Pure Benchmarks · Portfolio Benchmark Report
Is Your First Trust Portfolios Portfolio Underperforming?
First Trust Portfolios builds around specialty products, where a single-idea or single-house tilt can drive outsized moves in either direction.
Pure Benchmarks ranks real First Trust Portfolios portfolios against thousands of other verified investor portfolios across nine standardized risk categories, from 100% equity to 90% fixed income. Every portfolio is recategorized daily from actual end-of-day holdings, and Community Nests shows exactly where your First Trust Portfolios portfolio ranks against other real First Trust Portfolios clients in the same risk category — built entirely from verified portfolio data, with no firm that manages money able to see any data point on the platform.
Why your First Trust Portfolios portfolio can lag a pure index baseline
The concentration tilt. Thematic and single-issuer lineups concentrate exposure around a narrow idea or one fund house. That focus can swing returns well away from a diversified index baseline, making it hard to tell skill from a single bet paying off.
What to review on a First Trust Portfolios portfolio
- Confirm how much of the portfolio depends on one theme or one fund house.
- Compare the concentrated allocation with a simple diversified index over time.
Illustrative 10-year comparison — a standard managed portfolio versus a pure index baseline. Figures are illustrative only.
| Year | Standard managed portfolio | Pure index baseline | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $105,200 | $107,000 | -$1,800 |
| Year 3 | $116,400 | $122,500 | -$6,100 |
| Year 5 | $128,700 | $140,300 | -$11,600 |
| Year 7 | $142,300 | $160,600 | -$18,300 |
| Year 10 | $165,100 | $196,700 | -$31,600 |
See exactly where your First Trust Portfolios portfolio stands.
One clean report against a pure index baseline. No email required.
See Your Free Benchmark ReportCompare other firms
- Is your Motley Fool Wealth Management portfolio underperforming?
- Is your Morningstar Investor portfolio underperforming?
- Is your ARK Invest portfolio underperforming?
- Is your VanEck Investments portfolio underperforming?
- Is your WisdomTree Investments portfolio underperforming?
- Is your Global X ETFs portfolio underperforming?
New here? Read the Pure Benchmarks blog or the portfolio benchmarking FAQ.
Answer the bigger questions
This page is an information baseline for comparison only. It is not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy, sell, replace, or transfer any specific asset, account, or firm. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All figures shown are illustrative.