First Trust Portfolios Canada has introduced currency-hedged units for four of its US sector ETFs currently listed on Toronto Stock Exchange. The four ETFs in question provide exposure to Russell 1000 equities from the consumer staples, industrials, technology, and healthcare sectors using the AlphaDEX methodology as a stock selection overlay.

The new share classes hedge currency exposure between the US dollar and the Canadian dollar.

The AlphaDEX methodology selects companies based on value factors such as price-to-book ratio, price-to-cash flow ratio, and return on capital; and on growth factors such as momentum, revenue growth and price-to-sales ratio.

The top ranking stocks, according to a combined score across all value and growth factors, are selected for inclusion in the index. A modified equal-weighting scheme is used to prevent over concentration in individual firms while tilting in favour of companies which score impressively according to the AlphaDEX selection process.

Canadian investors will now have the option to choose a share class in these four ETFs which hedges currency exposure between the US dollar and the ETFs’ trading currency – the Canadian dollar.

The names and ticker codes (hedged units) of the funds are outlined below. Each fund charges a management fee of 0.70%, similar to the non-hedged versions.

First Trust AlphaDEX US Consumer Staples Sector Index ETF (FHC.F CN)
First Trust AlphaDEX US Industrials Sector Index ETF (FHG.F CN)
First Trust AlphaDEX US Technology Sector Index ETF (FHQ.F CN)
First Trust AlphaDEX US Health Care Sector Index ETF (FHH.F CN)