FDT is not a stock in any operating sense. It is a wrapper around a Nasdaq-owned index, and the wrapper's value proposition depends entirely on whether the AlphaDEX overlay generates enough outperformance to justify the 0.80 percent expense ratio. The fund delivered a 19.82 percent total return for the first half of 2026, riding a wave of developed market ex-United States momentum that had not been this strong since the early 2010s. Net assets grew from roughly half their start-of-year level to 1.315 billion by mid-2026. That expansion was driven by market appreciation and net inflows of roughly 115 million in new creations. The 0.80 percent fee is two to three times the cost of the passive EAFE or VEA alternatives, and the entire case for owning FDT instead of those vehicles rests on the AlphaDEX overlay continuing to clear that hurdle.
The counterargument is immediate and structural. A passive index with the same universe and no overlay costs 0.07 to 0.10 percent, a difference that compounds to a material drag over a decade of holding. The 52 percent turnover rate in the first half of 2026, down sharply from the prior year, suggests the overlay is trading less aggressively. That shift cuts both ways. It reduces transaction cost drag, but it also narrows the distance between the fund and a plain replication strategy. The fund is live, active, and growing, but the premium it charges is the variable that determines whether it belongs in a portfolio at all.