First Trust Senior Loan Fund
Overview
Fund Objective & Strategy
The First Trust Senior Loan Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund. The fund's primary investment objective is to provide high current income by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of first lien senior floating-rate bank loans ("Senior Loans"). The fund's secondary investment objective is the preservation of capital. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest in at least 80% of its net assets in Senior Loans that are made predominantly to businesses operating in North America and may also invest up to 20% of its net assets in non-Senior Loan debt securities, warrants, equity securities and securities of other investment companies.
There can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objectives will be achieved.
Fund Facts
Current Fund Data
As Of 11/22/2024Fees And Expenses
As Of 3/1/2024Yield Information
As Of 10/31/2024Performance
Hypothetical Growth of $10,000 Since Inception *
Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results and current performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate and shares when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Month End Performance
As Of 10/31/2024Fund Performance * | 3 Month | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | Since Inception†|
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Net Asset Value (NAV) | 2.04% | 6.23% | 9.42% | 5.32% | 4.86% | 4.03% | 3.83% |
Market Price | 1.75% | 6.28% | 9.16% | 5.18% | 4.87% | 4.03% | 3.81% |
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Index Performance ** | 3 Month | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | Since Inception†|
Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index | 0.25% | 1.86% | 10.55% | -2.20% | -0.23% | 1.49% | 1.46% |
Morningstar® LSTA® US Leveraged Loan Index | 2.22% | 7.51% | 10.56% | 6.69% | 6.02% | 4.92% | 4.70% |
†Inception Date is 5/1/2013
Quarter End Performance
As Of 9/30/2024Fund Performance * | 3 Month | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | Since Inception†|
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Net Asset Value (NAV) | 2.37% | 5.57% | 8.77% | 5.13% | 4.70% | 4.04% | 3.80% |
Market Price | 2.32% | 5.55% | 8.35% | 5.04% | 4.64% | 4.00% | 3.78% |
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Index Performance ** | 3 Month | YTD | 1 Year | 3 Year | 5 Year | 10 Year | Since Inception†|
Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index | 5.20% | 4.45% | 11.57% | -1.39% | 0.33% | 1.84% | 1.70% |
Morningstar® LSTA® US Leveraged Loan Index | 2.09% | 6.59% | 9.62% | 6.47% | 5.74% | 4.86% | 4.66% |
†Inception Date is 5/1/2013
3 Year Statistics
As Of 10/31/2024Standard Deviation Standard Deviation is a measure of price variability (risk).
| Alpha Alpha is an indication of how much an investment outperforms or underperforms on a risk-adjusted basis relative to its benchmark.
| Beta Beta is a measure of price variability relative to the market.
| Sharpe Ratio Sharpe Ratio is a measure of excess reward per unit of volatility.
| Correlation Correlation is a measure of the similarity of performance.
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No Matching Results |
* Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results and current performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate and shares when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost.
Returns do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. Market Price returns are determined by using the midpoint of the national best bid offer price ("NBBO") as of the time that the fund's NAV is calculated. Returns are average annualized total returns, except those for periods of less than one year, which are cumulative.
** Performance information for each listed index is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent actual fund performance. Indexes do not charge management fees or brokerage expenses, and no such fees or expenses were deducted from the performance shown. Indexes are unmanaged and an investor cannot invest directly in an index.
Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index - The Index covers the investment-grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market, including Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, MBS, ABS, and CMBS.
Morningstar® LSTA® US Leveraged Loan Index - The Index, formerly the S&P/LSTA Leveraged Loan Index, is a market value-weighted index that is designed to deliver comprehensive, precise coverage of the US leveraged loan market.
Pricing
Price History
Bid/Ask Premium/Discount
As Of 11/22/2024  | 2023 | 1/1/2024 - 3/31/2024 | 4/1/2024 - 6/30/2024 | 7/1/2024 - 9/30/2024 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Days Traded at Premium | 39 | 17 | 46 | 20 |
Days Traded at Discount | 211 | 44 | 17 | 44 |
Holdings
Holdings
Security Name | Identifier | CUSIP | Shares / Quantity | Market Value | Weighting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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No Matching Results |
Holdings are subject to change.
The holdings information set forth above for the date indicated reflects creation and redemption transactions from the prior business day and may differ from the holdings information currently available from the Fund's custodian and accounting agent. With respect to the market value of the Fund's holdings set forth above, the pricing sources are generally third party vendors. The Fund ultimately relies on pricing information provided by the Fund's accounting agent.
Fund Characteristics
As Of 11/21/2024Please note: Weighted average maturity excludes defaulted assets. Weighted average price excludes equity prices.
Top Holdings
As Of 11/22/2024Excluding cash. Holdings are subject to change.
Asset Type Breakdown
As Of 10/31/2024Please note that percentage of 0.00 indicates an amount less than 0.01%.
Credit Quality
As Of 10/31/2024The ratings are by S&P Global Ratings. A credit rating is an assessment provided by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) of the creditworthiness of an issuer with respect to debt obligations except for those debt obligations that are only privately rated. Ratings are measured on a scale that generally ranges from AAA (highest) to D (lowest). Investment grade is defined as those issuers that have a long-term credit rating of BBB- or higher. \"NR\" indicates no rating. The credit ratings shown relate to the creditworthiness of the issuers of the underlying securities in the Fund, and not to the Fund or its shares. Credit ratings are subject to change.
Top Industry Exposure
As Of 10/31/2024Distributions
Distribution History
Ex-Dividend Date | Record Date | Payable Date | Distribution Amount | Distribution Type Ordinary distributions may include realized short-term capital gains and/or returns of capital. Final determination of the source and tax status of all distributions paid in the current year are to be made after year-end. The Fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for the current year that will tell you how to report these distributions for federal income tax purposes.
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No Matching Results |
The distribution history represents dividends that were paid by the Fund and is not a guarantee of the Fund's future dividend-paying ability.
You should consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing. You can download a prospectus or summary prospectus, or contact First Trust Portfolios L.P. at 1-800-621-1675 to request a prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information about the fund. The prospectus or summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.
You could lose money by investing in a fund. An investment in a fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed. There can be no assurance that a fund's objective(s) will be achieved. Investors buying or selling shares on the secondary market may incur customary brokerage commissions. Please refer to each fund's prospectus and Statement of Additional Information for additional details on a fund's risks. The order of the below risk factors does not indicate the significance of any particular risk factor.
Unlike mutual funds, shares of the fund may only be redeemed directly from a fund by authorized participants in very large creation/redemption units. If a fund's authorized participants are unable to proceed with creation/redemption orders and no other authorized participant is able to step forward to create or redeem, fund shares may trade at a premium or discount to a fund's net asset value and possibly face delisting and the bid/ask spread may widen.
Investments in bank loans are subject to the same risks as other debt securities, but the risks may be heightened because of limited public information available and because loan borrowers may be leveraged and tend to be more adversely affected by changes in market or economic conditions. The secondary market for bank loans may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods.
During periods of falling interest rates if an issuer calls higher-yielding debt instruments, a fund may be forced to invest the proceeds at lower interest rates, likely resulting in a decline in the fund's income.
A fund that effects all or a portion of its creations and redemptions for cash rather than in-kind may be less tax-efficient.
Covenant-lite loans contain fewer maintenance covenants than traditional loans and may not include terms that allow the lender to monitor the financial performance of the borrower and declare a default if certain criteria are breached. This may hinder a fund's ability to mitigate problems and increase a fund's exposure to losses on such investments.
An issuer or other obligated party of a debt security may be unable or unwilling to make dividend, interest and/or principal payments when due and the value of a security may decline as a result.
Ratings assigned by a credit rating agency are opinions of such entities, not absolute standards of credit quality and they do not evaluate risks of securities. Any shortcomings or inefficiencies in the process of determining credit ratings may adversely affect the credit ratings of the securities held by a fund and their perceived or actual credit risk.
Current market conditions risk is the risk that a particular investment, or shares of the fund in general, may fall in value due to current market conditions. As a means to fight inflation, the Federal Reserve and certain foreign central banks have raised interest rates; however, the Federal Reserve has recently lowered interest rates and may continue to do so. Recent and potential future bank failures could result in disruption to the broader banking industry or markets generally and reduce confidence in financial institutions and the economy as a whole, which may also heighten market volatility and reduce liquidity. Ongoing armed conflicts between Russia and Ukraine in Europe and among Israel, Hamas and other militant groups in the Middle East, have caused and could continue to cause significant market disruptions and volatility within the markets in Russia, Europe, the Middle East and the United States. The hostilities and sanctions resulting from those hostilities have and could continue to have a significant impact on certain fund investments as well as fund performance and liquidity. The COVID-19 global pandemic, or any future public health crisis, and the ensuing policies enacted by governments and central banks have caused and may continue to cause significant volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets, negatively impacting global growth prospects.
A fund is susceptible to operational risks through breaches in cyber security. Such events could cause a fund to incur regulatory penalties, reputational damage, additional compliance costs associated with corrective measures and/or financial loss.
Investments in debt securities subject the holder to the credit risk of the issuer and the value of debt securities will generally change inversely with changes in interest rates. In addition, debt securities generally do not trade on a securities exchange making them less liquid and more difficult to value.
Defaulted securities pose a much greater risk that principal will not be repaid than non-defaulted securities which may result in losses for a fund.
Distressed securities are speculative and often illiquid or trade in low volumes and thus may be more difficult to value and pose a substantial risk of default.
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.
Extension risk is the risk that, when interest rates rise, certain obligations will be paid off by the issuer (or other obligated party) more slowly than anticipated, causing the value of these debt securities to fall. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of debt securities, making their market value more sensitive to changes in interest rates.
Floating rate securities are structured so that the security's coupon rate fluctuates based upon the level of a reference rate. As a result, the coupon on floating rate securities will generally decline in a falling interest rate environment, causing a fund to experience a reduction in the income it receives from the security. A floating rate security's coupon rate resets periodically according to the terms of the security. Consequently, in a rising interest rate environment, floating rate securities with coupon rates that reset infrequently may lag behind the changes in market interest rates.
High yield securities, or "junk" bonds, are less liquid and are subject to greater market fluctuations and risk of loss than securities with higher ratings, and therefore, are considered to be highly speculative.
A fund's income may decline when interest rates fall or if there are defaults in its portfolio.
A fund may be a constituent of one or more indices or models which could greatly affect a fund's trading activity, size and volatility.
As inflation increases, the present value of a fund's assets and distributions may decline.
Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of the debt securities in a fund's portfolio will decline because of rising interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally lower for shorter term debt securities and higher for longer-term debt securities.
If a fund invests in securities of another investment company, a fund may bear its ratable share of that investment company's expenses as well as a fund's advisory and administrative fees, which may result in duplicative expenses. A fund may also incur brokerage costs if purchasing or selling shares of exchange-traded investment companies.
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. LIBOR has ceased to be made available as a reference rate and there is no assurance that any alternative reference rate, including the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR"), will be similar to or produce the same value or economic equivalence as LIBOR. 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 a fund or on certain instruments in which a fund invests is difficult to predict and could result in losses to the fund.
Certain fund investments may be subject to restrictions on resale, trade over-the-counter or in limited volume, or lack an active trading market. Illiquid securities may trade at a discount and may be subject to wide fluctuations in market value.
The portfolio managers of an actively managed portfolio will apply investment techniques and risk analyses that may not have the desired result.
Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or shares of a fund in general may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors 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. In addition, local, regional or global events such as war, acts of terrorism, spread of infectious disease or other public health issues, recessions, natural disasters or other events could have significant negative impact on a fund.
A fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for fund shares due to a limited number of market makers. Decisions by market makers or authorized participants to reduce their role or step away in times of market stress could inhibit the effectiveness of the arbitrage process in maintaining the relationship between the underlying values of a fund's portfolio securities and a fund's market price.
Securities of non-U.S. issuers are subject to additional risks, including currency fluctuations, political risks, withholding, lack of liquidity, lack of adequate financial information, and exchange control restrictions impacting non-U.S. issuers.
A fund and a fund's advisor may seek to reduce various operational risks through controls and procedures, but it is not possible to completely protect against such risks. The fund also relies on third parties for a range of services, including custody, and any delay or failure related to those services may affect the fund's ability to meet its objective.
The market price of a fund's shares will generally fluctuate in accordance with changes in the fund's net asset value ("NAV") as well as the relative supply of and demand for shares on the exchange, and a fund's investment advisor cannot predict whether shares will trade below, at or above their NAV.
Prepayment risk is the risk that the issuer of a debt security will repay principal prior to the scheduled maturity date. Debt securities allowing prepayment may offer less potential for gains during a period of declining interest rates, as a fund may be required to reinvest the proceeds of any prepayment at lower interest rates.
Companies that issue loans tend to be highly leveraged and thus are more susceptible to the risks of interest deferral, default and/or bankruptcy. Loans are usually rated below investment grade but may also be unrated. As a result, the risks associated with these loans are similar to the risks of high-yield fixed income instruments. The senior loan market has seen a significant increase in loans with weaker lender protections which may impact recovery values and/or trading levels in the future.
A fund with significant exposure to a single asset class, country, region, industry, or sector may be more affected by an adverse economic or political development than a broadly diversified fund.
Securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies may experience greater price volatility and be less liquid than larger, more established companies.
Trading on an exchange may be halted due to market conditions or other reasons. There can be no assurance that a fund's requirements to maintain the exchange listing will continue to be met or be unchanged.
Securities issued or guaranteed by federal agencies and U.S. government sponsored instrumentalities may or may not be backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
A fund may hold securities or other assets that may be valued on the basis of factors other than market quotations. This may occur because the asset or security does not trade on a centralized exchange, or in times of market turmoil or reduced liquidity. Portfolio holdings that are valued using techniques other than market quotations, including "fair valued" assets or securities, may be subject to greater fluctuation in their valuations from one day to the next than if market quotations were used. There is no assurance that a fund could sell or close out a portfolio position for the value established for it at any time.
Warrants and rights do not include the right to dividends, voting, or to the assets of the issuer and the value of the warrants and rights does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities. The market for warrants and rights may be limited.
First Trust Advisors L.P. (FTA) is the adviser to the First Trust fund(s). FTA is an affiliate of First Trust Portfolios L.P., the distributor of the fund(s).
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