There are multiple First Trust Models with changes this week including: the First Trust Focus Five Model, First Trust Focus Five with Cash Model, First Trust Thematic Focus Five Model, and First Trust Fixed Income (Total Return) Model.
There are multiple First Trust Models with changes this week including: the First Trust Focus Five Model, First Trust Focus Five with Cash Model, First Trust Thematic Focus Five Model, and First Trust Fixed Income (Total Return) Model.
First Trust Focus Five Model
There is a change to the First Trust Focus Five Model (FTRUST5).
This marks the fourth change to the First Trust Focus Five Model this year and involves the removal of the First Trust Industrials/Producer Durables AlphaDEX Fund (FXR) as it fell below the sell threshold in the Model’s relative strength matrix. In its place, the Focus Five Model is adding the First Trust Indxx Aerospace & Defense ETF (MISL), the most recent addition to the Model’s inventory. Although the fund gave a sell signal on the default trend chart in early November, the long-term technical picture for the fund remains positive. The fund has maintained a positive trend since October 2022 and currently shows positive near and long-term relative strength against the market, leading the ETF to sustain a strong fund score of 5.58. With the change, the model will rebalance the five holdings to equally weighted at 20% and will now maintain exposure to the Internet (FDN), Financials (FXO), Semiconductors (FTXL), Utilities (FXU), and Aerospace & Defense (MISL).
First Trust Focus Five with Cash
Along with the change to the holdings of the Focus Five, there is a change to the First Trust Focus Five with Cash Model as the Cash allocation will decrease from 41% to 8% due to the cash proxy dropping below the ranking threshold for raising or maintaining cash. The five targeted sector representatives will account for the remaining 92% of the allocation in an equal-weighted fashion (approximately 18.4% per sector).
First Trust Thematic Focus Five Model
There is also a change to the First Trust Thematic Focus Five Model (Total Return) (FTTHEME5.TR) this week.
The change this week involves the removal of the First Trust Dow Jones International Internet ETF (FDNI.TR), which fell below the sell threshold within the Model’s total return relative strength matrix. In its place, the Model is adding the First Trust Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (QCLN)/(QCLN.TR). The Green Energy Fund has maintained a positive trend on both the price return and total return charts since May of this year and action in the latter part of November saw the fund return to a buy signal. QCLN maintains a fund score of 4.81, which is higher than the average score for a fund within the Energy (3.74) and All US (3.92) groups on the Asset Class Group Scores page. With the change, the model will rebalance the five holdings to equally weighted at 20% and will now maintain exposure to the Internet (FDN.TR), Cloud Computing (SKYY.TR), Cybersecurity (CIBR.TR), S-Network Streaming and Gaming (BNGE.TR), and Clean Energy (QCLN.TR).
First Trust Fixed Income Model
There is a change to the First Trust Fixed Income Model (Total Return) (FTFIXINC.TR) this week as the model removes the First Trust Senior Loan Fund (FTSL.TR) as it fell below the sell threshold within the model’s relative strength matrix. In its place, the model is adding the First Trust SSI Strategic Convertible Securities ETF (FCVT.TR), which is the highest-ranking ETF in the matrix not already owned. This marks the seventh trade in the model in 2025 as it continues to adapt to trends within the Fixed Income space. With the change, the model will rebalance the four holdings equally to 25% and will maintain exposure to Preferreds (FPE.TR), Emerging Markets (FEMB.TR), High Yield (HYLS.TR), and Convertibles (FCVT.TR). Additionally, the weighted average yield among the ETFs within the model will now be 4.91%. Year-to-date, the First Trust Fixed Income Model has gained 10% and is outperforming its benchmark by 3.5% (thru 12/9).
