inc. 19,376
36 MGE Energy, Inc. 2,961
576 NRG Energy, Inc. 24,814
713 OGE Energy Corp. 27,365
93 Otter Tail Corp. 6,642
2,449 PG&E Corp. (a) 29,731
324 Pinnacle West Capital Corp. 22,871
167 Portland General Electric Co. 8,838
702 PPL Corp. 21,102
632 Southern (The) Co. 43,342
627 Xcel Energy, Inc. 42,448
--------------
718,301
--------------
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT -- 0.8%
102 Acuity Brands, Inc. 21,595
150 Atkore, Inc. (a) 16,679
98 AZZ, Inc. 5,418
208 Emerson Electric Co. 19,338
138 Encore Wire Corp. 19,748
70 EnerSys 5,534
144 Generac Holdings, Inc. (a) 50,677
32 Hubbell, Inc. 6,665
118 Regal Rexnord Corp. 20,081
732 Vertiv Holdings Co. 18,278
78 Vicor Corp. (a) 9,904
--------------
193,917
--------------
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, INSTRUMENTS
& COMPONENTS -- 2.0%
536 Amphenol Corp., Class A 46,879
262 Arrow Electronics, Inc. (a) 35,179
353 Avnet, Inc. 14,554
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, INSTRUMENTS
& COMPONENTS (CONTINUED)
51 Badger Meter, Inc. $ 5,435
293 Benchmark Electronics, Inc. 7,940
326 CDW Corp. 66,758
1,621 Corning, Inc. 60,350
102 ePlus, Inc. (a) 5,496
29 Insight Enterprises, Inc. (a) 3,091
74 IPG Photonics Corp. (a) 12,738
503 Jabil, Inc. 35,386
360 Keysight Technologies, Inc. (a) 74,344
418 Knowles Corp. (a) 9,760
87 Littelfuse, Inc. 27,377
249 Methode Electronics, Inc. 12,243
28 OSI Systems, Inc. (a) 2,610
119 PC Connection, Inc. 5,132
59 Plexus Corp. (a) 5,658
14 Rogers Corp. (a) 3,822
339 Sanmina Corp. (a) 14,055
57 TD SYNNEX Corp. 6,519
623 TTM Technologies, Inc. (a) 9,283
520 Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. 11,372
350 Vontier Corp. 10,755
38 Zebra Technologies Corp.,
Class A (a) 22,618
--------------
509,354
--------------
ENERGY EQUIPMENT & SERVICES
-- 0.1%
950 Archrock, Inc. 7,106
170 Aspen Aerogels, Inc. (a) 8,464
238 Baker Hughes Co. 5,726
392 Oceaneering International,
Inc. (a) 4,434
290 Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. 2,451
2,757 Transocean Ltd. (a) 7,609
--------------
35,790
--------------
ENTERTAINMENT -- 0.1%
32 Netflix, Inc. (a) 19,278
183 Warner Music Group Corp.,
Class A 7,902
--------------
27,180
--------------
EQUITY REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
TRUSTS -- 2.7%
121 American Campus Communities,
Inc. 6,932
974 American Finance Trust, Inc. 8,893
154 American Homes 4 Rent, Class A 6,716
973 Brandywine Realty Trust 13,058
532 Brixmor Property Group, Inc. 13,518
28 Centerspace 3,105
97 Corporate Office Properties Trust 2,713
473 Cousins Properties, Inc. 19,052
242 CubeSmart 13,772
76 CyrusOne, Inc. 6,819
36 EastGroup Properties, Inc. 8,203
260 Empire State Realty Trust, Inc.,
Class A 2,314
150 Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. 13,149
Page 18 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
EQUITY REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
TRUSTS (CONTINUED)
50 Federal Realty Investment Trust $ 6,816
113 First Industrial Realty Trust,
Inc. 7,481
98 Four Corners Property Trust, Inc. 2,882
178 Getty Realty Corp. 5,712
327 Global Net Lease, Inc. 4,997
198 Healthcare Trust of America,
Inc., Class A 6,611
134 Highwoods Properties, Inc. 5,975
100 Hudson Pacific Properties, Inc. 2,471
257 Independence Realty Trust, Inc. 6,638
309 Industrial Logistics Properties
Trust 7,740
128 Innovative Industrial Properties,
Inc. 33,652
677 Iron Mountain, Inc. 35,427
312 iStar, Inc. (c) 8,059
443 Kilroy Realty Corp. 29,442
283 Kimco Realty Corp. 6,976
156 Lamar Advertising Co., Class A 18,923
102 Life Storage, Inc. 15,624
248 LTC Properties, Inc. 8,467
879 Medical Properties Trust, Inc. 20,771
106 Mid-America Apartment
Communities, Inc. 24,321
147 National Health Investors, Inc. 8,448
408 National Retail Properties, Inc. 19,613
50 National Storage Affiliates Trust 3,460
221 NETSTREIT Corp. 5,061
42 NexPoint Residential Trust, Inc. 3,521
309 Office Properties Income Trust 7,676
581 Paramount Group, Inc. 4,846
148 Physicians Realty Trust 2,787
253 PotlatchDeltic Corp. 15,236
174 Regency Centers Corp. 13,111
103 Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. 8,354
614 RPT Realty 8,215
178 Sabra Health Care REIT, Inc. 2,410
59 Saul Centers, Inc. 3,128
169 SITE Centers Corp. 2,675
332 SL Green Realty Corp. 23,804
150 STAG Industrial, Inc. 7,194
107 Sun Communities, Inc. 22,467
222 UDR, Inc. 13,318
228 UMH Properties, Inc. 6,231
140 Vornado Realty Trust 5,860
2,772 Weyerhaeuser Co. 114,151
161 WP Carey, Inc. 13,210
--------------
692,005
--------------
FOOD & STAPLES RETAILING -- 0.9%
944 Albertsons Cos., Inc., Class A 28,499
423 Andersons (The), Inc. 16,374
536 BJ's Wholesale Club Holdings,
Inc. (a) 35,896
93 Casey's General Stores, Inc. 18,354
121 Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (a) 3,422
198 Ingles Markets, Inc., Class A 17,095
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
FOOD & STAPLES RETAILING
(CONTINUED)
484 Kroger (The) Co. $ 21,906
33 PriceSmart, Inc. 2,415
451 Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (a) 13,386
162 United Natural Foods, Inc. (a) 7,951
170 US Foods Holding Corp. (a) 5,921
833 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. 43,449
249 Weis Markets, Inc. 16,404
--------------
231,072
--------------
FOOD PRODUCTS -- 2.2%
1,314 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. 88,813
88 B&G Foods, Inc. (c) 2,704
361 Bunge Ltd. 33,703
422 Campbell Soup Co. 18,340
694 Conagra Brands, Inc. 23,700
327 Darling Ingredients, Inc. (a) 22,658
498 Flowers Foods, Inc. 13,680
406 Fresh Del Monte Produce, Inc. 11,206
656 General Mills, Inc. 44,201
478 Hormel Foods Corp. 23,331
301 Hostess Brands, Inc. (a) 6,146
132 Ingredion, Inc. 12,757
196 J.M. Smucker (The) Co. 26,621
32 John B Sanfilippo & Son, Inc. 2,885
1,064 Kraft Heinz (The) Co. 38,198
34 Lancaster Colony Corp. 5,630
142 Mission Produce, Inc. (a) 2,229
673 Mondelez International, Inc.,
Class A 44,627
107 Post Holdings, Inc. (a) 12,062
3 Seaboard Corp. 11,805
151 Simply Good Foods (The) Co. (a) 6,277
131 TreeHouse Foods, Inc. (a) 5,310
1,249 Tyson Foods, Inc., Class A 108,863
--------------
565,746
--------------
GAS UTILITIES -- 0.5%
267 Atmos Energy Corp. 27,974
22 Chesapeake Utilities Corp. 3,208
50 National Fuel Gas Co. 3,197
76 New Jersey Resources Corp. 3,120
227 Northwest Natural Holding Co. 11,073
123 ONE Gas, Inc. 9,543
491 South Jersey Industries, Inc. 12,825
157 Southwest Gas Holdings, Inc. 10,998
171 Spire, Inc. 11,153
690 UGI Corp. 31,678
--------------
124,769
--------------
HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT &
SUPPLIES -- 2.2%
18 ABIOMED, Inc. (a) 6,465
119 Align Technology, Inc. (a) 78,204
201 AngioDynamics, Inc. (a) 5,544
40 Axonics, Inc. (a) 2,240
62 BioLife Solutions, Inc. (a) 2,311
20 CONMED Corp. 2,835
118 CryoPort, Inc. (a) 6,982
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 19
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT &
SUPPLIES (CONTINUED)
202 DENTSPLY SIRONA, Inc. $ 11,270
72 Dexcom, Inc. (a) 38,660
347 Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (a) 44,954
422 Envista Holdings Corp. (a) 19,015
230 Globus Medical, Inc., Class A (a) 16,606
50 Heska Corp. (a) 9,124
1,336 Hologic, Inc. (a) 102,284
29 Integer Holdings Corp. (a) 2,482
86 Integra LifeSciences Holdings
Corp. (a) 5,761
60 Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (a) 21,558
203 Lantheus Holdings, Inc. (a) 5,865
43 Masimo Corp. (a) 12,590
109 Merit Medical Systems, Inc. (a) 6,791
9 Mesa Laboratories, Inc. 2,953
80 OrthoPediatrics Corp. (a) 4,789
22 Penumbra, Inc. (a) 6,321
124 Quidel Corp. (a) 16,739
149 ResMed, Inc. 38,812
143 Shockwave Medical, Inc. (a) 25,501
91 STAAR Surgical Co. (a) 8,308
148 Tandem Diabetes Care, Inc. (a) 22,277
370 Varex Imaging Corp. (a) 11,673
362 ViewRay, Inc. (a) 1,995
133 Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. 16,896
--------------
557,805
--------------
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS & SERVICES
-- 3.1%
277 Acadia Healthcare Co., Inc. (a) 16,814
549 Agiliti, Inc. (a) 12,715
113 AMN Healthcare Services, Inc. (a) 13,823
53 Anthem, Inc. 24,568
258 Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc. (a) 18,958
414 Brookdale Senior Living, Inc. (a) 2,136
492 Cigna Corp. 112,978
57 CorVel Corp. (a) 11,856
698 CVS Health Corp. 72,006
152 DaVita, Inc. (a) 17,292
157 Encompass Health Corp. 10,246
87 Fulgent Genetics, Inc. (a) 8,751
407 HCA Healthcare, Inc. 104,566
231 Henry Schein, Inc. (a) 17,909
51 Humana, Inc. 23,657
133 Joint (The) Corp. (a) 8,737
350 Laboratory Corp. of America
Holdings (a) 109,973
38 LHC Group, Inc. (a) 5,215
72 ModivCare, Inc. (a) 10,677
22 Molina Healthcare, Inc. (a) 6,998
187 National HealthCare Corp. 12,705
539 Option Care Health, Inc. (a) 15,329
87 Patterson Cos., Inc. 2,553
68 Premier, Inc., Class A 2,800
420 Progyny, Inc. (a) 21,147
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS & SERVICES
(CONTINUED)
202 Quest Diagnostics, Inc. $ 34,948
357 RadNet, Inc. (a) 10,749
488 Select Medical Holdings Corp. 14,347
442 Tenet Healthcare Corp. (a) 36,107
212 Universal Health Services, Inc.,
Class B 27,488
--------------
788,048
--------------
HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGY -- 0.4%
278 Cerner Corp. 25,818
421 Evolent Health, Inc., Class A (a) 11,649
101 Inspire Medical Systems, Inc. (a) 23,236
80 Omnicell, Inc. (a) 14,435
152 OptimizeRx Corp. (a) 9,440
42 Phreesia, Inc. (a) 1,750
114 Vocera Communications, Inc. (a) 7,392
--------------
93,720
--------------
HOTELS, RESTAURANTS & LEISURE
-- 1.4%
372 Boyd Gaming Corp. (a) 24,392
878 Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (a) 82,119
43 Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (a) 75,175
47 Choice Hotels International, Inc. 7,331
98 Churchill Downs, Inc. 23,608
38 Cracker Barrel Old Country Store,
Inc. 4,888
41 Domino's Pizza, Inc. 23,137
432 Everi Holdings, Inc. (a) 9,223
266 Golden Entertainment, Inc. (a) 13,441
110 Hilton Grand Vacations, Inc. (a) 5,732
117 Monarch Casino & Resort, Inc. (a) 8,652
81 Penn National Gaming, Inc. (a) 4,200
256 Red Rock Resorts, Inc., Class A 14,083
283 Scientific Games Corp. (a) 18,913
94 SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. (a) 6,097
64 Texas Roadhouse, Inc. 5,714
72 Wingstop, Inc. 12,442
160 Yum! Brands, Inc. 22,218
--------------
361,365
--------------
HOUSEHOLD DURABLES -- 3.3%
11 Cavco Industries, Inc. (a) 3,494
212 Century Communities, Inc. 17,340
1,174 D.R. Horton, Inc. 127,320
508 Garmin Ltd. 69,174
128 Green Brick Partners, Inc. (a) 3,882
52 Helen of Troy Ltd. (a) 12,712
33 iRobot Corp. (a) 2,174
336 KB Home 15,029
324 La-Z-Boy, Inc. 11,765
393 Leggett & Platt, Inc. 16,176
1,052 Lennar Corp., Class A 122,200
19 LGI Homes, Inc. (a) 2,935
119 Lovesac (The) Co. (a) 7,885
280 M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. 15,632
226 M/I Homes, Inc. (a) 14,053
Page 20 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
HOUSEHOLD DURABLES (CONTINUED)
134 Meritage Homes Corp. (a) $ 16,356
167 Mohawk Industries, Inc. (a) 30,424
1,062 Newell Brands, Inc. 23,194
17 NVR, Inc. (a) 100,451
640 PulteGroup, Inc. 36,582
218 Skyline Champion Corp. (a) 17,218
81 Sonos, Inc. (a) 2,414
507 Taylor Morrison Home Corp. (a) 17,725
633 Tempur Sealy International, Inc. 29,770
531 Toll Brothers, Inc. 38,439
58 TopBuild Corp. (a) 16,003
621 Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. (a) 17,320
123 Tupperware Brands Corp. (a) 1,881
144 Whirlpool Corp. 33,791
--------------
823,339
--------------
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS -- 0.1%
182 Central Garden & Pet Co.,
Class A (a) 8,709
644 Reynolds Consumer Products, Inc. 20,222
28 Spectrum Brands Holdings, Inc. 2,848
--------------
31,779
--------------
INDEPENDENT POWER AND RENEWABLE
ELECTRICITY PRODUCERS -- 0.0%
343 Vistra Corp. 7,810
--------------
INDUSTRIAL CONGLOMERATES -- 0.2%
224 3M Co. 39,789
--------------
INSURANCE -- 6.5%
1,892 Aflac, Inc. 110,474
48 Alleghany Corp. (a) 32,044
774 Allstate (The) Corp. 91,061
442 American Equity Investment Life
Holding Co. 17,203
192 American Financial Group, Inc. 26,365
1,438 American International Group,
Inc. 81,765
100 AMERISAFE, Inc. 5,383
138 Aon PLC, Class A 41,477
770 Arch Capital Group Ltd. (a) 34,226
50 Argo Group International Holdings
Ltd. 2,905
74 Assurant, Inc. 11,534
223 Assured Guaranty Ltd. 11,195
170 Axis Capital Holdings Ltd. 9,260
106 Brown & Brown, Inc. 7,450
236 BRP Group, Inc., Class A (a) 8,522
454 Chubb Ltd. 87,763
863 Cincinnati Financial Corp. 98,322
560 CNA Financial Corp. 24,685
554 CNO Financial Group, Inc. 13,207
64 eHealth, Inc. (a) 1,632
331 Employers Holdings, Inc. 13,697
56 Enstar Group Ltd. (a) 13,865
33 Erie Indemnity Co., Class A 6,358
118 Everest Re Group Ltd. 32,323
648 Fidelity National Financial, Inc. 33,813
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
INSURANCE (CONTINUED)
438 First American Financial Corp. $ 34,265
3,483 Genworth Financial, Inc.,
Class A (a) 14,106
264 Globe Life, Inc. 24,742
69 Goosehead Insurance, Inc.,
Class A 8,975
181 Hanover Insurance Group (The),
Inc. 23,722
1,123 Hartford Financial Services Group
(The), Inc. 77,532
118 HCI Group, Inc. 9,858
262 Horace Mann Educators Corp. 10,139
118 Kemper Corp. 6,937
257 Lincoln National Corp. 17,543
436 Loews Corp. 25,183
24 Markel Corp. (a) 29,616
234 Mercury General Corp. 12,416
634 MetLife, Inc. 39,619
1,271 Old Republic International Corp. 31,241
77 Primerica, Inc. 11,802
273 Principal Financial Group, Inc. 19,746
873 Progressive (The) Corp. 89,613
750 Prudential Financial, Inc. 81,180
211 Reinsurance Group of America,
Inc. 23,102
84 RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. 14,224
59 RLI Corp. 6,614
164 Safety Insurance Group, Inc. 13,945
311 Selective Insurance Group, Inc. 25,483
1,411 SiriusPoint Ltd. (a) 11,471
207 Stewart Information Services
Corp. 16,504
519 Travelers (The) Cos., Inc. 81,187
938 Unum Group 23,047
241 W.R. Berkley Corp. 19,856
12 White Mountains Insurance Group
Ltd. 12,167
--------------
1,632,364
--------------
INTERACTIVE MEDIA & SERVICES
-- 1.0%
37 Alphabet, Inc., Class A (a) 107,191
332 Cargurus, Inc. (a) 11,168
218 fuboTV, Inc. (a) (c) 3,383
226 IAC/InterActiveCorp (a) 29,540
1,068 Snap, Inc., Class A (a) 50,228
203 Ziff Davis, Inc. (a) 22,505
288 ZoomInfo Technologies, Inc. (a) 18,490
--------------
242,505
--------------
INTERNET & DIRECT MARKETING
RETAIL -- 0.6%
86 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc.,
Class A (a) 2,010
1,416 eBay, Inc. 94,164
94 Etsy, Inc. (a) 20,581
33 Overstock.com, Inc. (a) 1,947
1,470 Qurate Retail, Inc., Series A 11,172
127 Revolve Group, Inc. (a) 7,117
92 Shutterstock, Inc. 10,201
--------------
147,192
--------------
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 21
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
IT SERVICES -- 2.9%
184 Accenture PLC, Class A $ 76,277
91 Alliance Data Systems Corp. 6,058
118 Broadridge Financial Solutions,
Inc. 21,573
700 Cloudflare, Inc., Class A (a) 92,050
528 Cognizant Technology Solutions
Corp., Class A 46,844
1,189 Conduent, Inc. (a) 6,349
54 CSG Systems International, Inc. 3,111
700 DXC Technology Co. (a) 22,533
138 EPAM Systems, Inc. (a) 92,246
114 EVERTEC, Inc. 5,698
84 ExlService Holdings, Inc. (a) 12,161
324 Gartner, Inc. (a) 108,320
123 Genpact Ltd. 6,529
447 Grid Dynamics Holdings, Inc. (a) 16,973
36 Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. 6,012
282 Maximus, Inc. 22,467
168 MongoDB, Inc. (a) 88,931
113 Perficient, Inc. (a) 14,610
130 Snowflake, Inc., Class A (a) 44,037
782 SolarWinds Corp. 11,096
103 Switch, Inc., Class A 2,950
126 TTEC Holdings, Inc. 11,409
208 Unisys Corp. (a) 4,278
581 Western Union (The) Co. 10,365
--------------
732,877
--------------
LEISURE PRODUCTS -- 0.7%
112 Acushnet Holdings Corp. 5,945
247 Brunswick Corp. 24,880
1,063 Callaway Golf Co. (a) 29,169
132 Hasbro, Inc. 13,435
99 Johnson Outdoors, Inc., Class A 9,275
38 Malibu Boats, Inc., Class A (a) 2,612
633 Mattel, Inc. (a) 13,648
197 Polaris, Inc. 21,652
629 Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. 11,196
107 Sturm Ruger & Co., Inc. 7,278
259 Vista Outdoor, Inc. (a) 11,932
206 YETI Holdings, Inc. (a) 17,063
--------------
168,085
--------------
LIFE SCIENCES TOOLS & SERVICES
-- 3.5%
376 Agilent Technologies, Inc. 60,028
2,411 Avantor, Inc. (a) 101,599
132 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.,
Class A (a) 99,735
81 Bio-Techne Corp. 41,904
301 Bruker Corp. 25,257
191 Charles River Laboratories
International, Inc. (a) 71,965
112 Codexis, Inc. (a) 3,502
259 Danaher Corp. 85,214
93 Medpace Holdings, Inc. (a) 20,240
122 NeoGenomics, Inc. (a) 4,163
569 PerkinElmer, Inc. 114,403
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
LIFE SCIENCES TOOLS & SERVICES
(CONTINUED)
102 Repligen Corp. (a) $ 27,014
201 Syneos Health, Inc. (a) 20,639
103 Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. 68,726
166 Waters Corp. (a) 61,852
186 West Pharmaceutical Services,
Inc. 87,236
--------------
893,477
--------------
MACHINERY -- 3.0%
96 AGCO Corp. 11,138
19 Alamo Group, Inc. 2,796
148 Allison Transmission Holdings,
Inc. 5,380
94 Altra Industrial Motion Corp. 4,848
49 Astec Industries, Inc. 3,394
126 Barnes Group, Inc. 5,870
123 Chart Industries, Inc. (a) 19,617
257 Colfax Corp. (a) 11,814
186 Crane Co. 18,922
262 Cummins, Inc. 57,153
204 Donaldson Co., Inc. 12,089
209 Evoqua Water Technologies
Corp. (a) 9,771
68 Federal Signal Corp. 2,947
339 Flowserve Corp. 10,373
1,118 Fortive Corp. 85,292
1,083 Gates Industrial Corp. PLC (a) 17,231
73 Gorman-Rupp (The) Co. 3,252
61 Greenbrier (The) Cos., Inc. 2,799
128 Helios Technologies, Inc. 13,462
122 Hillenbrand, Inc. 6,343
39 Kadant, Inc. 8,989
152 Kennametal, Inc. 5,458
46 Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. 6,416
368 Meritor, Inc. (a) 9,119
103 Middleby (The) Corp. (a) 20,266
254 Mueller Industries, Inc. 15,077
24 Nordson Corp. 6,127
230 Oshkosh Corp. 25,923
238 Otis Worldwide Corp. 20,723
750 PACCAR, Inc. 66,195
211 Parker-Hannifin Corp. 67,123
39 Proto Labs, Inc. (a) 2,003
28 RBC Bearings, Inc. (a) 5,655
207 Shyft Group (The), Inc. 10,170
113 Snap-on, Inc. 24,338
49 SPX Corp. (a) 2,924
27 Standex International Corp. 2,988
450 Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. 84,879
62 Terex Corp. 2,725
359 Timken (The) Co. 24,875
62 Watts Water Technologies, Inc.,
Class A 12,039
137 Westinghouse Air Brake
Technologies Corp. 12,619
52 Woodward, Inc. 5,692
--------------
746,814
--------------
Page 22 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
MARINE -- 0.1%
163 Kirby Corp. (a) $ 9,685
130 Matson, Inc. 11,704
--------------
21,389
--------------
MEDIA -- 1.5%
283 Altice USA, Inc., Class A (a) 4,579
224 AMC Networks, Inc., Class A (a) 7,715
202 Boston Omaha Corp., Class A (a) 5,803
3,856 Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings,
Inc. (a) 12,763
701 Comcast Corp., Class A 35,281
1,158 Discovery, Inc., Class A (a) (c) 27,259
677 DISH Network Corp., Class A (a) 21,962
723 E.W. Scripps (The) Co.,
Class A (a) 13,990
489 Fox Corp., Class A 18,044
1,956 Gannett Co., Inc. (a) 10,426
572 Gray Television, Inc. 11,532
209 iHeartMedia, Inc., Class A (a) 4,397
160 Interpublic Group of (The) Cos.,
Inc. 5,992
100 John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Class A 5,727
119 New York Times (The) Co.,
Class A 5,748
250 News Corp., Class A 5,578
193 Nexstar Media Group, Inc.,
Class A 29,139
162 Omnicom Group, Inc. 11,870
73 Scholastic Corp. 2,917
330 Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.,
Class A 8,722
127 TechTarget, Inc. (a) 12,149
530 TEGNA, Inc. 9,837
348 Thryv Holdings, Inc. (a) 14,313
2,496 ViacomCBS, Inc., Class B 75,329
399 WideOpenWest, Inc. (a) 8,586
--------------
369,658
--------------
METALS & MINING -- 1.3%
600 Alcoa Corp. 35,748
1,187 Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. (a) 25,841
1,693 Coeur Mining, Inc. (a) 8,533
343 Commercial Metals Co. 12,447
38 Materion Corp. 3,494
1,001 Nucor Corp. 114,264
207 Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. 33,579
298 Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc.,
Class A 15,472
502 Steel Dynamics, Inc. 31,159
1,338 United States Steel Corp. 31,858
198 Worthington Industries, Inc. 10,823
--------------
323,218
--------------
MORTGAGE REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
TRUSTS -- 0.8%
1,863 AGNC Investment Corp. 28,020
3,490 Annaly Capital Management, Inc. 27,292
704 Apollo Commercial Real Estate
Finance, Inc. 9,265
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
MORTGAGE REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
TRUSTS (CONTINUED)
564 Arbor Realty Trust, Inc. $ 10,332
172 Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc.,
Class A 5,267
880 Chimera Investment Corp. 13,270
496 KKR Real Estate Finance Trust,
Inc. 10,332
237 Ladder Capital Corp. 2,842
2,858 MFA Financial, Inc. 13,032
950 New Residential Investment Corp. 10,175
3,067 New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. 11,409
531 PennyMac Mortgage Investment
Trust 9,202
724 Ready Capital Corp. 11,316
1,013 Redwood Trust, Inc. 13,361
844 TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc. 10,398
2,060 Two Harbors Investment Corp. 11,886
--------------
197,399
--------------
MULTILINE RETAIL -- 1.0%
301 Big Lots, Inc. 13,560
76 Dillard's, Inc., Class A 18,622
614 Dollar Tree, Inc. (a) 86,279
296 Franchise Group, Inc. 15,439
624 Kohl's Corp. 30,819
1,040 Macy's, Inc. 27,227
292 Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings,
Inc. (a) 14,948
172 Target Corp. 39,808
--------------
246,702
--------------
MULTI-UTILITIES -- 1.6%
483 Ameren Corp. 42,992
267 Avista Corp. 11,345
124 Black Hills Corp. 8,751
717 CenterPoint Energy, Inc. 20,012
197 CMS Energy Corp. 12,815
816 Consolidated Edison, Inc. 69,621
268 Dominion Energy, Inc. 21,054
707 DTE Energy Co. 84,515
792 MDU Resources Group, Inc. 24,425
486 NiSource, Inc. 13,418
182 NorthWestern Corp. 10,403
643 Public Service Enterprise Group,
Inc. 42,907
444 WEC Energy Group, Inc. 43,099
--------------
405,357
--------------
OIL, GAS & CONSUMABLE FUELS
-- 3.6%
76 Altus Midstream Co., Class A 4,660
251 Antero Midstream Corp. 2,430
694 Antero Resources Corp. (a) 12,145
274 APA Corp. 7,368
254 California Resources Corp. 10,848
213 Callon Petroleum Co. (a) 10,064
1,010 Cheniere Energy, Inc. 102,434
477 Chesapeake Energy Corp. 30,776
387 Chevron Corp. 45,414
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 23
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
OIL, GAS & CONSUMABLE FUELS
(CONTINUED)
163 Civitas Resources, Inc. $ 7,982
207 CNX Resources Corp. (a) 2,846
1,262 Comstock Resources, Inc. (a) 10,210
578 ConocoPhillips 41,720
382 Continental Resources, Inc. 17,098
557 Coterra Energy, Inc. 10,583
800 Crescent Energy, Inc.,
Class A (a) 10,144
149 Denbury, Inc. (a) 11,412
662 Devon Energy Corp. 29,161
249 Diamondback Energy, Inc. 26,855
983 EOG Resources, Inc. 87,320
1,030 Equitrans Midstream Corp. 10,650
316 HollyFrontier Corp. 10,358
3,537 Kinder Morgan, Inc. 56,097
882 Kosmos Energy Ltd. (a) 3,052
129 Laredo Petroleum, Inc. (a) 7,757
588 Magnolia Oil & Gas Corp., Class A 11,096
1,290 Marathon Oil Corp. 21,182
343 Matador Resources Co. 12,664
367 Northern Oil And Gas, Inc. 7,553
131 Oasis Petroleum, Inc. 16,505
1,700 ONEOK, Inc. 99,892
893 Ovintiv, Inc. 30,094
499 Par Pacific Holdings, Inc. (a) 8,228
276 PDC Energy, Inc. 13,463
577 Range Resources Corp. (a) 10,288
208 Renewable Energy Group, Inc. (a) 8,828
496 SM Energy Co. 14,622
1,887 Southwestern Energy Co. (a) 8,793
379 Talos Energy, Inc. (a) 3,714
597 Targa Resources Corp. 31,187
1,337 Tellurian, Inc. (a) 4,118
223 Whiting Petroleum Corp. (a) 14,424
756 Williams (The) Cos., Inc. 19,686
233 World Fuel Services Corp. 6,167
--------------
911,888
--------------
PAPER & FOREST PRODUCTS -- 0.2%
479 Louisiana-Pacific Corp. 37,530
227 Schweitzer-Mauduit International,
Inc. 6,787
--------------
44,317
--------------
PERSONAL PRODUCTS -- 0.2%
340 BellRing Brands, Inc.,
Class A (a) 9,700
216 Edgewell Personal Care Co. 9,873
139 Herbalife Nutrition Ltd. (a) 5,689
140 Inter Parfums, Inc. 14,966
322 Nu Skin Enterprises, Inc.,
Class A 16,342
57 USANA Health Sciences, Inc. (a) 5,769
--------------
62,339
--------------
PHARMACEUTICALS -- 1.1%
979 Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a) 4,689
143 Arvinas, Inc. (a) 11,746
593 Catalent, Inc. (a) 75,922
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
PHARMACEUTICALS (CONTINUED)
86 Eli Lilly & Co. $ 23,755
463 Fulcrum Therapeutics, Inc. (a) 8,190
204 Harmony Biosciences Holdings,
Inc. (a) 8,699
626 Innoviva, Inc. (a) 10,799
46 Jazz Pharmaceuticals PLC (a) 5,860
93 Pacira BioSciences, Inc. (a) 5,596
1,376 Pfizer, Inc. 81,253
93 Prestige Consumer Healthcare,
Inc. (a) 5,640
293 Supernus Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (a) 8,544
1,301 Viatris, Inc. 17,603
--------------
268,296
--------------
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES -- 1.2%
104 ASGN, Inc. (a) 12,834
74 Booz Allen Hamilton Holding
Corp. 6,274
90 CACI International, Inc.,
Class A (a) 24,229
81 CBIZ, Inc. (a) 3,169
350 Dun & Bradstreet Holdings,
Inc. (a) 7,171
311 Equifax, Inc. 91,058
156 Exponent, Inc. 18,210
131 FTI Consulting, Inc. (a) 20,098
29 ICF International, Inc. 2,974
118 Insperity, Inc. 13,937
44 Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. 6,126
144 Korn Ferry 10,905
122 Leidos Holdings, Inc. 10,846
54 ManpowerGroup, Inc. 5,256
69 ManTech International Corp.,
Class A 5,032
234 Robert Half International, Inc. 26,096
206 Science Applications International
Corp. 17,219
62 TriNet Group, Inc. (a) 5,906
193 TrueBlue, Inc. (a) 5,340
130 Upwork, Inc. (a) 4,441
--------------
297,121
--------------
REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT &
DEVELOPMENT -- 0.9%
1,013 CBRE Group, Inc., Class A (a) 109,920
102 Douglas Elliman, Inc. (a) 1,173
591 eXp World Holdings, Inc. 19,911
561 Forestar Group, Inc. (a) 12,202
133 Howard Hughes (The) Corp. (a) 13,537
71 Jones Lang LaSalle, Inc. (a) 19,123
500 Kennedy-Wilson Holdings, Inc. 11,940
129 Marcus & Millichap, Inc. (a) 6,638
913 Newmark Group, Inc., Class A 17,073
744 Realogy Holdings Corp. (a) 12,507
62 St. Joe (The) Co. 3,227
--------------
227,251
--------------
Page 24 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
ROAD & RAIL -- 1.5%
37 AMERCO $ 26,870
96 ArcBest Corp. 11,506
254 Avis Budget Group, Inc. (a) 52,672
659 CSX Corp. 24,778
652 Heartland Express, Inc. 10,967
70 J.B. Hunt Transport Services,
Inc. 14,308
574 Knight-Swift Transportation
Holdings, Inc. 34,979
74 Landstar System, Inc. 13,247
666 Marten Transport Ltd. 11,429
82 Norfolk Southern Corp. 24,412
207 Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. 74,185
127 Ryder System, Inc. 10,469
99 Saia, Inc. (a) 33,366
460 Schneider National, Inc., Class B 12,379
236 Werner Enterprises, Inc. 11,248
221 XPO Logistics, Inc. (a) 17,112
--------------
383,927
--------------
SEMICONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTOR
EQUIPMENT -- 3.3%
94 ACM Research, Inc., Class A (a) 8,015
576 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (a) 82,886
68 Ambarella, Inc. (a) 13,797
1,178 Amkor Technology, Inc. 29,203
56 Axcelis Technologies, Inc. (a) 4,175
287 Azenta, Inc. 29,593
32 Cirrus Logic, Inc. (a) 2,945
144 Diodes, Inc. (a) 15,813
140 Entegris, Inc. 19,401
247 First Solar, Inc. (a) 21,529
127 Ichor Holdings Ltd. (a) 5,846
46 Impinj, Inc. (a) 4,080
1,851 Intel Corp. 95,326
363 Lattice Semiconductor Corp. (a) 27,973
121 MACOM Technology Solutions
Holdings, Inc. (a) 9,474
266 MaxLinear, Inc. (a) 20,054
1,389 Micron Technology, Inc. 129,385
117 MKS Instruments, Inc. 20,378
162 Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. 79,919
286 NVIDIA Corp. 84,115
129 ON Semiconductor Corp. (a) 8,762
144 Onto Innovation, Inc. (a) 14,577
297 Power Integrations, Inc. 27,588
118 Rambus, Inc. (a) 3,468
100 Semtech Corp. (a) 8,893
64 SiTime Corp. (a) 18,723
131 Synaptics, Inc. (a) 37,926
353 Veeco Instruments, Inc. (a) 10,050
--------------
833,894
--------------
SOFTWARE -- 5.3%
776 A10 Networks, Inc. 12,866
38 Altair Engineering, Inc.,
Class A (a) 2,938
193 Anaplan, Inc. (a) 8,849
283 Asana, Inc., Class A (a) 21,098
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
SOFTWARE (CONTINUED)
101 Avalara, Inc. (a) $ 13,040
97 Bentley Systems, Inc., Class B 4,688
369 Bill.com Holdings, Inc. (a) 91,936
81 Black Knight, Inc. (a) 6,714
100 Blackline, Inc. (a) 10,354
130 Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (a) 24,225
138 CDK Global, Inc. 5,760
104 Ceridian HCM Holding, Inc. (a) 10,864
69 CommVault Systems, Inc. (a) 4,755
160 Crowdstrike Holdings, Inc.,
Class A (a) 32,760
558 Datadog, Inc., Class A (a) 99,385
86 Digital Turbine, Inc. (a) 5,245
93 Domo, Inc., Class B (a) 4,613
402 Dropbox, Inc., Class A (a) 9,865
331 Dynatrace, Inc. (a) 19,976
119 Elastic N.V. (a) 14,648
78 Everbridge, Inc. (a) 5,252
338 Fortinet, Inc. (a) 121,477
50 Guidewire Software, Inc. (a) 5,676
146 HubSpot, Inc. (a) 96,236
110 Intuit, Inc. 70,754
68 Jamf Holding Corp. (a) 2,585
77 Manhattan Associates, Inc. (a) 11,973
82 Marathon Digital Holdings,
Inc. (a) 2,694
123 Mimecast Ltd. (a) 9,787
82 nCino, Inc. (a) 4,499
37 New Relic, Inc. (a) 4,069
312 Nutanix, Inc., Class A (a) 9,940
679 Oracle Corp. 59,216
206 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (a) 114,693
119 Paycom Software, Inc. (a) 49,408
84 Paylocity Holding Corp. (a) 19,837
107 Progress Software Corp. 5,165
208 Rapid7, Inc. (a) 24,480
394 SecureWorks Corp., Class A (a) 6,292
32 ServiceNow, Inc. (a) 20,772
86 Smartsheet, Inc., Class A (a) 6,661
107 Sprout Social, Inc., Class A (a) 9,704
64 SPS Commerce, Inc. (a) 9,110
66 Synopsys, Inc. (a) 24,321
113 Tenable Holdings, Inc. (a) 6,223
512 Teradata Corp. (a) 21,745
469 Unity Software, Inc. (a) 67,062
290 Varonis Systems, Inc. (a) 14,146
648 Vonage Holdings Corp. (a) 13,472
167 Workiva, Inc. (a) 21,792
139 Xperi Holding Corp. 2,628
301 Zscaler, Inc. (a) 96,720
--------------
1,342,968
--------------
SPECIALTY RETAIL -- 3.9%
278 Abercrombie & Fitch Co.,
Class A (a) 9,683
261 Academy Sports & Outdoors,
Inc. (a) 11,458
28 Advance Auto Parts, Inc. 6,717
228 American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. 5,773
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 25
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
SPECIALTY RETAIL (CONTINUED)
40 Asbury Automotive Group, Inc. (a) $ 6,909
241 AutoNation, Inc. (a) 28,161
58 AutoZone, Inc. (a) 121,591
1,564 Bath & Body Works, Inc. 109,152
453 Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. (a) (c) 6,605
747 Best Buy Co., Inc. 75,895
147 Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. (a) 18,088
132 Buckle (The), Inc. 5,585
66 Carvana Co. (a) 15,298
104 Children's Place (The), Inc. (a) 8,246
246 Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. 28,288
33 Five Below, Inc. (a) 6,827
243 Floor & Decor Holdings, Inc.,
Class A (a) 31,592
643 Foot Locker, Inc. 28,054
1,036 Gap (The), Inc. 18,285
70 Group 1 Automotive, Inc. 13,665
124 Guess?, Inc. 2,936
111 Hibbett, Inc. 7,984
93 Lithia Motors, Inc. 27,616
269 MarineMax, Inc. (a) 15,882
16 Murphy USA, Inc. 3,188
184 National Vision Holdings,
Inc. (a) 8,830
129 O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (a) 91,104
130 ODP (The) Corp. (a) 5,106
292 Penske Automotive Group, Inc. 31,308
186 Rent-A-Center, Inc. 8,936
27 RH (a) 14,470
310 Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc. (a) 5,723
132 Signet Jewelers Ltd. 11,488
28 Sleep Number Corp. (a) 2,145
199 Sonic Automotive, Inc., Class A 9,841
487 Tractor Supply Co. 116,198
440 Urban Outfitters, Inc. (a) 12,918
167 Williams-Sonoma, Inc. 28,245
329 Zumiez, Inc. (a) 15,789
--------------
975,579
--------------
TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE, STORAGE &
PERIPHERALS -- 1.0%
139 Apple, Inc. 24,682
90 Avid Technology, Inc. (a) 2,931
5,537 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. 87,319
262 NetApp, Inc. 24,101
701 Pure Storage, Inc., Class A (a) 22,818
143 Super Micro Computer, Inc. (a) 6,285
1,049 Western Digital Corp. (a) 68,405
648 Xerox Holdings Corp. 14,671
--------------
251,212
--------------
TEXTILES, APPAREL & LUXURY GOODS
-- 0.6%
53 Carter's, Inc. 5,365
184 Columbia Sportswear Co. 17,929
204 Crocs, Inc. (a) 26,157
49 Deckers Outdoor Corp. (a) 17,949
461 G-III Apparel Group Ltd. (a) 12,742
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
TEXTILES, APPAREL & LUXURY GOODS
(CONTINUED)
104 Kontoor Brands, Inc. $ 5,330
171 PVH Corp. 18,237
53 Ralph Lauren Corp. 6,299
419 Skechers U.S.A., Inc.,
Class A (a) 18,185
318 Tapestry, Inc. 12,911
582 Under Armour, Inc., Class A (a) 12,332
--------------
153,436
--------------
THRIFTS & MORTGAGE FINANCE
-- 0.8%
152 Axos Financial, Inc. (a) 8,498
141 Columbia Financial, Inc. (a) 2,941
668 Essent Group Ltd. 30,414
24 Federal Agricultural Mortgage
Corp., Class C 2,974
420 Kearny Financial Corp. 5,565
199 Merchants Bancorp 9,419
873 MGIC Investment Corp. 12,589
318 Mr. Cooper Group, Inc. (a) 13,232
1,370 New York Community Bancorp, Inc. 16,728
578 NMI Holdings, Inc., Class A (a) 12,629
590 Northwest Bancshares, Inc. 8,354
213 PennyMac Financial Services, Inc. 14,863
328 Premier Financial Corp. 10,139
334 Provident Financial Services,
Inc. 8,089
574 Radian Group, Inc. 12,129
92 Walker & Dunlop, Inc. 13,881
152 Washington Federal, Inc. 5,074
152 WSFS Financial Corp. 7,618
--------------
195,136
--------------
TOBACCO -- 0.1%
217 Universal Corp. 11,918
204 Vector Group Ltd. 2,342
--------------
14,260
--------------
TRADING COMPANIES & DISTRIBUTORS
-- 1.0%
747 Air Lease Corp. 33,040
58 Applied Industrial Technologies,
Inc. 5,957
164 Beacon Roofing Supply, Inc. (a) 9,405
242 Boise Cascade Co. 17,230
58 GATX Corp. 6,043
179 GMS, Inc. (a) 10,760
80 Herc Holdings, Inc. 12,524
109 McGrath RentCorp 8,748
32 MSC Industrial Direct Co., Inc.,
Class A 2,690
231 Rush Enterprises, Inc., Class A 12,853
148 SiteOne Landscape Supply,
Inc. (a) 35,857
201 Triton International Ltd. 12,106
57 United Rentals, Inc. (a) 18,941
219 Univar Solutions, Inc. (a) 6,209
88 Veritiv Corp. (a) 10,786
22 Watsco, Inc. 6,883
254 WESCO International, Inc. (a) 33,424
--------------
243,456
--------------
Page 26 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
WATER UTILITIES -- 0.1%
89 California Water Service Group $ 6,395
256 Essential Utilities, Inc. 13,745
77 Middlesex Water Co. 9,263
40 SJW Group 2,928
--------------
32,331
--------------
WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATION
SERVICES -- 0.3%
302 Gogo, Inc. (a) 4,086
331 Shenandoah Telecommunications
Co. 8,440
670 Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. 13,501
307 T-Mobile US, Inc. (a) 35,606
410 United States Cellular Corp. (a) 12,923
--------------
74,556
--------------
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS -- 99.9% 25,201,720
(Cost $21,723,060) --------------
MONEY MARKET FUNDS -- 0.4%
46,775 Goldman Sachs Financial Square
Treasury Obligations Fund -
Institutional Class -
0.01% (d) (e) 46,775
57,234 Morgan Stanley Institutional
Liquidity Funds - Treasury
Portfolio - Institutional
Class - 0.01% (d) 57,234
--------------
TOTAL MONEY MARKET FUNDS
-- 0.4% 104,009
(Cost $104,009) --------------
PRINCIPAL
VALUE DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS -- 0.1%
$ 20,769 BNP Paribas S.A., 0.03% (d),
dated 12/31/21, due 01/03/22,
with a maturity value of
$20,769. Collateralized by
U.S. Treasury Note interest
rate of 1.50%, due 11/30/28.
The value of the collateral
including accrued interest
is $21,175. (e) 20,769
(Cost $20,769) --------------
TOTAL INVESTMENTS -- 100.4% 25,326,498
(Cost $21,847,838) (f)
NET OTHER ASSETS AND
LIABILITIES -- (0.4)% (103,230)
--------------
NET ASSETS -- 100.0% $ 25,223,268
==============
(a) Non-income producing security.
(b) This security may be resold to qualified foreign investors and foreign
institutional buyers under Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended.
(c) All or a portion of this security is on loan (see Note 2D - Securities
Lending in the Notes to Financial Statements). The remaining contractual
maturity of all of the securities lending transactions is overnight and
continuous. The aggregate value of such securities is $65,395 and the
total value of the collateral held by the Fund is $67,544.
(d) Rate shown reflects yield as of December 31, 2021.
(e) This security serves as collateral for securities on loan.
(f) Aggregate cost for federal income tax purposes is $21,957,413. As of
December 31, 2021, the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation for all
investments in which there was an excess of value over tax cost was
$4,018,858 and the aggregate gross unrealized depreciation for all
investments in which there was an excess of tax cost over value was
$649,773. The net unrealized appreciation was $3,369,085.
-----------------------------
VALUATION INPUTS
A summary of the inputs used to value the Fund's investments as of December 31,
2021 is as follows (see Note 2A - Portfolio Valuation in the Notes to Financial
Statements):
LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3
TOTAL LEVEL 1 SIGNIFICANT SIGNIFICANT
VALUE AT QUOTED OBSERVABLE UNOBSERVABLE
12/31/2021 PRICES INPUTS INPUTS
Common ------------------------------------------------------
Stocks* $ 25,201,720 $ 25,201,720 $ -- $ --
Money Market
Funds 104,009 104,009 -- --
Repurchase
Agreements 20,769 -- 20,769 --
------------------------------------------------------
Total
Investments $ 25,326,498 $ 25,305,729 $ 20,769 $ --
======================================================
* See Portfolio of Investments for industry breakout.
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 27
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
---------------------------------
OFFSETTING ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offsetting assets and liabilities requires entities to disclose both gross and
net information about instruments and transactions eligible for offset, and to
disclose instruments and transactions subject to master netting or similar
agreements (see Note 2C - Offsetting on the Statements of Assets and Liabilities
in the Notes to Financial Statements).
The Fund's loaned securities were all subject to an enforceable Securities
Lending Agency Agreement. Securities lent in accordance with the Securities
Lending Agency Agreement on a gross basis were as follows:
SECURITIES LENDING AGENCY AGREEMENT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total gross amount presented on the
Statements of Assets and Liabilities(1) $ 65,395
Non-cash Collateral(2) (65,395)
--------------
Net Amount $ --
==============
(1) The amount presented on the Statements of Assets and Liabilities, which is
included in "Investments, at value," is not offset and is shown on a gross
basis.
(2) At December 31, 2021, the value of the collateral received from each
borrower exceeded the value of the related securities loaned. This amount
is disclosed on the Portfolio of Investments.
The Fund's investments in repurchase agreements were all subject to an
enforceable Master Repurchase Agreement. Repurchase Agreements on a gross basis
were as follows:
REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total gross amount presented on the
Statements of Assets and Liabilities(3) $ 20,769
Non-cash Collateral(4) (20,769)
--------------
Net Amount $ --
==============
(3) The amount is included in "Investments, at value" on the Statements of
Assets and Liabilities.
(4) At December 31, 2021, the value of the collateral received from each
seller exceeded the value of the repurchase agreements.
Page 28 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS -- 99.9%
AEROSPACE & DEFENSE -- 1.4%
186 Boeing (The) Co. (a) $ 37,446
74 General Dynamics Corp. 15,427
14 HEICO Corp. 2,019
58 L3Harris Technologies, Inc. 12,368
87 Lockheed Martin Corp. 30,921
46 Northrop Grumman Corp. 17,805
474 Raytheon Technologies Corp. 40,792
55 Textron, Inc. 4,246
15 TransDigm Group, Inc. (a) 9,544
--------------
170,568
--------------
AIR FREIGHT & LOGISTICS -- 0.6%
49 Expeditors International of
Washington, Inc. 6,580
74 FedEx Corp. 19,139
231 United Parcel Service, Inc.,
Class B 49,513
--------------
75,232
--------------
AIRLINES -- 0.2%
203 Delta Air Lines, Inc. (a) 7,933
159 Southwest Airlines Co. (a) 6,812
94 United Airlines Holdings,
Inc. (a) 4,115
--------------
18,860
--------------
AUTO COMPONENTS -- 0.1%
86 Aptiv PLC (a) 14,186
--------------
AUTOMOBILES -- 2.6%
1,242 Ford Motor Co. 25,796
404 General Motors Co. (a) 23,687
264 Tesla, Inc. (a) 278,990
--------------
328,473
--------------
BANKS -- 3.9%
2,279 Bank of America Corp. 101,393
628 Citigroup, Inc. 37,925
119 Citizens Financial Group, Inc. 5,623
188 Fifth Third Bancorp 8,187
57 First Republic Bank 11,771
430 Huntington Bancshares, Inc. 6,631
935 JPMorgan Chase & Co. 148,057
253 KeyCorp 5,852
38 M&T Bank Corp. 5,836
134 PNC Financial Services Group
(The), Inc. 26,870
284 Regions Financial Corp. 6,191
18 SVB Financial Group (a) 12,208
422 Truist Financial Corp. 24,708
427 U.S. Bancorp 23,984
1,262 Wells Fargo & Co. 60,551
--------------
485,787
--------------
BEVERAGES -- 1.5%
98 Brown-Forman Corp., Class B 7,140
1,244 Coca-Cola (The) Co. 73,657
52 Constellation Brands, Inc.,
Class A 13,051
278 Keurig Dr Pepper, Inc. 10,247
111 Monster Beverage Corp. (a) 10,660
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
BEVERAGES (CONTINUED)
438 PepsiCo, Inc. $ 76,085
--------------
190,840
--------------
BIOTECHNOLOGY -- 1.9%
559 AbbVie, Inc. 75,689
29 Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a) 4,918
168 Amgen, Inc. 37,795
39 Biogen, Inc. (a) 9,357
45 Exact Sciences Corp. (a) 3,502
337 Gilead Sciences, Inc. 24,469
67 Horizon Therapeutics PLC (a) 7,220
60 Incyte Corp. (a) 4,404
115 Moderna, Inc. (a) 29,208
26 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (a) 16,419
54 Seagen, Inc. (a) 8,348
76 Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a) 16,690
--------------
238,019
--------------
BUILDING PRODUCTS -- 0.4%
219 Carrier Global Corp. 11,879
223 Johnson Controls International
PLC 18,132
73 Masco Corp. 5,126
68 Trane Technologies PLC 13,738
--------------
48,875
--------------
CAPITAL MARKETS -- 3.4%
33 Ameriprise Financial, Inc. 9,955
238 Bank of New York Mellon (The)
Corp. 13,823
43 BlackRock, Inc. 39,369
217 Blackstone, Inc. 28,078
77 Carlyle Group (The), Inc. 4,227
453 Charles Schwab (The) Corp. 38,097
103 CME Group, Inc. 23,531
49 Coinbase Global, Inc.,
Class A (a) 12,366
94 Franklin Resources, Inc. 3,148
106 Goldman Sachs Group (The), Inc. 40,550
178 Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. 24,345
185 KKR & Co., Inc. 13,782
10 MarketAxess Holdings, Inc. 4,113
51 Moody's Corp. 19,920
449 Morgan Stanley 44,074
26 MSCI, Inc. 15,930
34 Nasdaq, Inc. 7,140
66 Northern Trust Corp. 7,894
59 Raymond James Financial, Inc. 5,924
76 S&P Global, Inc. 35,867
116 State Street Corp. 10,788
67 T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. 13,175
--------------
416,096
--------------
CHEMICALS -- 1.2%
66 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. 20,081
37 Albemarle Corp. 8,649
33 Celanese Corp. 5,546
231 Corteva, Inc. 10,922
220 Dow, Inc. 12,478
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 29
FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
CHEMICALS (CONTINUED)
164 DuPont de Nemours, Inc. $ 13,248
37 Eastman Chemical Co. 4,474
81 Ecolab, Inc. 19,002
72 International Flavors &
Fragrances, Inc. 10,847
65 LyondellBasell Industries N.V.,
Class A 5,995
71 PPG Industries, Inc. 12,243
76 Sherwin-Williams (The) Co. 26,764
--------------
150,249
--------------
COMMERCIAL SERVICES & SUPPLIES
-- 0.5%
28 Cintas Corp. 12,409
70 Copart, Inc. (a) 10,613
66 Republic Services, Inc. 9,204
86 Rollins, Inc. 2,942
132 Waste Management, Inc. 22,031
--------------
57,199
--------------
COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
-- 0.9%
76 Arista Networks, Inc. (a) 10,925
1,335 Cisco Systems, Inc. 84,599
47 Motorola Solutions, Inc. 12,770
2 Ubiquiti, Inc. 613
--------------
108,907
--------------
CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS -- 0.1%
17 Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. 7,489
39 Vulcan Materials Co. 8,095
--------------
15,584
--------------
CONSUMER FINANCE -- 0.6%
110 Ally Financial, Inc. 5,237
199 American Express Co. 32,557
128 Capital One Financial Corp. 18,572
86 Discover Financial Services 9,938
147 Synchrony Financial 6,819
--------------
73,123
--------------
CONTAINERS & PACKAGING -- 0.2%
23 Avery Dennison Corp. 4,981
94 Ball Corp. 9,050
100 International Paper Co. 4,698
--------------
18,729
--------------
DISTRIBUTORS -- 0.1%
42 Genuine Parts Co. 5,888
92 LKQ Corp. 5,523
12 Pool Corp. 6,792
--------------
18,203
--------------
DIVERSIFIED FINANCIAL SERVICES
-- 0.9%
388 Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.,
Class B (a) 116,012
--------------
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
DIVERSIFIED TELECOMMUNICATION
SERVICES -- 1.0%
2,147 AT&T, Inc. $ 52,816
1,328 Verizon Communications, Inc. 69,003
--------------
121,819
--------------
ELECTRIC UTILITIES -- 1.6%
73 Alliant Energy Corp. 4,487
151 American Electric Power Co., Inc. 13,435
231 Duke Energy Corp. 24,232
113 Edison International 7,712
57 Entergy Corp. 6,421
69 Evergy, Inc. 4,734
96 Eversource Energy 8,734
276 Exelon Corp. 15,942
162 FirstEnergy Corp. 6,738
621 NextEra Energy, Inc. 57,977
389 PG&E Corp. (a) 4,722
221 PPL Corp. 6,643
335 Southern (The) Co. 22,974
138 Xcel Energy, Inc. 9,343
--------------
194,094
--------------
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT -- 0.6%
73 AMETEK, Inc. 10,734
126 Eaton Corp. PLC 21,775
188 Emerson Electric Co. 17,478
19 Generac Holdings, Inc. (a) 6,686
155 Plug Power, Inc. (a) 4,376
35 Rockwell Automation, Inc. 12,210
--------------
73,259
--------------
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, INSTRUMENTS
& COMPONENTS -- 0.7%
165 Amphenol Corp., Class A 14,431
43 CDW Corp. 8,805
51 Cognex Corp. 3,966
246 Corning, Inc. 9,159
55 Keysight Technologies, Inc. (a) 11,358
98 TE Connectivity Ltd. 15,811
13 Teledyne Technologies, Inc. (a) 5,680
71 Trimble, Inc. (a) 6,190
16 Zebra Technologies Corp.,
Class A (a) 9,523
--------------
84,923
--------------
ENERGY EQUIPMENT & SERVICES
-- 0.2%
190 Baker Hughes Co. 4,571
263 Halliburton Co. 6,015
444 Schlumberger N.V. 13,298
--------------
23,884
--------------
ENTERTAINMENT -- 1.9%
246 Activision Blizzard, Inc. 16,366
153 AMC Entertainment Holdings,
Inc., Class A (a) 4,162
81 Electronic Arts, Inc. 10,684
55 Liberty Media Corp.-Liberty
Formula One, Class C (a) 3,478
Page 30 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
ENTERTAINMENT (CONTINUED)
45 Live Nation Entertainment,
Inc. (a) $ 5,386
130 Netflix, Inc. (a) 78,317
95 ROBLOX Corp., Class A (a) 9,800
34 Roku, Inc. (a) 7,759
34 Take-Two Interactive Software,
Inc. (a) 6,043
575 Walt Disney (The) Co. (a) 89,062
--------------
231,057
--------------
EQUITY REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
TRUSTS -- 2.7%
42 Alexandria Real Estate Equities,
Inc. 9,364
144 American Tower Corp. 42,120
41 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. 10,356
40 Boston Properties, Inc. 4,607
27 Camden Property Trust 4,824
130 Crown Castle International Corp. 27,136
79 Digital Realty Trust, Inc. 13,973
112 Duke Realty Corp. 7,352
27 Equinix, Inc. 22,838
49 Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. 4,295
94 Equity Residential 8,507
19 Essex Property Trust, Inc. 6,692
39 Extra Space Storage, Inc. 8,842
159 Healthpeak Properties, Inc. 5,738
179 Invitation Homes, Inc. 8,116
34 Mid-America Apartment
Communities, Inc. 7,801
220 Prologis, Inc. 37,039
46 Public Storage 17,230
179 Realty Income Corp. 12,815
32 SBA Communications Corp. 12,449
97 Simon Property Group, Inc. 15,498
36 Sun Communities, Inc. 7,559
92 UDR, Inc. 5,519
117 Ventas, Inc. 5,981
169 VICI Properties, Inc. 5,089
128 Welltower, Inc. 10,979
211 Weyerhaeuser Co. 8,689
59 WP Carey, Inc. 4,841
--------------
336,249
--------------
FOOD & STAPLES RETAILING -- 1.4%
140 Costco Wholesale Corp. 79,478
200 Kroger (The) Co. 9,052
162 Sysco Corp. 12,725
227 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. 11,840
450 Walmart, Inc. 65,111
--------------
178,206
--------------
FOOD PRODUCTS -- 0.8%
150 Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. 10,138
134 Conagra Brands, Inc. 4,576
192 General Mills, Inc. 12,937
43 Hershey (The) Co. 8,319
91 Hormel Foods Corp. 4,442
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
FOOD PRODUCTS (CONTINUED)
82 Kellogg Co. $ 5,282
225 Kraft Heinz (The) Co. 8,078
63 McCormick & Co., Inc. 6,086
441 Mondelez International, Inc.,
Class A 29,243
93 Tyson Foods, Inc., Class A 8,106
--------------
97,207
--------------
HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT &
SUPPLIES -- 3.0%
560 Abbott Laboratories 78,814
12 ABIOMED, Inc. (a) 4,310
23 Align Technology, Inc. (a) 15,115
143 Baxter International, Inc. 12,275
85 Becton, Dickinson and Co. 21,376
419 Boston Scientific Corp. (a) 17,799
14 Cooper (The) Cos., Inc. 5,865
59 DENTSPLY SIRONA, Inc. 3,292
27 Dexcom, Inc. (a) 14,498
198 Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (a) 25,651
62 Hologic, Inc. (a) 4,747
24 IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (a) 15,803
14 Insulet Corp. (a) 3,725
105 Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (a) 37,726
15 Masimo Corp. (a) 4,392
426 Medtronic PLC 44,070
17 Novocure Ltd. (a) 1,276
41 ResMed, Inc. 10,680
28 STERIS PLC 6,815
106 Stryker Corp. 28,346
12 Teleflex, Inc. 3,942
63 Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. 8,004
--------------
368,521
--------------
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS & SERVICES
-- 2.8%
47 AmerisourceBergen Corp. 6,246
77 Anthem, Inc. 35,693
80 Cardinal Health, Inc. 4,119
172 Centene Corp. (a) 14,173
100 Cigna Corp. 22,963
418 CVS Health Corp. 43,121
70 HCA Healthcare, Inc. 17,985
35 Humana, Inc. 16,235
30 Laboratory Corp. of America
Holdings (a) 9,426
46 McKesson Corp. 11,434
14 Molina Healthcare, Inc. (a) 4,453
30 Oak Street Health, Inc. (a) 994
37 Quest Diagnostics, Inc. 6,401
298 UnitedHealth Group, Inc. 149,638
--------------
342,881
--------------
HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGY -- 0.2%
88 Cerner Corp. 8,173
43 Teladoc Health, Inc. (a) 3,948
38 Veeva Systems, Inc., Class A (a) 9,708
--------------
21,829
--------------
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 31
FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
HOTELS, RESTAURANTS & LEISURE
-- 2.0%
103 Airbnb, Inc., Class A (a) $ 17,149
13 Booking Holdings, Inc. (a) 31,190
53 Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (a) 4,957
267 Carnival Corp. (a) 5,372
8 Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (a) 13,986
31 Darden Restaurants, Inc. 4,670
10 Domino's Pizza, Inc. 5,643
129 DraftKings, Inc., Class A (a) 3,544
46 Expedia Group, Inc. (a) 8,313
77 Hilton Worldwide Holdings,
Inc. (a) 12,011
104 Las Vegas Sands Corp. (a) 3,915
92 Marriott International, Inc.,
Class A (a) 15,202
236 McDonald's Corp. 63,265
122 MGM Resorts International 5,475
56 Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (a) 4,306
371 Starbucks Corp. 43,396
76 Yum! Brands, Inc. 10,553
--------------
252,947
--------------
HOUSEHOLD DURABLES -- 0.3%
98 D.R. Horton, Inc. 10,628
48 Garmin Ltd. 6,536
71 Lennar Corp., Class A 8,247
1 NVR, Inc. (a) 5,909
--------------
31,320
--------------
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS -- 1.4%
73 Church & Dwight Co., Inc. 7,483
37 Clorox (The) Co. 6,451
267 Colgate-Palmolive Co. 22,786
101 Kimberly-Clark Corp. 14,435
766 Procter & Gamble (The) Co. 125,302
--------------
176,457
--------------
INDEPENDENT POWER AND RENEWABLE
ELECTRICITY PRODUCERS -- 0.0%
175 AES (The) Corp. 4,253
--------------
INDUSTRIAL CONGLOMERATES -- 1.0%
182 3M Co. 32,329
292 General Electric Co. 27,585
218 Honeywell International, Inc. 45,455
30 Roper Technologies, Inc. 14,756
--------------
120,125
--------------
INSURANCE -- 1.6%
193 Aflac, Inc. 11,269
91 Allstate (The) Corp. 10,706
239 American International Group,
Inc. 13,589
66 Aon PLC, Class A 19,837
93 Arch Capital Group Ltd. (a) 4,134
62 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 10,520
71 Brown & Brown, Inc. 4,990
129 Chubb Ltd. 24,937
43 Cincinnati Financial Corp. 4,899
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
INSURANCE (CONTINUED)
96 Hartford Financial Services Group
(The), Inc. $ 6,628
4 Markel Corp. (a) 4,936
150 Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc. 26,073
226 MetLife, Inc. 14,123
68 Principal Financial Group, Inc. 4,918
176 Progressive (The) Corp. 18,066
112 Prudential Financial, Inc. 12,123
69 Travelers (The) Cos., Inc. 10,794
--------------
202,542
--------------
INTERACTIVE MEDIA & SERVICES
-- 4.5%
95 Alphabet, Inc., Class A (a) 275,219
84 Match Group, Inc. (a) 11,109
711 Meta Platforms, Inc., Class A (a) 239,145
162 Pinterest, Inc., Class A (a) 5,889
360 Snap, Inc., Class A (a) 16,931
253 Twitter, Inc. (a) 10,934
--------------
559,227
--------------
INTERNET & DIRECT MARKETING
RETAIL -- 4.0%
140 Amazon.com, Inc. (a) 466,808
59 DoorDash, Inc., Class A (a) 8,785
186 eBay, Inc. 12,369
36 Etsy, Inc. (a) 7,882
18 Wayfair, Inc., Class A (a) 3,419
--------------
499,263
--------------
IT SERVICES -- 5.2%
200 Accenture PLC, Class A 82,910
48 Akamai Technologies, Inc. (a) 5,618
133 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. 32,795
126 Block, Inc. (a) 20,350
35 Broadridge Financial Solutions,
Inc. 6,399
62 Cloudflare, Inc., Class A (a) 8,153
166 Cognizant Technology Solutions
Corp., Class A 14,728
17 EPAM Systems, Inc. (a) 11,364
183 Fidelity National Information
Services, Inc. 19,974
175 Fiserv, Inc. (a) 18,163
23 FleetCor Technologies, Inc. (a) 5,148
26 Gartner, Inc. (a) 8,692
82 Global Payments, Inc. 11,085
284 International Business Machines
Corp. 37,959
274 Mastercard, Inc., Class A 98,454
15 MongoDB, Inc. (a) 7,940
43 Okta, Inc. (a) 9,639
96 Paychex, Inc. 13,104
372 PayPal Holdings, Inc. (a) 70,152
86 Snowflake, Inc., Class A (a) 29,133
53 Twilio, Inc., Class A (a) 13,957
29 VeriSign, Inc. (a) 7,361
528 Visa, Inc., Class A 114,423
--------------
647,501
--------------
Page 32 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
LEISURE PRODUCTS -- 0.0%
87 Peloton Interactive, Inc.,
Class A (a) $ 3,111
--------------
LIFE SCIENCES TOOLS & SERVICES
-- 2.1%
22 10X Genomics, Inc., Class A (a) 3,277
83 Agilent Technologies, Inc. 13,251
170 Avantor, Inc. (a) 7,164
6 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.,
Class A (a) 4,534
12 Bio-Techne Corp. 6,208
14 Charles River Laboratories
International, Inc. (a) 5,275
213 Danaher Corp. 70,079
43 Illumina, Inc. (a) 16,359
57 IQVIA Holdings, Inc. (a) 16,082
6 Mettler-Toledo International,
Inc. (a) 10,183
34 PerkinElmer, Inc. 6,836
125 Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. 83,405
17 Waters Corp. (a) 6,334
20 West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. 9,380
--------------
258,367
--------------
MACHINERY -- 1.4%
171 Caterpillar, Inc. 35,353
43 Cummins, Inc. 9,380
89 Deere & Co. 30,517
43 Dover Corp. 7,809
107 Fortive Corp. 8,163
23 IDEX Corp. 5,435
84 Illinois Tool Works, Inc. 20,731
103 Ingersoll Rand, Inc. 6,373
134 Otis Worldwide Corp. 11,667
110 PACCAR, Inc. 9,709
41 Parker-Hannifin Corp. 13,043
49 Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. 9,242
59 Westinghouse Air Brake
Technologies Corp. 5,434
51 Xylem, Inc. 6,116
--------------
178,972
--------------
MEDIA -- 1.0%
36 Charter Communications, Inc.,
Class A (a) 23,471
1,443 Comcast Corp., Class A 72,626
89 Fox Corp., Class A 3,284
44 Liberty Broadband Corp.,
Class C (a) 7,088
63 Omnicom Group, Inc. 4,616
253 Sirius XM Holdings, Inc. 1,607
182 ViacomCBS, Inc., Class B 5,493
--------------
118,185
--------------
METALS & MINING -- 0.3%
441 Freeport-McMoRan, Inc. 18,403
237 Newmont Corp. 14,699
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
METALS & MINING (CONTINUED)
77 Nucor Corp. $ 8,789
--------------
41,891
--------------
MULTILINE RETAIL -- 0.5%
63 Dollar General Corp. 14,857
71 Dollar Tree, Inc. (a) 9,977
143 Target Corp. 33,096
--------------
57,930
--------------
MULTI-UTILITIES -- 0.6%
72 Ameren Corp. 6,409
173 CenterPoint Energy, Inc. 4,829
81 CMS Energy Corp. 5,269
104 Consolidated Edison, Inc. 8,873
256 Dominion Energy, Inc. 20,111
50 DTE Energy Co. 5,977
150 Public Service Enterprise Group,
Inc. 10,010
80 Sempra Energy 10,582
87 WEC Energy Group, Inc. 8,445
--------------
80,505
--------------
OIL, GAS & CONSUMABLE FUELS
-- 2.4%
80 Cheniere Energy, Inc. 8,114
610 Chevron Corp. 71,583
417 ConocoPhillips 30,099
204 Devon Energy Corp. 8,986
148 EOG Resources, Inc. 13,147
1,340 Exxon Mobil Corp. 81,995
77 Hess Corp. 5,700
639 Kinder Morgan, Inc. 10,135
183 Marathon Petroleum Corp. 11,710
296 Occidental Petroleum Corp. 8,581
131 ONEOK, Inc. 7,698
139 Phillips 66 10,072
73 Pioneer Natural Resources Co. 13,277
122 Valero Energy Corp. 9,163
365 Williams (The) Cos., Inc. 9,505
--------------
299,765
--------------
PERSONAL PRODUCTS -- 0.2%
73 Estee Lauder (The) Cos., Inc.,
Class A 27,025
--------------
PHARMACEUTICALS -- 3.8%
702 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. 43,770
45 Catalent, Inc. (a) 5,761
117 Elanco Animal Health, Inc. (a) 3,320
251 Eli Lilly & Co. 69,331
833 Johnson & Johnson 142,501
759 Merck & Co., Inc. 58,170
1,776 Pfizer, Inc. 104,873
383 Viatris, Inc. 5,182
150 Zoetis, Inc. 36,605
--------------
469,513
--------------
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 33
FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES -- 0.4%
112 CoStar Group, Inc. (a) $ 8,851
36 Equifax, Inc. 10,541
36 Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. 5,012
41 Leidos Holdings, Inc. 3,645
53 TransUnion 6,285
51 Verisk Analytics, Inc. 11,665
--------------
45,999
--------------
REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT &
DEVELOPMENT -- 0.1%
100 CBRE Group, Inc., Class A (a) 10,851
44 Zillow Group, Inc., Class C (a) 2,809
--------------
13,660
--------------
ROAD & RAIL -- 1.2%
604 CSX Corp. 22,710
25 J.B. Hunt Transport Services,
Inc. 5,110
81 Lyft, Inc., Class A (a) 3,461
73 Norfolk Southern Corp. 21,733
30 Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. 10,751
614 Uber Technologies, Inc. (a) 25,745
203 Union Pacific Corp. 51,142
29 XPO Logistics, Inc. (a) 2,246
--------------
142,898
--------------
SEMICONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTOR
EQUIPMENT -- 6.2%
382 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (a) 54,970
170 Analog Devices, Inc. 29,881
271 Applied Materials, Inc. 42,644
99 Broadcom, Inc. 65,876
40 Enphase Energy, Inc. (a) 7,318
38 Entegris, Inc. 5,266
1,223 Intel Corp. 62,984
43 KLA Corp. 18,495
42 Lam Research Corp. 30,204
224 Marvell Technology, Inc. 19,598
156 Microchip Technology, Inc. 13,581
336 Micron Technology, Inc. 31,298
14 Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. 6,907
736 NVIDIA Corp. 216,465
74 NXP Semiconductors N.V. 16,856
124 ON Semiconductor Corp. (a) 8,422
33 Qorvo, Inc. (a) 5,161
354 QUALCOMM, Inc. 64,736
49 Skyworks Solutions, Inc. 7,602
48 Teradyne, Inc. 7,849
278 Texas Instruments, Inc. 52,395
--------------
768,508
--------------
SOFTWARE -- 10.9%
143 Adobe, Inc. (a) 81,090
26 ANSYS, Inc. (a) 10,429
70 Autodesk, Inc. (a) 19,683
69 Bentley Systems, Inc., Class B 3,335
27 Bill.com Holdings, Inc. (a) 6,727
83 Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (a) 15,467
31 Ceridian HCM Holding, Inc. (a) 3,238
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
SOFTWARE (CONTINUED)
20 Coupa Software, Inc. (a) $ 3,161
65 Crowdstrike Holdings, Inc.,
Class A (a) 13,309
69 Datadog, Inc., Class A (a) 12,290
59 DocuSign, Inc. (a) 8,986
63 Dynatrace, Inc. (a) 3,802
8 Fair Isaac Corp. (a) 3,469
39 Fortinet, Inc. (a) 14,017
13 HubSpot, Inc. (a) 8,569
83 Intuit, Inc. 53,387
2,376 Microsoft Corp. 799,096
153 NortonLifeLock, Inc. 3,975
502 Oracle Corp. 43,779
531 Palantir Technologies, Inc.,
Class A (a) 9,670
31 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (a) 17,260
16 Paycom Software, Inc. (a) 6,643
34 PTC, Inc. (a) 4,119
21 RingCentral, Inc., Class A (a) 3,934
288 salesforce.com, Inc. (a) 73,189
59 ServiceNow, Inc. (a) 38,298
48 Splunk, Inc. (a) 5,555
71 SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. 5,821
43 Synopsys, Inc. (a) 15,846
121 Trade Desk (The), Inc.,
Class A (a) 11,088
12 Tyler Technologies, Inc. (a) 6,455
63 UiPath, Inc., Class A (a) 2,717
56 Unity Software, Inc. (a) 8,007
18 VMware, Inc., Class A 2,086
61 Workday, Inc., Class A (a) 16,664
34 Zendesk, Inc. (a) 3,546
63 Zoom Video Communications,
Inc., Class A (a) 11,586
27 Zscaler, Inc. (a) 8,676
--------------
1,358,969
--------------
SPECIALTY RETAIL -- 2.4%
6 AutoZone, Inc. (a) 12,578
84 Bath & Body Works, Inc. 5,862
66 Best Buy Co., Inc. 6,706
17 Burlington Stores, Inc. (a) 4,956
49 CarMax, Inc. (a) 6,381
18 Carvana Co. (a) 4,172
330 Home Depot (The), Inc. 136,953
213 Lowe's Cos., Inc. 55,056
21 O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (a) 14,831
97 Ross Stores, Inc. 11,085
377 TJX (The) Cos., Inc. 28,622
34 Tractor Supply Co. 8,113
17 Ulta Beauty, Inc. (a) 7,010
--------------
302,325
--------------
TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE, STORAGE &
PERIPHERALS -- 7.3%
4,932 Apple, Inc. 875,775
92 Dell Technologies, Inc.,
Class C (a) 5,168
389 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. 6,134
343 HP, Inc. 12,921
Page 34 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE, STORAGE &
PERIPHERALS (CONTINUED)
52 NetApp, Inc. $ 4,783
94 Western Digital Corp. (a) 6,130
--------------
910,911
--------------
TEXTILES, APPAREL & LUXURY GOODS
-- 0.6%
404 NIKE, Inc., Class B 67,335
104 VF Corp. 7,615
--------------
74,950
--------------
TOBACCO -- 0.6%
541 Altria Group, Inc. 25,638
468 Philip Morris International, Inc. 44,460
--------------
70,098
--------------
TRADING COMPANIES & DISTRIBUTORS
-- 0.2%
173 Fastenal Co. 11,082
22 United Rentals, Inc. (a) 7,310
15 W.W. Grainger, Inc. 7,774
--------------
26,166
--------------
WATER UTILITIES -- 0.1%
57 American Water Works Co., Inc. 10,765
--------------
WIRELESS TELECOMMUNICATION
SERVICES -- 0.2%
209 T-Mobile US, Inc. (a) 24,240
--------------
TOTAL INVESTMENTS -- 99.9% 12,397,259
(Cost $9,414,766) (b)
NET OTHER ASSETS AND
LIABILITIES -- 0.1% 18,050
--------------
NET ASSETS -- 100.0% $ 12,415,309
==============
(a) Non-income producing security.
(b) Aggregate cost for federal income tax purposes is $9,418,663. As of
December 31, 2021, the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation for all
investments in which there was an excess of value over tax cost was
$3,122,341 and the aggregate gross unrealized depreciation for all
investments in which there was an excess of tax cost over value was
$143,745. The net unrealized appreciation was $2,978,596.
-----------------------------
VALUATION INPUTS
A summary of the inputs used to value the Fund's investments as of December 31,
2021 is as follows (see Note 2A - Portfolio Valuation in the Notes to Financial
Statements):
LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3
LEVEL 1 SIGNIFICANT SIGNIFICANT
QUOTED OBSERVABLE UNOBSERVABLE
PRICES INPUTS INPUTS
---------------------------------------------
Common Stocks* $ 12,397,259 $ -- $ --
=============================================
* See Portfolio of Investments for industry breakout.
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 35
FIRST TRUST DOW 30 EQUAL WEIGHT ETF (EDOW)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS -- 100.0%
AEROSPACE & DEFENSE -- 3.2%
22,042 Boeing (The) Co. (a) $ 4,437,495
--------------
BANKS -- 3.3%
28,282 JPMorgan Chase & Co. 4,478,455
--------------
BEVERAGES -- 3.5%
80,314 Coca-Cola (The) Co. 4,755,392
--------------
BIOTECHNOLOGY -- 3.5%
21,432 Amgen, Inc. 4,821,557
--------------
CAPITAL MARKETS -- 3.2%
11,559 Goldman Sachs Group (The), Inc. 4,421,896
--------------
CHEMICALS -- 3.4%
82,665 Dow, Inc. 4,688,759
--------------
COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
-- 3.5%
76,287 Cisco Systems, Inc. 4,834,307
--------------
CONSUMER FINANCE -- 3.2%
27,061 American Express Co. 4,427,180
--------------
DIVERSIFIED TELECOMMUNICATION
SERVICES -- 3.4%
90,060 Verizon Communications, Inc. 4,679,518
--------------
ENTERTAINMENT -- 3.3%
29,598 Walt Disney (The) Co. (a) 4,584,434
--------------
FOOD & STAPLES RETAILING -- 6.8%
91,314 Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. 4,762,938
32,051 Walmart, Inc. 4,637,459
--------------
9,400,397
--------------
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS & SERVICES
-- 3.4%
9,452 UnitedHealth Group, Inc. 4,746,227
--------------
HOTELS, RESTAURANTS & LEISURE
-- 3.3%
17,058 McDonald's Corp. 4,572,738
--------------
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS -- 3.5%
29,075 Procter & Gamble (The) Co. 4,756,089
--------------
INDUSTRIAL CONGLOMERATES -- 6.5%
25,524 3M Co. 4,533,828
21,544 Honeywell International, Inc. 4,492,140
--------------
9,025,968
--------------
INSURANCE -- 3.3%
29,303 Travelers (The) Cos., Inc. 4,583,868
--------------
IT SERVICES -- 6.9%
36,426 International Business Machines
Corp. 4,868,699
21,182 Visa, Inc., Class A 4,590,351
--------------
9,459,050
--------------
MACHINERY -- 3.3%
22,215 Caterpillar, Inc. 4,592,729
--------------
OIL, GAS & CONSUMABLE FUELS
-- 3.3%
38,195 Chevron Corp. 4,482,183
--------------
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
PHARMACEUTICALS -- 6.8%
27,313 Johnson & Johnson $ 4,672,435
62,243 Merck & Co., Inc. 4,770,303
--------------
9,442,738
--------------
SEMICONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTOR
EQUIPMENT -- 3.3%
89,348 Intel Corp. 4,601,422
--------------
SOFTWARE -- 6.4%
13,196 Microsoft Corp. 4,438,079
16,990 salesforce.com, Inc. (a) 4,317,668
--------------
8,755,747
--------------
SPECIALTY RETAIL -- 3.3%
10,881 Home Depot (The), Inc. 4,515,724
--------------
TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE, STORAGE
& PERIPHERALS -- 3.2%
25,189 Apple, Inc. 4,472,811
--------------
TEXTILES, APPAREL & LUXURY GOODS
-- 3.2%
26,735 NIKE, Inc., Class B 4,455,923
--------------
TOTAL INVESTMENTS -- 100.0% 137,992,607
(Cost $125,419,881) (b)
NET OTHER ASSETS AND
LIABILITIES -- 0.0% 49,631
--------------
NET ASSETS -- 100.0% $ 138,042,238
==============
(a) Non-income producing security.
(b) Aggregate cost for federal income tax purposes is $126,494,485. As of
December 31, 2021, the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation for all
investments in which there was an excess of value over tax cost was
$15,357,189 and the aggregate gross unrealized depreciation for all
investments in which there was an excess of tax cost over value was
$3,859,067. The net unrealized appreciation was $11,498,122.
-----------------------------
VALUATION INPUTS
A summary of the inputs used to value the Fund's investments as of December 31,
2021 is as follows (see Note 2A - Portfolio Valuation in the Notes to Financial
Statements):
LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3
LEVEL 1 SIGNIFICANT SIGNIFICANT
QUOTED OBSERVABLE UNOBSERVABLE
PRICES INPUTS INPUTS
---------------------------------------------
Common Stocks* $ 137,992,607 $ -- $ --
=============================================
* See Portfolio of Investments for industry breakout.
Page 36 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST LUNT U.S. FACTOR ROTATION ETF (FCTR)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS -- 100.0%
AEROSPACE & DEFENSE -- 1.6%
13,409 Lockheed Martin Corp. $ 4,765,693
8,603 Northrop Grumman Corp. 3,329,963
3,992 TransDigm Group, Inc. (a) 2,540,030
--------------
10,635,686
--------------
AIR FREIGHT & LOGISTICS -- 0.3%
14,189 Expeditors International of
Washington, Inc. 1,905,441
--------------
AUTOMOBILES -- 0.5%
3,297 Tesla, Inc. (a) 3,484,204
--------------
BEVERAGES -- 1.4%
93,658 Monster Beverage Corp. (a) 8,994,914
--------------
BIOTECHNOLOGY -- 1.0%
17,786 Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a) 3,016,150
21,389 Horizon Therapeutics PLC (a) 2,304,879
6,852 Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (a) 1,504,699
--------------
6,825,728
--------------
CAPITAL MARKETS -- 6.1%
46,758 Blackstone, Inc. 6,050,018
29,089 Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. 3,978,503
12,772 MarketAxess Holdings, Inc. 5,252,740
27,634 Moody's Corp. 10,793,288
10,079 MSCI, Inc. 6,175,302
15,846 Nasdaq, Inc. 3,327,818
6,507 S&P Global, Inc. 3,070,849
8,647 T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. 1,700,346
--------------
40,348,864
--------------
CHEMICALS -- 1.8%
10,427 Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. 3,172,519
12,840 Ecolab, Inc. 3,012,135
16,504 Sherwin-Williams (The) Co. 5,812,049
--------------
11,996,703
--------------
COMMERCIAL SERVICES & SUPPLIES
-- 1.5%
12,183 Copart, Inc. (a) 1,847,186
28,715 Republic Services, Inc. 4,004,307
25,059 Waste Management, Inc. 4,182,347
--------------
10,033,840
--------------
COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT
-- 1.0%
53,545 Cisco Systems, Inc. 3,393,147
12,210 Motorola Solutions, Inc. 3,317,457
--------------
6,710,604
--------------
DISTRIBUTORS -- 0.7%
7,935 Pool Corp. 4,491,210
--------------
DIVERSIFIED FINANCIAL SERVICES
-- 0.6%
12,773 Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.,
Class B (a) 3,819,127
--------------
DIVERSIFIED TELECOMMUNICATION
SERVICES -- 1.1%
115,645 AT&T, Inc. 2,844,867
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
DIVERSIFIED TELECOMMUNICATION
SERVICES (CONTINUED)
85,102 Verizon Communications, Inc. $ 4,421,900
--------------
7,266,767
--------------
ELECTRIC UTILITIES -- 0.5%
61,750 Exelon Corp. 3,566,680
--------------
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT -- 1.5%
22,721 AMETEK, Inc. 3,340,896
10,929 Generac Holdings, Inc. (a) 3,846,133
108,460 Plug Power, Inc. (a) 3,061,826
--------------
10,248,855
--------------
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, INSTRUMENTS
& COMPONENTS -- 1.6%
22,789 Amphenol Corp., Class A 1,993,126
11,856 CDW Corp. 2,427,872
15,637 Keysight Technologies, Inc. (a) 3,229,197
5,592 Zebra Technologies Corp.,
Class A (a) 3,328,358
--------------
10,978,553
--------------
ENTERTAINMENT -- 1.0%
169,573 AMC Entertainment Holdings,
Inc., Class A (a) 4,612,386
8,311 Roku, Inc. (a) 1,896,570
--------------
6,508,956
--------------
EQUITY REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT
TRUSTS -- 2.2%
8,266 American Tower Corp. 2,417,805
11,888 AvalonBay Communities, Inc. 3,002,790
20,516 Equity LifeStyle Properties, Inc. 1,798,433
15,299 Extra Space Storage, Inc. 3,468,742
9,600 SBA Communications Corp. 3,734,592
--------------
14,422,362
--------------
FOOD & STAPLES RETAILING -- 2.1%
17,603 Costco Wholesale Corp. 9,993,223
25,703 Walmart, Inc. 3,718,967
--------------
13,712,190
--------------
FOOD PRODUCTS -- 1.3%
81,881 Conagra Brands, Inc. 2,796,236
57,742 General Mills, Inc. 3,890,656
9,228 Hershey (The) Co. 1,785,341
--------------
8,472,233
--------------
HEALTH CARE EQUIPMENT &
SUPPLIES -- 5.8%
22,250 Abbott Laboratories 3,131,465
11,871 Becton, Dickinson and Co. 2,985,319
10,504 Dexcom, Inc. (a) 5,640,123
21,703 Edwards Lifesciences Corp. (a) 2,811,624
14,921 IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (a) 9,824,882
9,022 Insulet Corp. (a) 2,400,484
6,517 Intuitive Surgical, Inc. (a) 2,341,558
25,404 Novocure Ltd. (a) 1,907,332
17,609 ResMed, Inc. 4,586,792
9,617 Stryker Corp. 2,571,778
--------------
38,201,357
--------------
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 37
FIRST TRUST LUNT U.S. FACTOR ROTATION ETF (FCTR)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS & SERVICES
-- 2.4%
9,288 Laboratory Corp. of America
Holdings (a) $ 2,918,383
50,482 Oak Street Health, Inc. (a) 1,672,973
65,414 Quest Diagnostics, Inc. 11,317,276
--------------
15,908,632
--------------
HEALTH CARE TECHNOLOGY -- 1.3%
66,469 Cerner Corp. 6,172,976
9,659 Veeva Systems, Inc., Class A (a) 2,467,681
--------------
8,640,657
--------------
HOTELS, RESTAURANTS & LEISURE
-- 3.0%
32,166 Caesars Entertainment, Inc. (a) 3,008,486
1,449 Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (a) 2,533,214
59,603 DraftKings, Inc., Class A (a) 1,637,295
14,937 McDonald's Corp. 4,004,162
67,565 MGM Resorts International 3,032,317
42,456 Yum! Brands, Inc. 5,895,440
--------------
20,110,914
--------------
HOUSEHOLD DURABLES -- 0.2%
11,446 Garmin Ltd. 1,558,602
--------------
HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS -- 4.4%
17,153 Church & Dwight Co., Inc. 1,758,183
30,662 Clorox (The) Co. 5,346,226
122,498 Colgate-Palmolive Co. 10,453,979
71,725 Procter & Gamble (The) Co. 11,732,776
--------------
29,291,164
--------------
INDUSTRIAL CONGLOMERATES -- 1.1%
7,602 3M Co. 1,350,343
12,059 Honeywell International, Inc. 2,514,422
6,666 Roper Technologies, Inc. 3,278,739
--------------
7,143,504
--------------
INSURANCE -- 3.0%
15,025 Aon PLC, Class A 4,515,914
11,674 Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. 1,980,727
50,269 Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc. 8,737,758
46,677 Progressive (The) Corp. 4,791,394
--------------
20,025,793
--------------
INTERACTIVE MEDIA & SERVICES
-- 2.0%
1,259 Alphabet, Inc., Class A (a) 3,647,373
17,117 Match Group, Inc. (a) 2,263,723
47,528 Pinterest, Inc., Class A (a) 1,727,643
115,299 Snap, Inc., Class A (a) 5,422,512
--------------
13,061,251
--------------
INTERNET & DIRECT MARKETING
RETAIL -- 0.6%
25,160 eBay, Inc. 1,673,140
10,029 Etsy, Inc. (a) 2,195,749
--------------
3,868,889
--------------
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
IT SERVICES -- 8.5%
20,755 Accenture PLC, Class A $ 8,603,985
7,608 Block, Inc. (a) 1,228,768
22,737 Broadridge Financial Solutions,
Inc. 4,156,778
84,161 Cloudflare, Inc., Class A (a) 11,067,172
7,043 EPAM Systems, Inc. (a) 4,707,893
19,973 International Business Machines
Corp. 2,669,591
7,319 Mastercard, Inc., Class A 2,629,863
6,743 MongoDB, Inc. (a) 3,569,407
12,891 Okta, Inc. (a) 2,889,775
28,969 Paychex, Inc. 3,954,269
10,941 Snowflake, Inc., Class A (a) 3,706,264
7,129 Twilio, Inc., Class A (a) 1,877,351
12,967 VeriSign, Inc. (a) 3,291,284
10,448 Visa, Inc., Class A 2,264,186
--------------
56,616,586
--------------
LIFE SCIENCES TOOLS & SERVICES
-- 7.6%
23,639 10X Genomics, Inc., Class A (a) 3,521,265
3,389 Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc.,
Class A (a) 2,560,627
15,397 Charles River Laboratories
International, Inc. (a) 5,801,282
15,350 Danaher Corp. 5,050,304
10,271 IQVIA Holdings, Inc. (a) 2,897,860
4,681 Mettler-Toledo International,
Inc. (a) 7,944,640
27,028 PerkinElmer, Inc. 5,434,250
11,402 Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. 7,607,870
15,064 Waters Corp. (a) 5,612,846
8,318 West Pharmaceutical Services,
Inc. 3,901,225
--------------
50,332,169
--------------
MACHINERY -- 0.4%
20,240 Xylem, Inc. 2,427,181
--------------
MULTILINE RETAIL -- 1.7%
29,442 Dollar General Corp. 6,943,307
18,901 Target Corp. 4,374,447
--------------
11,317,754
--------------
PHARMACEUTICALS -- 1.1%
51,767 Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. 3,227,673
21,572 Catalent, Inc. (a) 2,761,863
8,959 Johnson & Johnson 1,532,616
--------------
7,522,152
--------------
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES -- 1.6%
10,565 Equifax, Inc. 3,093,326
32,075 Verisk Analytics, Inc. 7,336,515
--------------
10,429,841
--------------
ROAD & RAIL -- 1.3%
45,484 Lyft, Inc., Class A (a) 1,943,531
9,518 Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc. 3,411,061
13,181 Union Pacific Corp. 3,320,689
--------------
8,675,281
--------------
Page 38 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST LUNT U.S. FACTOR ROTATION ETF (FCTR)
PORTFOLIO OF INVESTMENTS (CONTINUED)
DECEMBER 31, 2021
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
COMMON STOCKS (CONTINUED)
SEMICONDUCTORS & SEMICONDUCTOR
EQUIPMENT -- 4.8%
26,161 Applied Materials, Inc. $ 4,116,695
17,425 Enphase Energy, Inc. (a) 3,187,730
21,335 Entegris, Inc. 2,956,604
37,722 Marvell Technology, Inc. 3,300,298
7,389 Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. 3,645,215
29,426 NVIDIA Corp. 8,654,481
84,447 ON Semiconductor Corp. (a) 5,735,640
--------------
31,596,663
--------------
SOFTWARE -- 16.2%
11,260 Adobe, Inc. (a) 6,385,096
38,383 Bill.com Holdings, Inc. (a) 9,563,124
12,784 Coupa Software, Inc. (a) 2,020,511
24,605 Crowdstrike Holdings, Inc.,
Class A (a) 5,037,874
22,757 Datadog, Inc., Class A (a) 4,053,249
11,939 DocuSign, Inc. (a) 1,818,429
34,538 Dynatrace, Inc. (a) 2,084,368
20,713 Fortinet, Inc. (a) 7,444,252
11,846 HubSpot, Inc. (a) 7,808,291
6,131 Intuit, Inc. 3,943,582
22,330 Microsoft Corp. 7,510,026
86,825 Oracle Corp. 7,572,008
10,688 Paycom Software, Inc. (a) 4,437,551
12,595 RingCentral, Inc., Class A (a) 2,359,673
7,144 ServiceNow, Inc. (a) 4,637,242
38,715 SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. 3,173,856
21,212 Synopsys, Inc. (a) 7,816,622
40,946 Trade Desk (The), Inc.,
Class A (a) 3,752,291
22,130 Unity Software, Inc. (a) 3,164,369
20,201 Zendesk, Inc. (a) 2,106,762
10,914 Zoom Video Communications,
Inc., Class A (a) 2,007,194
27,462 Zscaler, Inc. (a) 8,824,365
--------------
107,520,735
--------------
SPECIALTY RETAIL -- 3.7%
13,693 Home Depot (The), Inc. 5,682,732
8,035 Lowe's Cos., Inc. 2,076,887
11,871 O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (a) 8,383,656
34,321 Tractor Supply Co. 8,188,991
--------------
24,332,266
--------------
TECHNOLOGY HARDWARE, STORAGE
& PERIPHERALS -- 0.3%
12,074 Apple, Inc. 2,143,980
--------------
TRADING COMPANIES & DISTRIBUTORS
-- 1.2%
70,176 Fastenal Co. 4,495,475
6,502 W.W. Grainger, Inc. 3,369,596
--------------
7,865,071
--------------
TOTAL COMMON STOCKS -- 100.0% 663,013,359
(Cost $644,091,052) --------------
SHARES DESCRIPTION VALUE
-------------------------------------------------------------
MONEY MARKET FUNDS -- 0.0%
182,154 Morgan Stanley Institutional
Liquidity Funds - Treasury
Portfolio - Institutional
Class - 0.01% (b) $ 182,154
(Cost $182,154) --------------
TOTAL INVESTMENTS -- 100.0% 663,195,513
(Cost $644,273,206) (c)
NET OTHER ASSETS AND
LIABILITIES -- (0.0)% (190,321)
--------------
NET ASSETS -- 100.0% $ 663,005,192
==============
(a) Non-income producing security.
(b) Rate shown reflects yield as of December 31, 2021.
(c) Aggregate cost for federal income tax purposes is $657,591,562. As of
December 31, 2021, the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation for all
investments in which there was an excess of value over tax cost was
$46,022,174 and the aggregate gross unrealized depreciation for all
investments in which there was an excess of tax cost over value was
$40,418,223. The net unrealized appreciation was $5,603,951.
-----------------------------
VALUATION INPUTS
A summary of the inputs used to value the Fund's investments as of December 31,
2021 is as follows (see Note 2A - Portfolio Valuation in the Notes to Financial
Statements):
LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3
LEVEL 1 SIGNIFICANT SIGNIFICANT
QUOTED OBSERVABLE UNOBSERVABLE
PRICES INPUTS INPUTS
---------------------------------------------
Common Stocks* $ 663,013,359 $ -- $ --
Money Market
Funds 182,154 -- --
---------------------------------------------
Total Investments $ 663,195,513 $ -- $ --
=============================================
* See Portfolio of Investments for industry breakout.
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 39
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
STATEMENTS OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
DECEMBER 31, 2021
FIRST TRUST FIRST TRUST FIRST TRUST FIRST TRUST
TOTAL US MARKET DORSEY WRIGHT DOW 30 LUNT U.S.
ALPHADEX(R) PEOPLE'S EQUAL WEIGHT FACTOR ROTATION
ETF PORTFOLIO ETF ETF ETF
(TUSA) (DWPP) (EDOW) (FCTR)
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
ASSETS:
Investments, at value............................... $ 25,326,498 $ 12,397,259 $ 137,992,607 $ 663,195,513
Cash................................................ 340 17,046 48,479 7,387
Receivables:
Dividends........................................ 22,845 7,068 56,356 148,108
Securities lending income........................ 41 -- -- --
Capital shares sold................................. -- -- 1,589,992 3,564,027
Prepaid expenses.................................... 5,396 -- -- --
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Total Assets..................................... 25,355,120 12,421,373 139,687,434 666,915,035
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
LIABILITIES:
Payables:
Collateral for securities on loan................ 67,544 -- -- --
Audit and tax fees............................... 30,319 -- -- --
Investment advisory fees......................... 2,308 6,064 55,935 346,868
Licensing fees................................... 577 -- -- --
Shareholder reporting fees....................... 4,795 -- -- --
Investment securities purchased.................. -- -- 1,589,261 3,562,975
Other liabilities................................... 26,309 -- -- --
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Total Liabilities................................ 131,852 6,064 1,645,196 3,909,843
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
NET ASSETS.......................................... $ 25,223,268 $ 12,415,309 $ 138,042,238 $ 663,005,192
============== ============== ============== ==============
NET ASSETS CONSIST OF:
Paid-in capital..................................... $ 24,899,845 $ 19,780,071 $ 130,585,624 $ 689,598,217
Par value........................................... 5,000 3,500 43,478 186,500
Accumulated distributable earnings (loss)........... 318,423 (7,368,262) 7,413,136 (26,779,525)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
NET ASSETS.......................................... $ 25,223,268 $ 12,415,309 $ 138,042,238 $ 663,005,192
============== ============== ============== ==============
NET ASSET VALUE, per share.......................... $ 50.45 $ 35.47 $ 31.75 $ 35.55
============== ============== ============== ==============
Number of shares outstanding (unlimited number of
shares authorized, par value $0.01 per share).... 500,002 350,002 4,347,756 18,650,002
============== ============== ============== ==============
Investments, at cost................................ $ 21,847,838 $ 9,414,766 $ 125,419,881 $ 644,273,206
============== ============== ============== ==============
Securities on loan, at value........................ $ 65,395 $ -- $ -- $ --
============== ============== ============== ==============
Page 40 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2021
FIRST TRUST FIRST TRUST FIRST TRUST FIRST TRUST
TOTAL US MARKET DORSEY WRIGHT DOW 30 LUNT U.S.
ALPHADEX(R) PEOPLE'S EQUAL WEIGHT FACTOR ROTATION
ETF PORTFOLIO ETF ETF ETF
(TUSA) (DWPP) (EDOW) (FCTR)
---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------
INVESTMENT INCOME:
Dividends........................................... $ 321,410 $ 152,275 $ 2,228,152 $ 4,155,767
Securities lending income (net of fees)............. 1,684 -- -- --
Foreign withholding tax............................. (76) (26) -- --
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Total investment income.......................... 323,018 152,249 2,228,152 4,155,767
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
EXPENSES:
Investment advisory fees............................ 104,695 66,818 (a) 505,747 (a) 2,306,828 (a)
Custodian fees...................................... 32,168 -- -- --
Audit and tax fees.................................. 31,607 -- -- --
Accounting and administration fees.................. 17,191 -- -- --
Licensing fees...................................... 11,854 -- -- --
Shareholder reporting fees.......................... 15,568 -- -- --
Trustees' fees and expenses......................... 6,308 -- -- --
Listing fees........................................ 2,541 -- -- --
Transfer agent fees................................. 1,047 -- -- --
Legal fees.......................................... 393 -- -- --
Registration and filing fees........................ 82 -- -- --
Other expenses...................................... 2,257 -- -- --
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Total expenses................................... 225,711 66,818 505,747 2,306,828
Less fees waived and expenses reimbursed by the
investment advisor............................ (78,956) -- -- --
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Net expenses..................................... 146,755 66,818 505,747 2,306,828
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
NET INVESTMENT INCOME (LOSS)........................ 176,263 85,431 1,722,405 1,848,939
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
REALIZED AND UNREALIZED GAIN (LOSS):
Net realized gain (loss) on:
Investments...................................... 28,181 71,171 (383,603) (37,600,426)
In-kind redemptions.............................. 4,356,123 606,896 4,768,981 70,226,527
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Net realized gain (loss)............................ 4,384,304 678,067 4,385,378 32,626,101
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)
on investments................................... (272,120) 1,815,679 8,652,152 2,900,642
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
NET REALIZED AND UNREALIZED
GAIN (LOSS)...................................... 4,112,184 2,493,746 13,037,530 35,526,743
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN NET ASSETS
RESULTING FROM OPERATIONS........................ $ 4,288,447 $ 2,579,177 $ 14,759,935 $ 37,375,682
============== ============== ============== ==============
(a) Fund is subject to a Unitary Fee (see Note 3 in the Notes to Financial
Statements).
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 41
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS
FIRST TRUST FIRST TRUST
TOTAL US MARKET DORSEY WRIGHT
ALPHADEX(R) PEOPLE'S
ETF PORTFOLIO ETF
(TUSA) (DWPP)
------------------------------- -------------------------------
Year Ended Year Ended Year Ended Year Ended
12/31/2021 12/31/2020 12/31/2021 12/31/2020
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
OPERATIONS:
Net investment income (loss)................................ $ 176,263 $ 146,002 $ 85,431 $ 211,578
Net realized gain (loss).................................... 4,384,304 (102,951) 678,067 (7,244,534)
Net change in unrealized appreciation (depreciation)........ (272,120) 1,663,834 1,815,679 (8,269,108)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting
from operations......................................... 4,288,447 1,706,885 2,579,177 (15,302,064)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
DISTRIBUTIONS TO SHAREHOLDERS FROM:
Investment operations....................................... (162,991) (165,965) (81,660) (240,000)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
SHAREHOLDER TRANSACTIONS:
Proceeds from shares sold................................... 18,455,594 5,412,788 1,693,588 6,707,616
Proceeds from shares acquired through reorganization........ -- -- -- --
Cost of shares redeemed..................................... (13,606,364) (8,804,718) (3,150,430) (43,298,218)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting
from shareholder transactions............................ 4,849,230 (3,391,930) (1,456,842) (36,590,602)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Total increase (decrease) in net assets.................... 8,974,686 (1,851,010) 1,040,675 (52,132,666)
NET ASSETS:
Beginning of period......................................... 16,248,582 18,099,592 11,374,634 63,507,300
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
End of period............................................... $ 25,223,268 $ 16,248,582 $ 12,415,309 $ 11,374,634
============== ============== ============== ==============
CHANGES IN SHARES OUTSTANDING:
Shares outstanding, beginning of period..................... 400,002 500,002 400,002 1,900,002
Shares sold................................................. 400,000 150,000 50,000 200,000
Shares issued through reorganization........................ -- -- -- --
Shares redeemed............................................. (300,000) (250,000) (100,000) (1,700,000)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
Shares outstanding, end of period........................... 500,002 400,002 350,002 400,002
============== ============== ============== ==============
Page 42 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST FIRST TRUST
DOW 30 LUNT U.S.
EQUAL WEIGHT FACTOR ROTATION
ETF ETF
(EDOW) (FCTR)
------------------------------- -------------------------------
Year Ended Year Ended Year Ended Year Ended
12/31/2021 12/31/2020 12/31/2021 12/31/2020
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
$ 1,722,405 $ 788,789 $ 1,848,939 $ 356,145
4,385,378 2,725,877 32,626,101 17,001,136
8,652,152 1,847,818 2,900,642 12,191,167
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
14,759,935 5,362,484 37,375,682 29,548,448
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
(1,719,752) (796,961) (1,580,945) (405,400)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
75,916,321 82,844,105 1,095,761,531 229,904,890
-- 21,476,818 -- --
(22,908,579) (79,969,157) (599,707,580) (190,587,189)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
53,007,742 24,351,766 496,053,951 39,317,701
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
66,047,925 28,917,289 531,848,688 68,460,749
71,994,313 43,077,024 131,156,504 62,695,755
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
$ 138,042,238 $ 71,994,313 $ 663,005,192 $ 131,156,504
============== ============== ============== ==============
2,647,756 1,650,002 4,450,002 2,750,002
2,500,000 3,650,000 31,600,000 9,500,000
-- 797,754 -- --
(800,000) (3,450,000) (17,400,000) (7,800,000)
-------------- -------------- -------------- --------------
4,347,756 2,647,756 18,650,002 4,450,002
============== ============== ============== ==============
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 43
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
FOR A SHARE OUTSTANDING THROUGHOUT EACH PERIOD
FIRST TRUST TOTAL US MARKET ALPHADEX(R) ETF (TUSA)
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 40.62 $ 36.20 $ 29.22 $ 32.85 $ 27.74
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
INCOME FROM INVESTMENT OPERATIONS:
Net investment income (loss) 0.39 0.35 0.40 0.34 0.25
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) 9.80 4.47 6.99 (3.64) 5.12
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total from investment operations 10.19 4.82 7.39 (3.30) 5.37
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
DISTRIBUTIONS PAID TO SHAREHOLDERS FROM:
Net investment income (0.36) (0.40) (0.41) (0.33) (0.26)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 50.45 $ 40.62 $ 36.20 $ 29.22 $ 32.85
============ ============ ============ ============ ============
TOTAL RETURN (a) 25.12% 13.65% 25.36% (10.13)% 19.44%
RATIOS/SUPPLEMENTAL DATA:
Net assets, end of period (in 000's) $ 25,223 $ 16,249 $ 18,100 $ 13,151 $ 14,783
RATIOS TO AVERAGE NET ASSETS:
Ratio of total expenses to average net assets 1.08% 1.16% 1.02% 1.57% 1.69%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets 0.70% 0.70% 0.70% 0.70% 0.70%
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to
average net assets 0.84% 1.04% 1.20% 1.03% 0.88%
Portfolio turnover rate (b) 98% 125% 119% 110% 112%
FIRST TRUST DORSEY WRIGHT PEOPLE'S PORTFOLIO ETF (DWPP)
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
------------------------------------------------------------------------
2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 28.44 $ 33.42 $ 25.96 $ 28.64 $ 23.80
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
INCOME FROM INVESTMENT OPERATIONS:
Net investment income (loss) 0.25 0.11 0.37 0.33 0.30
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) 7.02 (4.94) 7.45 (2.67) 4.84
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total from investment operations 7.27 (4.83) 7.82 (2.34) 5.14
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
DISTRIBUTIONS PAID TO SHAREHOLDERS FROM:
Net investment income (0.24) (0.15) (0.36) (0.34) (0.30)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 35.47 $ 28.44 $ 33.42 $ 25.96 $ 28.64
============ ============ ============ ============ ============
TOTAL RETURN (a) 25.71% (14.42)% 30.24% (8.26)% 21.71%
RATIOS/SUPPLEMENTAL DATA:
Net assets, end of period (in 000's) $ 12,415 $ 11,375 $ 63,507 $ 35,042 $ 30,072
RATIOS TO AVERAGE NET ASSETS:
Ratio of total expenses to average net assets 0.60% 0.60% 0.60% 0.60% 0.60%
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets 0.60% 0.60% 0.60% 0.60% 0.60%
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to
average net assets 0.77% 0.69% 1.28% 1.19% 1.29%
Portfolio turnover rate (b) 7% 114% 30% 32% 30% (c)
(a) Total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net
asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all
distributions at net asset value during the period, and redemption at net
asset value on the last day of the period. The returns presented do not
reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund
distributions or the redemption or sale of Fund shares. Total return is
calculated for the time period presented and is not annualized for periods
of less than a year. The total returns for First Trust Total US Market
AlphaDEX(R) ETF would have been lower if certain fees had not been waived
and expenses reimbursed by the investment advisor.
(b) Portfolio turnover is calculated for the time period presented and is not
annualized for periods of less than a year and does not include securities
received or delivered from processing creations or redemptions and in-kind
transactions.
(c) The variation in the portfolio turnover rate is due to the change in the
Fund's underlying index effective August 18, 2017, which resulted in a
complete rebalance of the Fund's portfolio.
Page 44 See Notes to Financial Statements
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS (CONTINUED)
FOR A SHARE OUTSTANDING THROUGHOUT EACH PERIOD
FIRST TRUST DOW 30 EQUAL WEIGHT ETF (EDOW)
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
--------------------------------------------------------- PERIOD ENDED
2021 2020 2019 2018 12/31/2017 (a)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 27.19 $ 26.11 $ 21.43 $ 22.00 $ 19.97
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
INCOME FROM INVESTMENT OPERATIONS:
Net investment income (loss) 0.48 0.50 0.47 0.40 0.17
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) 4.56 1.08 4.70 (0.58) 2.03
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total from investment operations 5.04 1.58 5.17 (0.18) 2.20
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
DISTRIBUTIONS PAID TO SHAREHOLDERS FROM:
Net investment income (0.48) (0.50) (0.49) (0.39) (0.17)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 31.75 $ 27.19 $ 26.11 $ 21.43 $ 22.00
============ ============ ============ ============ ============
TOTAL RETURN (b) 18.63% 6.41% 24.27% (0.88)% 11.02%
RATIOS/SUPPLEMENTAL DATA:
Net assets, end of period (in 000's) $ 138,042 $ 71,994 $ 43,077 $ 12,859 $ 2,200
RATIOS TO AVERAGE NET ASSETS:
Ratio of total expenses to average net assets 0.50% 0.50% 0.50% 0.50% 0.50% (c)
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets 0.50% 0.50% 0.50% 0.50% 0.50% (c)
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to
average net assets 1.70% 2.11% 1.99% 2.33% 1.99% (c)
Portfolio turnover rate (d) 14% 31% 13% 16% 20%
FIRST TRUST LUNT U.S. FACTOR ROTATION ETF (FCTR)
YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
------------------------------------------ PERIOD ENDED
2021 2020 2019 12/31/2018 (a)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, beginning of period $ 29.47 $ 22.80 $ 17.67 $ 20.23
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
INCOME FROM INVESTMENT OPERATIONS:
Net investment income (loss) 0.17 0.12 0.23 0.12
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) 6.07 6.68 5.12 (2.56)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Total from investment operations 6.24 6.80 5.35 (2.44)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
DISTRIBUTIONS PAID TO SHAREHOLDERS FROM:
Net investment income (0.16) (0.13) (0.22) (0.12)
------------ ------------ ------------ ------------
Net asset value, end of period $ 35.55 $ 29.47 $ 22.80 $ 17.67
============ ============ ============ ============
TOTAL RETURN (b) 21.22% 30.02% 30.35% (12.09)%
RATIOS/SUPPLEMENTAL DATA:
Net assets, end of period (in 000's) $ 663,005 $ 131,157 $ 62,696 $ 28,269
RATIOS TO AVERAGE NET ASSETS:
Ratio of total expenses to average net assets 0.65% 0.65% 0.65% 0.65% (c)
Ratio of net expenses to average net assets 0.65% 0.65% 0.65% 0.65% (c)
Ratio of net investment income (loss) to
average net assets 0.52% 0.42% 1.17% 1.48% (c)
Portfolio turnover rate (d) 307% 460% 246% 183%
(a) Inception dates for EDOW and FCTR are August 8, 2017 and July 25, 2018,
respectively, which are consistent with the respective Fund's commencement
of investment operations and are the dates the initial creation units were
established.
(b) Total return is calculated assuming an initial investment made at the net
asset value at the beginning of the period, reinvestment of all
distributions at net asset value during the period, and redemption at net
asset value on the last day of the period. The returns presented do not
reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund
distributions or the redemption or sale of Fund shares. Total return is
calculated for the time period presented and is not annualized for periods
of less than a year.
(c) Annualized.
(d) Portfolio turnover is calculated for the time period presented and is not
annualized for periods of less than a year and does not include securities
received or delivered from processing creations or redemptions and in-kind
transactions.
See Notes to Financial Statements Page 45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021
1. ORGANIZATION
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund (the "Trust") is an open-end management
investment company organized as a Massachusetts business trust on August 8,
2003, and is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act").
The Trust currently consists of twenty-two exchange-traded funds. This report
covers the four funds (each a "Fund" and collectively, the "Funds") listed
below:
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF - (The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
("Nasdaq") ticker "TUSA")
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF - (Nasdaq ticker "DWPP")
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF - (NYSE Arca, Inc. ("NYSE Arca")
ticker "EDOW")
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF - (Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.
("Cboe BZX") ticker "FCTR")
Each Fund represents a separate series of beneficial interest in the Trust.
Unlike conventional mutual funds, each Fund issues and redeems shares on a
continuous basis, at net asset value ("NAV"), only in large blocks of shares
known as "Creation Units." The investment objective of each Fund is to seek
investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the
Fund's fees and expenses) of the following indices:
FUND INDEX
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF NASDAQ AlphaDEX(R) Total US Market Index
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF Nasdaq Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio Index
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF Dow Jones Industrial Average(R) Equal Weight Index
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF Lunt Capital Large Cap Factor Rotation Index
2. SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
The Funds are each considered an investment company and follow accounting and
reporting guidance under Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting
Standards Codification Topic 946, "Financial Services-Investment Companies." The
following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently followed
by the Funds in the preparation of the financial statements. The preparation of
the financial statements in accordance with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America ("U.S. GAAP") requires management to
make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts and disclosures
in the financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
A. PORTFOLIO VALUATION
Each Fund's NAV is determined daily as of the close of regular trading on the
New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time, on each day
the NYSE is open for trading. If the NYSE closes early on a valuation day, the
NAV is determined as of that time. Each Fund's NAV is calculated by dividing the
value of all assets of each Fund (including accrued interest and dividends),
less all liabilities (including accrued expenses and dividends declared but
unpaid), by the total number of shares outstanding.
Each Fund's investments are valued daily at market value or, in the absence of
market value with respect to any portfolio securities, at fair value. Market
value prices represent last sale or official closing prices from a national or
foreign exchange (i.e., a regulated market) and are primarily obtained from
third-party pricing services. Fair value prices represent any prices not
considered market value prices and are either obtained from a third-party
pricing service or are determined by the Pricing Committee of the Funds'
investment advisor, First Trust Advisors L.P. ("First Trust" or the "Advisor"),
in accordance with valuation procedures adopted by the Trust's Board of
Trustees, and in accordance with provisions of the 1940 Act. Investments valued
by the Advisor's Pricing Committee, if any, are footnoted as such in the
footnotes to the Portfolio of Investments. Each Fund's investments are valued as
follows:
Common stocks and other equity securities listed on any national or
foreign exchange (excluding Nasdaq and the London Stock Exchange
Alternative Investment Market ("AIM")) are valued at the last sale price
on the exchange on which they are principally traded or, for Nasdaq and
AIM securities, the official closing price. Securities traded on more than
one securities exchange are valued at the last sale price or official
closing price, as applicable, at the close of the securities exchange
representing the principal market for such securities.
Shares of open-end funds are valued at fair value which is based on NAV
per share.
Securities traded in an over-the-counter market are fair valued at the
mean of their most recent bid and asked price, if available, and otherwise
at their closing bid price.
Page 46
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NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021
U.S. Treasuries are fair valued on the basis of valuations provided by a
third-party pricing service approved by the Trust's Board of Trustees.
Overnight repurchase agreements are valued at amortized cost when it
represents the best estimate of fair value.
Certain securities may not be able to be priced by pre-established pricing
methods. Such securities may be valued by the Trust's Board of Trustees or its
delegate, the Advisor's Pricing Committee, at fair value. These securities
generally include, but are not limited to, restricted securities (securities
which may not be publicly sold without registration under the Securities Act of
1933, as amended) for which a third-party pricing service is unable to provide a
market price; securities whose trading has been formally suspended; a security
whose market or fair value price is not available from a pre-established pricing
source; a security with respect to which an event has occurred that is likely to
materially affect the value of the security after the market has closed but
before the calculation of a Fund's NAV or make it difficult or impossible to
obtain a reliable market quotation; and a security whose price, as provided by
the third-party pricing service, does not reflect the security's fair value. As
a general principle, the current fair value of a security would appear to be the
amount which the owner might reasonably expect to receive for the security upon
its current sale. When fair value prices are used, generally they will differ
from market quotations or official closing prices on the applicable exchanges. A
variety of factors may be considered in determining the fair value of such
securities, including, but not limited to, the following:
1) the type of security;
2) the size of the holding;
3) the initial cost of the security;
4) transactions in comparable securities;
5) price quotes from dealers and/or third-party pricing services;
6) relationships among various securities;
7) information obtained by contacting the issuer, analysts, or the
appropriate stock exchange;
8) an analysis of the issuer's financial statements; and
9) the existence of merger proposals or tender offers that might affect
the value of the security.
In addition, differences between the prices used to calculate a Fund's NAV and
the prices used by such Fund's corresponding index could result in a difference
between a Fund's performance and the performance of its underlying index.
The Funds are subject to fair value accounting standards that define fair value,
establish the framework for measuring fair value and provide a three-level
hierarchy for fair valuation based upon the inputs to the valuation as of the
measurement date. The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are as follows:
o Level 1 - Level 1 inputs are quoted prices in active markets for
identical investments. An active market is a market in which
transactions for the investment occur with sufficient frequency and
volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.
o Level 2 - Level 2 inputs are observable inputs, either directly or
indirectly, and include the
following:
o Quoted prices for similar investments in active markets.
o Quoted prices for identical or similar investments in markets
that are non-active. A non-active market is a market where
there are few transactions for the investment, the prices are
not current, or price quotations vary substantially either
over time or among market makers, or in which little
information is released publicly.
o Inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the
investment (for example, interest rates and yield curves
observable at commonly quoted intervals, volatilities,
prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks, and default
rates).
o Inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by
observable market data by correlation or other means.
o Level 3 - Level 3 inputs are unobservable inputs. Unobservable
inputs may reflect the reporting entity's own assumptions about the
assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the
investment.
The inputs or methodologies used for valuing investments are not necessarily an
indication of the risk associated with investing in those investments. A summary
of the inputs used to value each Fund's investments as of December 31, 2021, is
included with each Fund's Portfolio of Investments.
B. SECURITIES TRANSACTIONS AND INVESTMENT INCOME
Securities transactions are recorded as of the trade date. Realized gains and
losses from securities transactions are recorded on the identified cost basis.
Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date. Interest income, if any, is
recorded on the accrual basis.
Withholding taxes and tax reclaims on foreign dividends have been provided for
in accordance with each Fund's understanding of the applicable country's tax
rules and rates.
Page 47
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NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021
Distributions received from a Fund's investments in real estate investment
trusts ("REITs") may be comprised of return of capital, capital gains and
income. The actual character of the amounts received during the year is not
known until after the REITs' fiscal year end. A Fund records the character of
distributions received from the REITs during the year based on estimates
available. The characterization of distributions received by a Fund may be
subsequently revised based on information received from the REITs after their
tax reporting periods conclude.
C. OFFSETTING ON THE STATEMENTS OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
Offsetting Assets and Liabilities requires entities to disclose both gross and
net information about instruments and transactions eligible for offset on the
Statements of Assets and Liabilities, and disclose instruments and transactions
subject to master netting or similar agreements. These disclosure requirements
are intended to help investors and other financial statement users better assess
the effect or potential effect of offsetting arrangements on a fund's financial
position. The transactions subject to offsetting disclosures are derivative
instruments, repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements, and
securities borrowing and securities lending transactions.
This disclosure, if applicable, is included within each Fund's Portfolio of
Investments under the heading "Offsetting Assets and Liabilities." For financial
reporting purposes, the Funds do not offset financial assets and financial
liabilities that are subject to master netting arrangements ("MNAs") or similar
agreements on the Statements of Assets and Liabilities. MNAs provide the right,
in the event of default (including bankruptcy and insolvency), for the
non-defaulting counterparty to liquidate the collateral and calculate the net
exposure to the defaulting party or request additional collateral.
D. SECURITIES LENDING
The Funds may lend securities representing up to 33 1/3% of the value of their
total assets to broker-dealers, banks and other institutions to generate
additional income. When a Fund loans its portfolio securities, it will receive,
at the inception of each loan, collateral equal to at least 102% (for domestic
securities) or 105% (for international securities) of the market value of the
loaned securities. The collateral amount is valued at the beginning of each
business day and is compared to the market value of the loaned securities from
the prior business day to determine if additional collateral is required. If
additional collateral is required, a request is sent to the borrower. Securities
lending involves the risk that the Fund may lose money because the borrower of
the Fund's loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner
or at all. The Fund could also lose money in the event of (i) a decline in the
value of the collateral provided for the loaned securities, (ii) a decline in
the value of any investments made with cash collateral or (iii) an increase in
the value of the loaned securities if the borrower does not increase the
collateral accordingly and the borrower fails to return the securities. These
events could also trigger adverse tax consequences for the Funds.
Under the Funds' Securities Lending Agency Agreement, the securities lending
agent will generally bear the risk that a borrower may default on its obligation
to return loaned securities. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. ("BBH") acts as the
Funds' securities lending agent and is responsible for executing the lending of
the portfolio securities to creditworthy borrowers. The Funds, however, will be
responsible for the risks associated with the investment of cash collateral. A
Fund may lose money on its investment of cash collateral, which may affect its
ability to repay the collateral to the borrower without the use of other Fund
assets. Each Fund that engages in securities lending receives compensation (net
of any rebate and securities lending agent fees) for lending its securities.
Compensation can be in the form of fees received from the securities lending
agent or dividends or interest earned from the investment of cash collateral.
The fees received from the securities lending agent are accrued daily. The
dividend and interest earned on the securities loaned is accounted for in the
same manner as other dividend and interest income. At December 31, 2021, only
TUSA had securities in the securities lending program.
In the event of a default by a borrower with respect to any loan, BBH will
exercise any and all remedies provided under the applicable borrower agreement
to make the Funds whole. These remedies include purchasing replacement
securities by applying the collateral held from the defaulting broker against
the purchase cost of the replacement securities. If, despite such efforts by BBH
to exercise these remedies, a Fund sustains losses as a result of a borrower's
default, BBH will indemnify the Fund by purchasing replacement securities at its
own expense, or paying the Fund an amount equal to the market value of the
replacement securities, subject to certain limitations which are set forth in
detail in the Securities Lending Agency Agreement between the Trust on behalf of
the Funds and BBH.
E. REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS
Repurchase agreements involve the purchase of securities subject to the seller's
agreement to repurchase the securities at a mutually agreed upon date and price,
under the terms of a Master Repurchase Agreement ("MRA"). During the term of a
repurchase agreement, the value of the underlying securities held as collateral
on behalf of a Fund, including accrued interest, is required to exceed the value
of the repurchase agreement, including accrued interest. The underlying
securities for all repurchase agreements are held at the Funds' custodian or
designated sub-custodians under tri-party repurchase agreements.
MRAs govern transactions between a Fund and select counterparties. The MRAs
contain provisions for, among other things, initiation, income payments, events
of default, and maintenance of collateral for repurchase agreements.
Page 48
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NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021
Repurchase agreements received for lending securities are collateralized by U.S.
Treasury securities. The U.S. Treasury securities are held in a joint custody
account at BBH on behalf of the Funds participating in the securities lending
program. In the event the counterparty defaults on the repurchase agreement, the
U.S. Treasury securities can either be maintained as part of a Fund's portfolio
or sold for cash. A Fund could suffer a loss to the extent that the proceeds
from the sale of the underlying collateral held by the Fund is less than the
repurchase price and the Fund's costs associated with the delay and enforcement
of the MRA.
While the Funds may invest in repurchase agreements, any repurchase agreements
held by the Funds during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 were received
as collateral for lending securities.
F. DIVIDENDS AND DISTRIBUTIONS TO SHAREHOLDERS
Dividends from net investment income of each Fund, if any, are declared and paid
quarterly, or as the Board of Trustees may determine from time to time.
Distributions of net realized gains earned by each Fund, if any, are distributed
at least annually.
Distributions from net investment income and realized capital gains are
determined in accordance with federal income tax regulations, which may differ
from U.S. GAAP. Certain capital accounts in the financial statements are
periodically adjusted for permanent differences in order to reflect their tax
character. These permanent differences are primarily due to the varying
treatment of income and gain/loss on portfolio securities held by the Funds and
have no impact on net assets or NAV per share. Temporary differences, which
arise from recognizing certain items of income, expense and gain/loss in
different periods for financial statement and tax purposes, will reverse at some
time in the future.
The tax character of distributions paid by each Fund during the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2021 was as follows:
Distributions Distributions
Distributions paid paid paid
from Ordinary from Capital from Return
Income Gains of Capital
------------------ ---------------- -----------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF $ 162,991 $ -- $ --
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 81,660 -- --
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF 1,719,752 -- --
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF 1,580,945 -- --
The tax character of distributions paid by each Fund during the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2020 was as follows:
Distributions Distributions
Distributions paid paid paid
from Ordinary from Capital from Return
Income Gains of Capital
------------------ ---------------- -----------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF $ 165,965 $ -- $ --
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 240,000 -- --
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF 796,961 -- --
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF 405,400 -- --
As of December 31, 2021, the components of distributable earnings on a tax basis
for each Fund were as follows:
Accumulated
Undistributed Capital and Net Unrealized
Ordinary Other Appreciation
Income Gain (Loss) (Depreciation)
------------------ ---------------- -----------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF $ 15,478 $ (3,066,140) $ 3,369,085
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 3,829 (10,350,687) 2,978,596
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF 2,653 (4,087,639) 11,498,122
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF 268,020 (32,651,496) 5,603,951
Page 49
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NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021
G. INCOME TAXES
Each Fund intends to continue to qualify as a regulated investment company by
complying with the requirements under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended, which includes distributing substantially all of its net
investment income and net realized gains to shareholders. Accordingly, no
provision has been made for federal and state income taxes. However, due to the
timing and amount of distributions, each Fund may be subject to an excise tax of
4% of the amount by which approximately 98% of each Fund's taxable income
exceeds the distributions from such taxable income for the calendar year.
The Funds are subject to accounting standards that establish a minimum threshold
for recognizing, and a system for measuring, the benefits of a tax position
taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. The taxable years ended 2018,
2019, 2020, and 2021 remain open to federal and state audit. As of December 31,
2021, management has evaluated the application of these standards to the Funds,
and has determined that no provision for income tax is required in the Funds'
financial statements for uncertain tax positions.
Each Fund intends to utilize provisions of the federal income tax laws, which
allow it to carry a realized capital loss forward indefinitely following the
year of the loss and offset such loss against any future realized capital gains.
Each Fund is subject to certain limitations under U.S. tax rules on the use of
capital loss carryforwards and net unrealized built-in losses. These limitations
apply when there has been a 50% change in ownership. At December 31, 2021, for
federal income tax purposes, each applicable Fund had a capital loss
carryforward available that is shown in the table below, to the extent provided
by regulations, to offset future capital gains. To the extent that these loss
carryforwards are used to offset future capital gains, it is probable that the
capital gains so offset will not be distributed to each applicable Fund's
shareholders.
Non-Expiring
Capital Loss
Carryforwards
------------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF $ 3,066,140
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 10,350,687
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF* 4,087,639
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF 32,651,496
* $3,196,583 of First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF's non-expiring net capital
losses is subject to loss limitation resulting from reorganization activity.
This limitation generally reduces the utilization of these losses to a maximum
of $212,620 per year.
During the taxable year ended December 31, 2021, the following Funds utilized
non-expiring capital loss carryforwards in the following amounts:
Capital Loss
Carryforward
Utilized
------------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF $ 147,994
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 75,189
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF 73,031
Certain losses realized during the current fiscal year may be deferred and
treated as occurring on the first day of the following fiscal year for federal
income tax purposes. For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, the Funds had
no net late year ordinary or capital losses.
In order to present paid-in capital and accumulated distributable earnings
(loss) (which consists of accumulated net investment income (loss), accumulated
net realized gain (loss) on investments and net unrealized appreciation
(depreciation) on investments) on the Statements of Assets and Liabilities that
more closely represent their tax character, certain adjustments have been made
to paid-in capital, accumulated net investment income (loss) and accumulated net
realized gain (loss) on investments. These adjustments are primarily due to the
difference between book and tax treatments of income and gains on various
investment securities held by the Funds and in-kind transactions. The results of
operations and net assets were not affected by these adjustments. For the fiscal
year ended December 31, 2021, the adjustments for each Fund were as follows:
Page 50
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NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021
Accumulated
Accumulated Net Realized
Net Investment Gain (Loss) Paid-in
Income (Loss) on Investments Capital
------------------ ---------------- -----------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF $ 14,092 $ (4,268,686) $ 4,254,594
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 58 (606,560) 606,502
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF -- (4,240,706) 4,240,706
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF 26 (64,248,631) 64,248,605
H. EXPENSES
Expenses that are directly related to First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R)
ETF are charged directly to the Fund. Expenses for First Trust Dorsey Wright
People's Portfolio ETF, First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF and First Trust Lunt
U.S. Factor Rotation ETF (the "Unitary Fee Funds"), other than excluded expenses
(discussed in Note 3), are paid by the Advisor. General expenses of the Trust
are allocated to all the Funds based upon the net assets of each Fund.
First Trust has entered into licensing agreements with each of the following
"Licensors" for the respective Funds:
FUND LICENSOR
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF Nasdaq, Inc.
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF Nasdaq, Inc.
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF Lunt Capital Management, Inc.
The respective license agreements allow for the use by First Trust of certain
trademarks and trade names of the respective Licensors. The Funds are
sub-licensees to the applicable license agreement. The First Trust Total US
Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF is required to pay licensing fees, which are shown on the
Statements of Operations.
3. INVESTMENT ADVISORY FEE, AFFILIATED TRANSACTIONS AND OTHER FEE ARRANGEMENTS
First Trust, the investment advisor to the Funds, is a limited partnership with
one limited partner, Grace Partners of DuPage L.P., and one general partner, The
Charger Corporation. The Charger Corporation is an Illinois corporation
controlled by James A. Bowen, Chief Executive Officer of First Trust. First
Trust is responsible for the selection and ongoing monitoring of the securities
in each Fund's portfolio, managing the Funds' business affairs and providing
certain administrative services necessary for the management of the Funds.
For the First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF, First Trust is paid an
annual management fee of 0.50% of the Fund's average daily net assets. For such
Fund, the Trust and the Advisor have entered into an Expense Reimbursement, Fee
Waiver and Recovery Agreement ("Recovery Agreement") in which First Trust has
agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse Fund expenses to the extent that the
operating expenses of the Fund (excluding interest expense, brokerage
commissions and other trading expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes
and extraordinary expenses) exceed 0.70% of average daily net assets per year
(the "Expense Cap"). The Expense Cap will be in effect until at least April 30,
2023.
Expenses reimbursed and fees waived by First Trust under the Recovery Agreement
are subject to recovery by First Trust for up to three years from the date the
fee or expense was incurred, but no reimbursement payment will be made by a Fund
if it results in the Fund exceeding (i) the applicable expense limitation in
place for the most recent fiscal year for which such expense limitation was in
place, (ii) the applicable expense limitation in place at the time the fees were
waived, or (iii) the current expense limitation. These amounts would be included
in "Expenses previously waived or reimbursed" on the Statements of Operations.
The advisory fee waivers and expense reimbursements for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 2021 and fees waived or expenses borne by First Trust subject to
recovery from the Fund for the periods indicated were as follows:
Fees Waived and Expenses Borne by
First Trust Subject to Recovery
------------------------------------------------
Advisory Year Year Year
Fee Expense Ended Ended Ended
Waivers Reimbursement 12/31/2019 12/31/2020 12/31/2021 Total
--------- ------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------
Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF $ 78,956 $ -- $ 54,452 $ 63,952 $ 78,956 $ 197,360
Page 51
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NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021
For the First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF, First Trust Dow 30
Equal Weight ETF, and First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF, First Trust is
paid an annual unitary management fee of 0.60%, 0.50%, and 0.65%, respectively,
of such Fund's average daily net assets and is responsible for the expenses of
such Fund including the cost of transfer agency, custody, fund administration,
legal, audit, licensing and other services, but excluding fee payments under the
Investment Management Agreement, distribution and service fees pursuant to a
Rule 12b-1 plan, if any, brokerage commissions and other expenses connected with
the execution of portfolio transactions, acquired fund fees and expenses, taxes,
interest, and extraordinary expenses. Pursuant to a contractual agreement
between the Trust, on behalf of DWPP, and First Trust, the management fees paid
to First Trust will be reduced by the proportional amount of the acquired fund
fees and expenses of the shares of investment companies held by DWPP so that the
Fund would not bear the indirect costs of holding them, provided that the
investment companies are advised by First Trust. This contractual agreement
shall continue until the earlier of (i) its termination at the direction of the
Trust's Board of Trustees or (ii) upon the termination of the Fund's management
agreement with First Trust. First Trust does not have the right to recover the
fees waived that are attributable to acquired fund fees and expenses of the
shares of investment companies advised by First Trust.
The Trust has multiple service agreements with The Bank of New York Mellon
("BNYM"). Under the service agreements, BNYM performs custodial, fund
accounting, certain administrative services, and transfer agency services for
each Fund. As custodian, BNYM is responsible for custody of each Fund's assets.
As fund accountant and administrator, BNYM is responsible for maintaining the
books and records of each Fund's securities and cash. As transfer agent, BNYM is
responsible for maintaining shareholder records for each Fund. BNYM is a
subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, a financial holding
company.
Each Trustee who is not an officer or employee of First Trust, any sub-advisor
or any of their affiliates ("Independent Trustees") is paid a fixed annual
retainer that is allocated equally among each fund in the First Trust Fund
Complex. Each Independent Trustee is also paid an annual per fund fee that
varies based on whether the fund is a closed-end or other actively managed fund,
a defined-outcome fund or is an index fund.
Additionally, the Lead Independent Trustee and the Chairs of the Audit
Committee, Nominating and Governance Committee and Valuation Committee are paid
annual fees to serve in such capacities, with such compensation allocated pro
rata among each fund in the First Trust Fund Complex based on net assets.
Independent Trustees are reimbursed for travel and out-of-pocket expenses in
connection with all meetings. The Lead Independent Trustee and Committee Chairs
rotate every three years. The officers and "Interested" Trustee receive no
compensation from the Trust for acting in such capacities.
4. REORGANIZATION
On January 30, 2020, the Board of Trustees of First Trust Mega Cap AlphaDEX(R)
Fund ("FMK") and EDOW approved a reorganization of EDOW with FMK. The
reorganization was completed on December 14, 2020. EDOW was the surviving fund.
Under the terms of the reorganization, which was tax-free, the assets of FMK
were transferred to, and the liabilities of FMK were assumed by, EDOW in
exchange for shares of EDOW. The cost of the investments received from FMK was
carried forward to EDOW for U.S. GAAP and tax purposes. The EDOW shares were
then distributed to FMK shareholders and the separate existence of FMK ceased.
The reorganization was subject to certain conditions, including that the
reorganization was approved on November 9, 2020, by the shareholders of EDOW.
When the reorganization occurred, the transactions were based on the relative
NAVs of FMK and EDOW.
The following table summarizes the asset transfers and conversion ratios for the
reorganization.
Net Assets on Unrealized Accumulated Shares Acquiring Net Assets on
Acquired Shares December 11, Appreciation Net Realized Conversion (Surviving) Shares December 11,
Fund Redeemed 2020 (Depreciation) Gain (Loss) Ratio Fund Issued 2020*
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FMK 500,002 $21,476,818 $628,735 $(2,594,062) 1.595502 EDOW 797,754 $51,151,076
* Amount reflects net assets of EDOW prior to the reorganization.
The following table summarizes the operations of the Acquired Fund for the
period August 1, 2020 to December 11, 2020, and the operations of EDOW, the
Acquiring (Surviving) Fund, for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, as
presented in the Statements of Operations and the combined Acquired and
Acquiring (Surviving) Funds' pro-forma results of operations for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2020, assuming the acquisition had been completed on January
1, 2020.
Because the combined investment portfolios have been managed as a single
integrated portfolio since the reorganization was completed, it is not
practicable to separate the amounts of revenue and earnings of FMK that have
been included in EDOW's Statement of Operations since December 11, 2020.
Page 52
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NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021
Net Realized and
Change in
Unrealized Net Increase
Net Investment Gain (Loss) (Decrease) from
Income on Investments Operations
------------------ ------------------ ------------------
Acquired Fund for the period August 1, 2020 to December 11, 2020
FMK $ 109,271 $ 3,543,108 $ 3,652,379
Acquiring Fund for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020
EDOW 788,789 5,202,430 5,991,219
-------------- -------------- --------------
Combined Total $ 898,060 $ 8,745,538 $ 9,643,598
============== ============== ==============
5. PURCHASES AND SALES OF SECURITIES
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, the cost of purchases and proceeds
from sales of investments for each Fund, excluding short-term investments and
in-kind transactions, were as follows:
Purchases Sales
--------------- ---------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF $ 20,251,911 $ 20,157,403
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 780,471 766,798
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF 13,842,233 13,673,530
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF 1,081,130,695 1,081,111,414
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021, the cost of in-kind purchases and
proceeds from in-kind sales for each Fund were as follows:
Purchases Sales
--------------- ---------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF $ 18,411,937 $ 13,629,362
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 1,684,481 3,139,856
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF 75,743,450 22,846,233
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF 1,093,777,118 597,273,092
6. CREATION, REDEMPTION AND TRANSACTION FEES
Each Fund generally issues and redeems its shares in primary market transactions
through a creation and redemption mechanism and does not sell or redeem
individual shares. Instead, financial entities known as "Authorized
Participants" have contractual arrangements with a Fund or one of the Fund's
service providers to purchase and redeem Fund shares directly with the Fund in
large blocks of shares known as "Creation Units." Prior to the start of trading
on every business day, a Fund publishes through the National Securities Clearing
Corporation ("NSCC") the "basket" of securities, cash or other assets that it
will accept in exchange for a Creation Unit of the Fund's shares. An Authorized
Participant that wishes to effectuate a creation of a Fund's shares deposits
with the Fund the "basket" of securities, cash or other assets identified by the
Fund that day, and then receives the Creation Unit of the Fund's shares in
return for those assets. After purchasing a Creation Unit, the Authorized
Participant may continue to hold the Fund's shares or sell them in the secondary
market. The redemption process is the reverse of the purchase process: the
Authorized Participant redeems a Creation Unit of a Fund's shares for a basket
of securities, cash or other assets. The combination of the creation and
redemption process with secondary market trading in a Fund's shares and
underlying securities provides arbitrage opportunities that are designed to help
keep the market price of a Fund's shares at or close to the NAV per share of the
Fund.
Each Fund imposes fees in connection with the purchase of Creation Units. These
fees may vary based upon various fact-based circumstances, including, but not
limited to, the composition of the securities included in the Creation Unit or
the countries in which the transactions are settled. The price for each Creation
Unit will equal the daily NAV per share of a Fund times the number of shares in
a Creation Unit, plus the fees described above and, if applicable, any
operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees, stamp taxes and part
or all of the spread between the expected bid and offer side of the market
related to the securities comprising the creation basket.
Each Fund also imposes fees in connection with the redemption of Creation Units.
These fees may vary based upon various fact-based circumstances, including, but
not limited to, the composition of the securities included in the Creation Unit
or the countries in which the transactions are settled. The price received for
each Creation Unit will equal the daily NAV per share of a Fund times the number
of shares in a Creation Unit, minus the fees described above and, if applicable,
any operational processing and brokerage costs, transfer fees, stamp taxes and
Page 53
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021
part or all of the spread between the expected bid and offer side of the market
related to the securities comprising the redemption basket. Investors who use
the services of a broker or other such intermediary in addition to an Authorized
Participant to effect a redemption of a Creation Unit may also be assessed an
amount to cover the cost of such services. The redemption fee charged by a Fund
will comply with Rule 22c-2 of the 1940 Act which limits redemption fees to no
more than 2% of the value of the shares redeemed.
7. DISTRIBUTION PLAN
The Board of Trustees adopted a Distribution and Service Plan pursuant to Rule
12b-1 under the 1940 Act. In accordance with the Rule 12b-1 plan, the Funds are
authorized to pay an amount up to 0.25% of their average daily net assets each
year to reimburse First Trust Portfolios L.P. ("FTP"), the distributor of the
Funds, for amounts expended to finance activities primarily intended to result
in the sale of Creation Units or the provision of investor services. FTP may
also use this amount to compensate securities dealers or other persons that are
Authorized Participants for providing distribution assistance, including
broker-dealer and shareholder support and educational and promotional services.
No 12b-1 fees are currently paid by the Funds, and pursuant to a contractual
arrangement, no 12b-1 fees will be paid any time before April 30, 2023.
8. INDEMNIFICATION
The Trust, on behalf of the Funds, has a variety of indemnification obligations
under contracts with its service providers. The Trust's maximum exposure under
these arrangements is unknown. However, the Trust has not had prior claims or
losses pursuant to these contracts and expects the risk of loss to be remote.
9. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS
Management has evaluated the impact of all subsequent events on the Funds
through the date the financial statements were issued and has determined that
there was the following subsequent event:
On January 28, 2022, TUSA announced that the Fund will seek investment results
that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the Fund's fees and
expenses) of an index called The Dividend Strength Index (the "New Index"). The
Fund expects to begin tracking the New Index prior to the end of April 2022. The
New Index will be composed of approximately 50 U.S. equity securities selected
based on factors designed to measure financial strength and dividend yield.
Additionally, at the time of the Fund's change to the New Index, the Fund's name
is expected to be changed to "First Trust Dividend Strength ETF" and its new
ticker symbol is expected to be "DVST". The Fund's shares will continue to be
listed for trading on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC and Nasdaq, Inc. will serve as
the Fund's index provider.
10. OTHER MATTERS
By operation of law, EDOW and FCTR now operate each as a diversified open-end
management investment company as defined in Section 5(b) of the 1940 Act.
Page 54
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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TO THE SHAREHOLDERS AND THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED
FUND:
OPINION ON THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities of First
Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF, First Trust Dorsey Wright People's
Portfolio ETF, First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF, and First Trust Lunt U.S.
Factor Rotation ETF (the "Funds"), each a series of First Trust Exchange-Traded
Fund, including the portfolios of investments, as of December 31, 2021, the
related statements of operations for the year then ended, the statements of the
changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period then ended, the
financial highlights for the periods indicated in the table below for the Funds,
and the related notes. In our opinion, the financial statements and financial
highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
each of the Funds as of December 31, 2021, and the results of their operations
for the year then ended, the changes in their net assets for each of the two
years in the period then ended, and the financial highlights for the periods
listed in the table below in conformity with accounting principles generally
accepted in the United States of America.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INDIVIDUAL FUNDS
INCLUDED IN THE TRUST FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First Trust Total US Market For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and 2017
AlphaDEX(R) ETF
First Trust Dorsey Wright
People's Portfolio ETF
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First Trust Dow 30 For the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, and the
Equal Weight ETF period from August 8, 2017 (commencement of operations) through
December 31, 2017
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor For the year ended December 31, 2021, 2020, 2019, and the period from
Rotation ETF July 25, 2018 (commencement of operations) through December 31, 2018
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BASIS FOR OPINION
These financial statements and financial highlights are the responsibility of
the Funds' management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Funds'
financial statements and financial highlights based on our audits. We are a
public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight
Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to
the Funds in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable
rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable
assurance about whether the financial statements and financial highlights are
free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Funds are not
required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of their internal
control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to
obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for
the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Funds' internal
control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material
misstatement of the financial statements and financial highlights, whether due
to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such
procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts
and disclosures in the financial statements and financial highlights. Our audits
also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant
estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of
the financial statements and financial highlights. Our procedures included
confirmation of securities owned as of December 31, 2021, by correspondence with
the custodian and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we
performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a
reasonable basis for our opinion.
/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
Chicago, Illinois
February 23, 2022
We have served as the auditor of one or more First Trust investment companies
since 2001.
Page 55
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021 (UNAUDITED)
PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
A description of the policies and procedures that the Trust uses to determine
how to vote proxies and information on how each Fund voted proxies relating to
its portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is
available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling (800) 988-5891; (2) on
each Fund's website at www.ftportfolios.com; and (3) on the Securities and
Exchange Commission's ("SEC") website at www.sec.gov.
PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS
Each Fund files portfolio holdings information for each month in a fiscal
quarter within 60 days after the end of the relevant fiscal quarter on Form
N-PORT. Portfolio holdings information for the third month of each fiscal
quarter will be publicly available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Each
Fund's complete schedule of portfolio holdings for the second and fourth
quarters of each fiscal year is included in the semi-annual and annual reports
to shareholders, respectively, and is filed with the SEC on Form N-CSR. The
semi-annual and annual report for each Fund is available to investors within 60
days after the period to which it relates. Each Fund's Forms N-PORT and Forms
N-CSR are available on the SEC's website listed above.
FEDERAL TAX INFORMATION
For the taxable year ended December 31, 2021, the following percentages of
income dividends paid by the Funds qualify for the dividends received deduction
available to corporations:
Dividends Received Deduction
----------------------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF 100.00%
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 100.00%
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF 100.00%
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF 100.00%
For the taxable year ended December 31, 2021, the following percentages of
income dividends paid by the Funds are hereby designated as qualified dividend
income:
Qualified Dividend Income
----------------------------
First Trust Total US Market AlphaDEX(R) ETF 100.00%
First Trust Dorsey Wright People's Portfolio ETF 100.00%
First Trust Dow 30 Equal Weight ETF 100.00%
First Trust Lunt U.S. Factor Rotation ETF 100.00%
A portion of each of the Funds' 2021 ordinary dividends (including short-term
capital gains) paid to its shareholders during the fiscal year ended December
31, 2021, may be eligible for the Qualified Business Income Deduction (QBI)
under Internal Revenue Code Section 199A for the aggregate dividends each Fund
received from the underlying Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) these Funds
invest in.
RISK CONSIDERATIONS
RISKS ARE INHERENT IN ALL INVESTING. CERTAIN GENERAL RISKS THAT MAY BE
APPLICABLE TO A FUND ARE IDENTIFIED BELOW, BUT NOT ALL OF THE MATERIAL RISKS
RELEVANT TO EACH FUND ARE INCLUDED IN THIS REPORT AND NOT ALL OF THE RISKS BELOW
APPLY TO EACH FUND. THE MATERIAL RISKS OF INVESTING IN EACH FUND ARE SPELLED OUT
IN ITS PROSPECTUS, STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND OTHER REGULATORY
FILINGS. BEFORE INVESTING, YOU SHOULD CONSIDER EACH FUND'S INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE,
RISKS, CHARGES AND EXPENSES, AND READ EACH FUND'S PROSPECTUS AND STATEMENT OF
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CAREFULLY. YOU CAN DOWNLOAD EACH FUND'S PROSPECTUS AT
WWW.FTPORTFOLIOS.COM OR CONTACT FIRST TRUST PORTFOLIOS L.P. AT (800) 621-1675 TO
REQUEST A PROSPECTUS, WHICH CONTAINS THIS AND OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT EACH FUND.
CONCENTRATION RISK. To the extent that a fund is able to invest a significant
percentage of its assets in a single asset class or the securities of issuers
within the same country, state, region, industry or sector, an adverse economic,
business or political development may affect the value of the fund's investments
more than if the fund were more broadly diversified. A fund that tracks an index
will be concentrated to the extent the fund's corresponding index is
concentrated. A concentration makes a fund more susceptible to any single
occurrence and may subject the fund to greater market risk than a fund that is
more broadly diversified.
CREDIT RISK. Credit risk is the risk that an issuer of a security will be unable
or unwilling to make dividend, interest and/or principal payments when due and
the related risk that the value of a security may decline because of concerns
about the issuer's ability to make such payments.
Page 56
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (CONTINUED)
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FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021 (UNAUDITED)
CYBER SECURITY RISK. The funds are susceptible to potential operational risks
through breaches in cyber security. A breach in cyber security refers to both
intentional and unintentional events that may cause a fund to lose proprietary
information, suffer data corruption or lose operational capacity. Such events
could cause a fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage,
additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial
loss. In addition, cyber security breaches of a fund's third-party service
providers, such as its administrator, transfer agent, custodian, or sub-advisor,
as applicable, or issuers in which the fund invests, can also subject a fund to
many of the same risks associated with direct cyber security breaches.
DEFINED OUTCOME FUNDS RISK. To the extent a fund's investment strategy is
designed to deliver returns tied to the price performance of an underlying ETF,
an investor may not realize the returns the fund seeks to achieve if that
investor does not hold shares for the entire target outcome period. In the event
an investor purchases shares after the first day of the target outcome period or
sells shares prior to the end of the target outcome period, the buffer that the
fund seeks to provide against a decline in the value of the underlying ETF may
not be available, the enhanced returns that the fund seeks to provide (if any)
may not be available and the investor may not participate in a gain in the value
of the underlying ETF up to the cap for the investor's investment period.
Additionally, the fund will not participate in gains of the underlying ETF above
the cap and a shareholder may lose their entire investment. If the fund seeks
enhanced returns, there are certain time periods when the value of the fund may
fall faster than the value of the underlying ETF, and it is very unlikely that,
on any given day during which the underlying ETF share price increases in value,
the fund's share price will increase at the same rate as the enhanced returns
sought by the fund, which is designed for an entire target outcome period.
Trading flexible exchange options involves risks different from, or possibly
greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities, such
as less liquidity and correlation and valuation risks. A fund may experience
substantial downside from specific flexible exchange option positions and
certain positions may expire worthless.
DERIVATIVES RISK. To the extent a fund uses derivative instruments such as
futures contracts, options contracts and swaps, the fund may experience losses
because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying asset,
index or rate, which may be magnified by certain features of the derivative.
These risks are heightened when a fund's portfolio managers use derivatives to
enhance the fund's return or as a substitute for a position or security, rather
than solely to hedge (or offset) the risk of a position or security held by the
fund.
EQUITY SECURITIES RISK. To the extent a fund invests in equity securities, the
value of the fund's shares will fluctuate with changes in the value of the
equity securities. Equity securities prices fluctuate for several reasons,
including changes in investors' perceptions of the financial condition of an
issuer or the general condition of the relevant stock market, such as market
volatility, or when political or economic events affecting the issuers occur. In
addition, common stock prices may be particularly sensitive to rising interest
rates, as the cost of capital rises and borrowing costs increase. Equity
securities may decline significantly in price over short or extended periods of
time, and such declines may occur in the equity market as a whole, or they may
occur in only a particular country, company, industry or sector of the market.
ETF RISK. The shares of an ETF trade like common stock and represent an interest
in a portfolio of securities. The risks of owning an ETF generally reflect the
risks of owning the underlying securities, although lack of liquidity in an ETF
could result in it being more volatile and ETFs have management fees that
increase their costs. Shares of an ETF trade on an exchange at market prices
rather than net asset value, which may cause the shares to trade at a price
greater than net asset value (premium) or less than net asset value (discount).
In times of market stress, decisions by market makers to reduce or step away
from their role of providing a market for an ETF's shares, or decisions by an
ETF's authorized participants that they are unable or unwilling to proceed with
creation and/or redemption orders of an ETF's shares, could result in shares of
the ETF trading at a discount to net asset value and in greater than normal
intraday bid-ask spreads.
FIXED INCOME SECURITIES RISK. To the extent a fund invests in fixed income
securities, the fund will be subject to credit risk, income risk, interest rate
risk, liquidity risk and prepayment risk. Income risk is the risk that income
from a fund's fixed income investments could decline during periods of falling
interest rates. Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of a fund's fixed
income securities will decline because of rising interest rates. Liquidity risk
is the risk that a security cannot be purchased or sold at the time desired, or
cannot be purchased or sold without adversely affecting the price. Prepayment
risk is the risk that the securities will be redeemed or prepaid by the issuer,
resulting in lower interest payments received by the fund. In addition to these
risks, high yield securities, or "junk" bonds, are subject to greater market
fluctuations and risk of loss than securities with higher ratings, and the
market for high yield securities is generally smaller and less liquid than that
for investment grade securities.
INDEX OR MODEL CONSTITUENT RISK. Certain funds may be a constituent of one or
more indices or ETF models. As a result, such a fund may be included in one or
more index-tracking exchange-traded funds or mutual funds. Being a component
security of such a vehicle could greatly affect the trading activity involving a
fund, the size of the fund and the market volatility of the fund. Inclusion in
an index could increase demand for the fund and removal from an index could
result in outsized selling activity in a relatively short period of time. As a
result, a fund's net asset value could be negatively impacted and the fund's
market price may be significantly below its net asset value during certain
periods. In addition, index rebalances may potentially result in increased
trading activity in a fund's shares.
Page 57
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (CONTINUED)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021 (UNAUDITED)
INDEX PROVIDER RISK. To the extent a fund seeks to track an index, it is subject
to Index Provider Risk. There is no assurance that the Index Provider will
compile the Index accurately, or that the Index will be determined, maintained,
constructed, reconstituted, rebalanced, composed, calculated or disseminated
accurately. To correct any such error, the Index Provider may carry out an
unscheduled rebalance or other modification of the Index constituents or
weightings, which may increase the fund's costs. The Index Provider does not
provide any representation or warranty in relation to the quality, accuracy or
completeness of data in the Index, and it does not guarantee that the Index will
be calculated in accordance with its stated methodology. Losses or costs
associated with any Index Provider errors generally will be borne by the fund
and its shareholders.
INVESTMENT COMPANIES RISK. To the extent a fund invests in the securities of
other investment vehicles, the fund will incur additional fees and expenses that
would not be present in a direct investment in those investment vehicles.
Furthermore, the fund's investment performance and risks are directly related to
the investment performance and risks of the investment vehicles in which the
fund invests.
LIBOR RISK. To the extent a fund invests in floating or variable rate
obligations that use the London Interbank Offered Rate ("LIBOR") as a reference
interest rate, it is subject to LIBOR Risk. The United Kingdom's Financial
Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, will cease making LIBOR available as a
reference rate over a phase-out period that will begin immediately after
December 31, 2021. The unavailability or replacement of LIBOR may affect the
value, liquidity or return on certain fund investments and may result in costs
incurred in connection with closing out positions and entering into new trades.
Any potential effects of the transition away from LIBOR on the fund or on
certain instruments in which the fund invests can be difficult to ascertain, and
they may vary depending on a variety of factors, and they could result in losses
to the fund.
MANAGEMENT RISK. To the extent that a fund is actively managed, it is subject to
management risk. In managing an actively-managed fund's investment portfolio,
the fund's portfolio managers will apply investment techniques and risk analyses
that may not have the desired result. There can be no guarantee that a fund will
meet its investment objective.
MARKET RISK. Securities held by a fund, as well as shares of a fund itself, are
subject to market fluctuations caused by factors such as general economic
conditions, political events, regulatory or market developments, changes in
interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices. Shares of a fund could
decline in value or underperform other investments as a result of the risk of
loss associated with these market fluctuations. In addition, local, regional or
global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious diseases or
other public health issues, recessions, or other events could have a significant
negative impact on a fund and its investments. Such events may affect certain
geographic regions, countries, sectors and industries more significantly than
others. The outbreak of the respiratory disease designated as COVID-19 in
December 2019 has caused significant volatility and declines in global financial
markets, which have caused losses for investors. While the development of
vaccines has slowed the spread of the virus and allowed for the resumption of
"reasonably" normal business activity in the United States, many countries
continue to impose lockdown measures in an attempt to slow the spread.
Additionally, there is no guarantee that vaccines will be effective against
emerging variants of the disease.
NON-U.S. SECURITIES RISK. To the extent a fund invests in non-U.S. securities,
it is subject to additional risks not associated with securities of domestic
issuers. Non-U.S. securities are subject to higher volatility than securities of
domestic issuers due to: possible adverse political, social or economic
developments; restrictions on foreign investment or exchange of securities;
capital controls; lack of liquidity; currency exchange rates; excessive
taxation; government seizure of assets; the imposition of sanctions by foreign
governments; different legal or accounting standards; and less government
supervision and regulation of exchanges in foreign countries. Investments in
non-U.S. securities may involve higher costs than investments in U.S.
securities, including higher transaction and custody costs, as well as
additional taxes imposed by non-U.S. governments. These risks may be heightened
for securities of companies located, or with significant operations, in emerging
market countries.
OPERATIONAL RISK. Each fund is subject to risks arising from various operational
factors, including, but not limited to, human error, processing and
communication errors, errors of a fund's service providers, counterparties or
other third-parties, failed or inadequate processes and technology or systems
failures. Each fund relies on third-parties for a range of services, including
custody. Any delay or failure relating to engaging or maintaining such service
providers may affect a fund's ability to meet its investment objective. Although
the funds and the funds' investment advisor seek to reduce these operational
risks through controls and procedures, there is no way to completely protect
against such risks.
PASSIVE INVESTMENT RISK. To the extent a fund seeks to track an index, the fund
will invest in the securities included in, or representative of, the index
regardless of their investment merit. A fund generally will not attempt to take
defensive positions in declining markets.
NOT FDIC INSURED NOT BANK GUARANTEED MAY LOSE VALUE
Page 58
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021 (UNAUDITED)
The following tables identify the Trustees and Officers of the Trust. Unless
otherwise indicated, the address of all persons is 120 East Liberty Drive, Suite
400, Wheaton, IL 60187.
The Trust's statement of additional information includes additional information
about the Trustees and is available, without charge, upon request, by calling
(800) 988-5891.
NUMBER OF
PORTFOLIOS IN
TERM OF OFFICE THE FIRST TRUST OTHER TRUSTEESHIPS
NAME, AND YEAR FIRST FUND COMPLEX OR DIRECTORSHIPS HELD
YEAR OF BIRTH AND ELECTED OR PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS OVERSEEN BY BY TRUSTEE DURING
POSITION WITH THE TRUST APPOINTED DURING PAST 5 YEARS TRUSTEE PAST 5 YEARS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INDEPENDENT TRUSTEES
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard E. Erickson, Trustee o Indefinite Term Physician, Officer, Wheaton Orthopedics; 216 None
(1951) Limited Partner, Gundersen Real Estate
o Since Inception Limited Partnership (June 1992 to
December 2016)
Thomas R. Kadlec, Trustee o Indefinite Term President, ADM Investors Services, Inc. 216 Director of ADM Investor
(1957) (Futures Commission Merchant) Services, Inc., ADM
o Since Inception Investor Services
International, Futures
Industry Association,
and National Futures
Association
Denise M. Keefe, Trustee o Indefinite Term Executive Vice President, Advocate Aurora 216 Director and Board Chair
(1964) Health and President, Advocate Aurora of Advocate Home Health
Services, Advocate Home
o Since 2021 Continuing Health Division (Integrated Care Products and
Healthcare System) Advocate Hospice;
Director and Board Chair
of Aurora At Home
(since 2018); Director
of Advocate
Physician Partners
Accountable Care
Organization; Director
and Board Chair of
RML Long Term
Acute Care Hospitals;
and Director of Senior
Helpers (since 2021)
Robert F. Keith, Trustee o Indefinite Term President, Hibs Enterprises (Financial 216 Director of Trust
(1956) and Management Consulting) Company of Illinois
o Since Inception
Niel B. Nielson, Trustee o Indefinite Term Senior Advisor (August 2018 to Present), 216 None
(1954) Managing Director and Chief Operating
o Since Inception Officer (January 2015 to August 2018),
Pelita Harapan Educational Foundation
(Educational Product and Services)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERESTED TRUSTEE
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James A. Bowen(1), Trustee, o Indefinite Term Chief Executive Officer, First Trust
Chairman of the Board Advisors L.P. and First Trust Portfolios 216 None
(1955) L.P., Chairman of the Board of
o Since Inception Directors, BondWave LLC (Software
Development Company) and Stonebridge
Advisors LLC (Investment Advisor)
-----------------------------
(1) Mr. Bowen is deemed an "interested person" of the Trust due to his
position as Chief Executive Officer of First Trust Advisors L.P.,
investment advisor of the Trust.
Page 59
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS (CONTINUED)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021 (UNAUDITED)
POSITION AND TERM OF OFFICE
NAME AND OFFICES AND LENGTH OF PRINCIPAL OCCUPATIONS
YEAR OF BIRTH WITH TRUST SERVICE DURING PAST 5 YEARS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OFFICERS(2)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
James M. Dykas President and Chief o Indefinite Term Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer
(1966) Executive Officer (January 2016 to Present), Controller (January 2011
o Since January 2016 to January 2016), Senior Vice President (April 2007
to January 2016), First Trust Advisors L.P. and First
Trust Portfolios L.P.; Chief Financial Officer (January
2016 to Present), BondWave LLC (Software
Development Company) and Stonebridge Advisors
LLC (Investment Advisor)
Donald P. Swade Treasurer, Chief Financial o Indefinite Term Senior Vice President (July 2016 to Present), Vice
(1972) Officer and Chief President (April 2012 to July 2016), First Trust
Accounting Officer o Since January 2016 Advisors L.P. and First Trust Portfolios L.P.
W. Scott Jardine Secretary and Chief o Indefinite Term General Counsel, First Trust Advisors L.P. and First
(1960) Legal Officer Trust Portfolios L.P.; Secretary and General Counsel,
o Since Inception BondWave LLC; Secretary, Stonebridge Advisors LLC
Daniel J. Lindquist Vice President o Indefinite Term Managing Director, First Trust Advisors L.P. and First
(1970) Trust Portfolios L.P.
o Since Inception
Kristi A. Maher Chief Compliance Officer o Indefinite Term Deputy General Counsel, First Trust Advisors L.P.
(1966) and Assistant Secretary and First Trust Portfolios L.P.
o Chief Compliance
Officer Since
January 2011
o Assistant Secretary
Since Inception
Roger F. Testin Vice President o Indefinite Term Senior Vice President, First Trust Advisors L.P. and
(1966) First Trust Portfolios L.P.
o Since Inception
Stan Ueland Vice President o Indefinite Term Senior Vice President, First Trust Advisors L.P. and
(1970) First Trust Portfolios L.P.
o Since Inception
-----------------------------
(2) The term "officer" means the president, vice president, secretary,
treasurer, controller or any other officer who performs a policy making
function.
Page 60
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PRIVACY POLICY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIRST TRUST EXCHANGE-TRADED FUND
DECEMBER 31, 2021 (UNAUDITED)
PRIVACY POLICY
First Trust values our relationship with you and considers your privacy an
important priority in maintaining that relationship. We are committed to
protecting the security and confidentiality of your personal information.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
We collect nonpublic personal information about you from the following sources:
o Information we receive from you and your broker-dealer, investment
professional or financial representative through interviews,
applications, agreements or other forms;
o Information about your transactions with us, our affiliates or
others;
o Information we receive from your inquiries by mail, e-mail or
telephone; and
o Information we collect on our website through the use of "cookies".
For example, we may identify the pages on our website that your
browser requests or visits.
INFORMATION COLLECTED
The type of data we collect may include your name, address, social security
number, age, financial status, assets, income, tax information, retirement and
estate plan information, transaction history, account balance, payment history,
investment objectives, marital status, family relationships and other personal
information.
DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
We do not disclose any nonpublic personal information about our customers or
former customers to anyone, except as permitted by law. In addition to using
this information to verify your identity (as required under law), the permitted
uses may also include the disclosure of such information to unaffiliated
companies for the following reasons:
o In order to provide you with products and services and to effect
transactions that you request or authorize, we may disclose your
personal information as described above to unaffiliated financial
service providers and other companies that perform administrative or
other services on our behalf, such as transfer agents, custodians
and trustees, or that assist us in the distribution of investor
materials such as trustees, banks, financial representatives, proxy
services, solicitors and printers.
o We may release information we have about you if you direct us to do
so, if we are compelled by law to do so, or in other legally limited
circumstances (for example to protect your account from fraud).
In addition, in order to alert you to our other financial products and services,
we may share your personal information within First Trust.
USE OF WEBSITE ANALYTICS
We currently use third party analytics tools, Google Analytics and AddThis, to
gather information for purposes of improving First Trust's website and marketing
our products and services to you. These tools employ cookies, which are small
pieces of text stored in a file by your web browser and sent to websites that
you visit, to collect information, track website usage and viewing trends such
as the number of hits, pages visited, videos and PDFs viewed and the length of
user sessions in order to evaluate website performance and enhance navigation of
the website. We may also collect other anonymous information, which is generally
limited to technical and web navigation information such as the IP address of
your device, internet browser type and operating system for purposes of
analyzing the data to make First Trust's website better and more useful to our
users. The information collected does not include any personal identifiable
information such as your name, address, phone number or email address unless you
provide that information through the website for us to contact you in order to
answer your questions or respond to your requests. To find out how to opt-out of
these services click on: Google Analytics and AddThis.
CONFIDENTIALITY AND SECURITY
With regard to our internal security procedures, First Trust restricts access to
your nonpublic personal information to those First Trust employees who need to
know that information to provide products or services to you. We maintain
physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect your nonpublic
personal information.
POLICY UPDATES AND INQUIRIES
As required by federal law, we will notify you of our privacy policy annually.
We reserve the right to modify this policy at any time, however, if we do change
it, we will tell you promptly. For questions about our policy, or for additional
copies of this notice, please go to www.ftportfolios.com, or contact us at
1-800-621-1675 (First Trust Portfolios) or 1-800-222-6822 (First Trust
Advisors).
March 2021
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FIRST TRUST
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund
INVESTMENT ADVISOR
First Trust Advisors L.P.
120 East Liberty Drive, Suite 400
Wheaton, IL 60187
ADMINISTRATOR, CUSTODIAN,
FUND ACCOUNTANT &
TRANSFER AGENT
The Bank of New York Mellon
240 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10286
INDEPENDENT REGISTERED
PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
Deloitte & Touche LLP
111 S. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
LEGAL COUNSEL
Chapman and Cutler LLP
320 South Canal Street
Chicago, IL 60606
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