Is First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF (FDD) a Strong ETF Right Now?

Core Insights - The First Trust STOXX European Select Dividend ETF (FDD) offers investors broad exposure to the European Equity ETFs market, having debuted on August 27, 2007 [1] - FDD is managed by First Trust Advisors and has accumulated over $606.5 million in assets, positioning it as an average-sized ETF in the European Equity category [5] - The fund aims to replicate the performance of the STOXX Europe Select Dividend 30 Index, which includes 30 high dividend-yielding securities from the STOXX Europe 600 Index [5] Fund Characteristics - FDD has an annual operating expense ratio of 0.59%, which is competitive within its peer group, and a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 4.79% [6] - The top 10 holdings of FDD constitute approximately 43.77% of its total assets, with Aker Bp Asa being the largest holding at 5.92% [7][8] - The ETF has a beta of 0.84 and a standard deviation of 18.05% over the trailing three-year period, indicating a medium risk profile [10] Performance Metrics - Year-to-date, FDD has gained about 39.57%, and it has increased approximately 31.95% over the last 12 months as of July 31, 2025 [9] - The ETF has traded within a range of $11.07 to $16.13 over the past 52 weeks [9] Alternatives - For investors seeking to outperform the European Equity ETFs segment, alternatives such as iShares MSCI Eurozone ETF (EZU) and Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (VGK) are available, with EZU having $7.89 billion in assets and VGK at $25.7 billion [12] - EZU has an expense ratio of 0.51%, while VGK has a notably lower expense ratio of 0.06% [12]