A smart beta exchange traded fund, the First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY) debuted on 05/27/2011, and offers broad exposure to the Technology ETFs category of the market.
What Are Smart Beta ETFs?
The ETF industry has long been dominated by products based on market cap weighted indexes, a strategy created to reflect the market or a particular market segment.
Investors who believe in market efficiency should consider market cap indexes, as they replicate market returns in a low-cost, convenient, and transparent way.
If you're the kind of investor who would rather try and beat the market through good stock selection, then smart beta funds are your best choice; this fund class is known for tracking non-cap weighted strategies.
This kind of index follows this same mindset, as it attempts to pick stocks that have better chances of risk-return performance; non-cap weighted strategies base selection on certain fundamental characteristics, or a mix of such characteristics.
Methodologies like equal-weighting, one of the simplest options out there, fundamental weighting, and volatility/momentum based weighting are all choices offered to investors in this space, but not all of them can deliver superior returns.
Fund Sponsor & Index
The fund is managed by First Trust Advisors, and has been able to amass over $2.66 billion, which makes it one of the larger ETFs in the Technology ETFs. This particular fund, before fees and expenses, seeks to match the performance of the ISE Cloud Computing Index.
The ISE Cloud Computing Index is a modified market capitalization weighted index designed to track the performance of companies actively involved in the cloud computing industry.
Cost & Other Expenses
Expense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long-term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive cousins, other things remaining the same.
With on par with most peer products in the space, this ETF has annual operating expenses of 0.60%.
It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0%.
Sector Exposure and Top Holdings
Even though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.
This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Information Technology sector - about 86% of the portfolio. Telecom and Consumer Discretionary round out the top three.
When you look at individual holdings, Pure Storage, Inc. (class A) (PSTG) accounts for about 4.82% of the fund's total assets, followed by Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) and Nutanix, Inc. (class A) (NTNX).
The top 10 holdings account for about 39.05% of total assets under management.
Performance and Risk
The ETF has gained about 36.76% and was up about 25.78% so far this year and in the past one year (as of 11/17/2023), respectively. SKYY has traded between $55.50 and $81.67 during this last 52-week period.
SKYY has a beta of 1.05 and standard deviation of 31.86% for the trailing three-year period, which makes the fund a medium risk choice in the space. With about 65 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.
Alternatives
First Trust Cloud Computing ETF is an excellent option for investors seeking to outperform the Technology ETFs segment of the market. There are other ETFs in the space which investors could consider as well.
Global X Cloud Computing ETF (CLOU) tracks INDXX GLOBAL CLOUD COMPUTING INDEX and the WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF (WCLD) tracks BVP NASDAQ EMERGING CLOUD INDEX. Global X Cloud Computing ETF has $549.69 million in assets, WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF has $634.95 million. CLOU has an expense ratio of 0.68% and WCLD charges 0.45%.
Investors looking for cheaper and lower-risk options should consider traditional market cap weighted ETFs that aim to match the returns of the Technology ETFs.
Bottom Line
To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.
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Free: See Our Top Stock and 4 Runners Up >>First Trust Cloud Computing ETF (SKYY): ETF Research Reports
Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Pure Storage, Inc. (PSTG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Nutanix (NTNX) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Global X Cloud Computing ETF (CLOU): ETF Research Reports
WisdomTree Cloud Computing ETF (WCLD): ETF Research Reports
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
