First Trust Mid Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund

First Trust Mid Cap Core AlphaDEX Fund (FNX) is an index ETF that tracks the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Mid Cap Core Index. It holds about 450 US mid-sized companies, picked and weighted by rules that score each stock on growth or value factors instead of company size. As a result, its money is spread far more evenly than in a typical mid-cap fund. But its 0.62% expense ratio is about double the 0.31% average of similar funds.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, FNX returned +11.5%, 7th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +7.9% and its 10-year +11.9%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 44% and regained its old high 7.6 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2008 (-36.4%); its best was 2009 (+46.8%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 57.1% (Jul 12, 2007 to Mar 6, 2009), recovered by Apr 23, 2010.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 451 securities; the ten largest made up 4.84% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $2.3M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +1.17%, +4.57%, -2.15%.

FNX aims to match the Nasdaq AlphaDEX Mid Cap Core Index before fees, and normally keeps at least 90% of its net assets in the index's stocks. Nasdaq starts with its US 600 Mid Cap Index, which covers the companies ranked 501 to 1100 by size in its broad US benchmark. It removes duplicate share classes and thinly traded stocks. Then it labels each remaining stock as either value (cheap relative to earnings, sales or book value) or growth (faster-growing sales and earnings) and ranks it on those factors. The goal is to find stocks that may deliver "alpha," meaning returns above what their risk would predict.

The 450 highest-scoring stocks make the cut. They are split into five groups by score, and the higher-scoring groups get bigger weights. Company size does not set the weights, so no single stock dominates. As of July 31, 2026, the fund held 451 stocks, and its 10 largest positions made up only 4.84% of assets.

The index is rebuilt and rebalanced every quarter, and the fund trades to match. That drives heavy trading: portfolio turnover was 96%, according to the prospectus filed November 28, 2025. The fund uses no derivatives. It also won't sell a stock just because the company has grown or shrunk outside the index's size range, which ran from $1.9 billion to $31.26 billion as of October 31, 2025.

• FNX charges 0.62% a year, versus an average of 0.31% for the similar funds below (8th of 9, cheapest first).
• Of that, 0.5% is the management fee; the rest covers other fund expenses.

FNX is a rules-based, high-turnover mid-cap strategy that charges more than plain mid-cap index funds, so it fits better as a smaller add-on to a broad core holding than as the core itself.

FNX could add mid-sized US companies that large-cap index funds hold little of. It has fallen hard in selloffs: about 56% in the 2008 financial crisis, 44% in the 2020 COVID crash and 22% in the 2022 bear market. Its worst calendar year was 2008, at -36.4%. Its deepest drop, 57% from July 2007 to March 2009, wasn't fully recovered until April 2010. Anyone who had to sell shares near those lows to cover spending would have locked in big losses. Income is small: the trailing 12-month yield was 0.98% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. The 0.62% expense ratio is well above the 0.31% average of similar funds. Past results don't predict future returns, and any plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.