First Trust Expands ETF Lineup with Launch of Three New Target Outcome Strategy ETFs

WHEATON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Trust Advisors L.P. (“First Trust” or “FTA”), a leading provider of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) and outcome-based strategies, announced the launch of three new actively managed ETFs this week: FT Vest Growth Strength & Target Income ETF (Nasdaq: FGSI) launched June 26, 2025, and seeks to provide current income that, when annualized, is approximately 8% above the annual dividend yield of the S&P 500® Index1 by investing primarily in U.S. exchange-traded equity securities intended to track The Growth StrengthTM Index and by utilizing an “option strategy” consisting of writing (selling) U.S. exchange-traded call options on the S&P 500® Index, or exchange-traded funds that track the S&P 500® Index. The fund’s secondary objective is capital appreciation. FT Vest Laddered Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF (Cboe: BUFX) launched June 25, 2025, and seeks capital appreciation by investing in a laddered portfolio of twelve FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETFs. These underlying ETFs invest in FLEX Options based on the price return of the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust (“SPY”) and each seeks to provide a 15% downside buffer while offering approximately 2x any positive SPY price return, up to a predetermined cap, over a one-year Target Outcome Period.1 FT Vest Laddered Max Buffer ETF (Cboe: BUFH) launched June 25, 2025, and seeks capital appreciation by investing in a laddered portfolio of twelve FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETFs. These ETFs invest in FLEX Options in order to provide investors with returns (before fees and expenses) that match the price return of SPY and each seeks to provide the maximum available downside buffer while delivering upside potential up to a predetermined cap, over a one-year Target Outcome Period.2 Collectively referred to as “the funds,” these are the latest additions to First Trust’s Target Outcome ETF lineup, which now includes 118 funds with over $29.7 billion in total net assets as of May 30, 2025, an increase of 39% year over year. The funds are sub-advised by Vest Financial LLC (“Vest”), the creator of Target Outcome Investments® and Target Income Strategies®. Each of the new funds leverages a Target Outcome investing framework to address specific investor goals: generating income and growth potential (FGSI), seeking enhanced returns with a downside buffer (BUFX); or maximizing the downside buffer (BUFH). FGSI utilizes a Target Income Strategy® designed to generate consistent income while allowing participation in the growth potential of the underlying equities. Both BUFX and BUFH employ a laddered approach by holding 12 monthly series of their respective underlying ETFs, helping to mitigate timing risk and provide continuous exposure to their target outcomes. “Today’s market demands innovation, especially for investors seeking targeted results in uncertain conditions,” said Ryan Issakainen, CFA, Senior Vice President and ETF Strategist at First Trust. “These new funds extend First Trust’s ETF lineup with solutions designed to provide consistent income, enhanced upside participation, or an increased downside buffer, delivered through the convenience of a single ETF.” Jeff Chang, President of Vest, added, “Investors are increasingly looking for ways to manage risk or generate income without sacrificing growth potential. We’re excited to bring these strategies together to help address real-world portfolio challenges in a thoughtful, outcome-oriented way.” Important Considerations Unlike the underlying ETFs, BUFX and BUFH do not directly pursue a target outcome strategy. The buffer is only provided by the Underlying ETFs and the funds do not provide any stated buffer against losses. The funds will likely not receive the full benefit of the Underlying ETF buffers and could have limited upside potential. The funds’ returns may be limited to the caps of the Underlying ETFs. Each fund indirectly bears the expenses of the Underlying ETFs. Karan Sood and Howard Rubin, of Vest, will serve as portfolio managers for the funds. The portfolio managers are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the funds. For more information about First Trust, please contact Ryan Issakainen at (630) 765-8689 or RIssakainen@FTAdvisors.com. About First Trust First Trust is a federally registered investment advisor and serves as the funds’ investment advisor. First Trust and its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P. (“FTP”), a FINRA registered broker-dealer, are privately held companies that provide a variety of investment services. First Trust has collective assets under management or supervision of approximately $268 billion as of May 30, 2025, through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds and separate managed accounts. First Trust is the supervisor of the First Trust unit investment trusts, while FTP is the sponsor. FTP is also a distributor of mutual fund shares and exchange-traded fund creation units. First Trust and FTP are based in Wheaton, Illinois. For more information, visit www.ftportfolios.com About Vest: Vest delivers the benefits of derivatives with precise, outcome-driven solutions—bringing more certainty and clarity to portfolios. Our Target Outcome Investments® simplify derivative strategies into trusted, outcome-focused products, accessible through a broad range of investment solutions. As the leader in Target Buffer ETFs® and creators of over 250 innovative products, we manage $48B+ in AUM/AUS3 with a pristine track record of target delivery. Combining technical mastery, practical execution, and trusted partnerships, Vest is committed to making derivatives work for everyone. For more information about Vest, visit www.vestfin.com or contact Daniella Jones at djones@vestfin.com or (203) 249-5416. 1Before fees and expenses. 2Before fees and expenses. If the fund can set the buffer against 100% of the underlying ETF losses, it will seek a predetermined cap that exceeds 7%. When conditions prevent the fund from achieving the 7% cap, the fund will lower the cap range to seek to produce a minimum buffer of 20%. 3As of May 30, 2025. You should consider the funds’ investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing. Contact First Trust Portfolios L.P. at 1-800-621-1675 or visit www.ftportfolios.com to obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information about the funds. The prospectus or summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing. Risk Considerations 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. There can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. 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. A new buffer is established at the beginning of each Target Outcome Period and is dependent on prevailing market conditions. As a result, the buffer may rise or fall from one Target Outcome Period to the next and is unlikely to remain the same for consecutive Target Outcome Periods. A fund that invests in underlying ETFs that use FLEX Options to employ a "target outcome strategy" ("Underlying ETFs"), does not itself pursue a defined outcome strategy. The buffer is only provided by the Underlying ETFs and the fund itself does not provide any stated buffer against losses. There can be no guarantee that the Underlying ETFs will be successful in their strategy to buffer against losses. A fund may lose its entire investment in an Underlying ETF. To the extent a fund acquires shares of its Underlying ETFs in connection with creations and during reallocation, the fund typically will not acquire Underlying ETF shares on the first day of the target outcome period defined in the Underlying Fund's prospectus ("Target Outcome Period"). Likewise, to the extend a fund disposes of shares of an Underlying ETF in connection with redemptions and during reallocation, any such disposition typically will not incur on the last day of a Target Outcome Period. A fund's use of call options involves risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions and depends on the ability of a fund's portfolio managers to forecast market movements correctly. As the seller (writer) of a call option, a fund will tend to lose money if the value of the reference index or security rises above the strike price. When writing a call option, a fund will have no control over the exercise of the option by the option holder and the American style options sold by a fund may be exercised at any time before the option expiration date (as opposed to the European style options which may be exercised only on the expiration date). There may be times a fund needs to sell securities in order to settle the options, which may constitute a return of capital and make a fund less tax-efficient than other ETFs. Options may also involve the use of leverage, which could result in greater price volatility than other markets. A new Underlying ETF cap is established at the beginning of each Target Outcome Period and is dependent on prevailing market conditions. As a result, a cap may rise or fall from one Target Outcome Period to the next and is unlikely to remain the same for consecutive Target Outcome Periods. If the Underlying ETF's reference security or index experiences gains during a Target Outcome Period, an Underlying ETF will not participate in those gains beyond the cap. In the event a fund purchases shares of an Underlying ETF after the first day of a Target Outcome Period and the Underlying ETF has risen in value to a level near the cap, there may be little or no ability for the fund to experience an investment gain on its shares; however, the fund will remain vulnerable to downside risk. A fund that effects all or a portion of its creations and redemptions for cash rather than in-kind may be less tax-efficient. A fund may be subject to the risk that a counterparty will not fulfill its obligations which may result in significant financial loss to a fund. 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. For example, changes in governmental fiscal and regulatory policies, disruptions to banking and real estate markets, actual and threatened international armed conflicts and hostilities, and public health crises, among other significant events, could have a material impact on the value of the fund's investments. 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. The use of derivatives instruments involves different and possibly greater risks than investing directly in securities including counterparty risk, valuation risk, volatility risk, and liquidity risk. Further, losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying asset, index or rate may be magnified by certain features of the derivatives. A fund normally pays its income as distributions and therefore, a fund may be required to reduce its distributions if it has insufficient income. Additionally at times, a fund may need to sell securities when it would not otherwise do so and could cause distributions from that sale to constitute return of capital. Because of this, a fund may not be an appropriate investment for investors who do not want their principal investment in a fund to decrease over time or who do not wish to receive return of capital in a given period. Companies that issue dividend-paying securities are not required to continue to pay dividends on such securities. Therefore, there is a possibility that such companies could reduce or eliminate the payment of dividends in the future. Certain of the Underlying ETFs seek to provide "enhanced" returns of any positive returns of the reference asset over a Target Outcome Period, subject to a predetermined upside cap. There can be no guarantee that such Underlying ETFs will be successful in their strategy to provide enhanced returns. In addition, the Underlying ETFs that seek to provide investment outcomes over an entire Target Outcome Period do not seek to provide investment outcomes on a daily or other short-term basis and therefore on any given day it is very unlikely that when the reference asset share price increases in value, an Underlying ETF's share price will increase at the same rate as the enhanced returns sought by the Underlying ETF. 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. The Underlying ETFs invest in FLEX Options. Trading FLEX Options involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. An Underlying Fund may experience substantial downside from specific FLEX Option positions and certain FLEX Option positions may expire worthless. There can be no guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist for the FLEX Options and FLEX options may be less liquid than exchange-traded options. FLEX Options are subject to correlation risk and a FLEX Option's value may be highly volatile, and may fluctuate substantially during a short period of time. FLEX Options will be exercisable at the strike price only on their expiration date. Prior to the expiration date, the value of the FLEX Options will be determined based upon market quotations or other recognized pricing methods. In the absence of readily available market quotations for fund holdings, a fund's advisor may determine the fair value of the holding, which requires the advisor's judgement and is subject to the risk of mispricing or improper valuation. Stocks with growth characteristics tend to be more volatile than certain other stocks and their prices may fluctuate more dramatically than the overall stock market. An index fund will be concentrated in an industry or a group of industries to the extent that the index is so concentrated. A fund with significant exposure to a single asset class, or the securities of issuers within the same country, state, region, industry, or sector may have its value more affected by an adverse economic, business or political development than a broadly diversified fund. 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. There is no assurance that the index provider or its agents will compile or maintain the index accurately. Losses or costs associated with any index provider errors generally will be borne by a fund and its shareholders. As inflation increases, the present value of a fund's assets and distributions may decline. Information technology companies are subject to certain risks, including rapidly changing technologies, short product life cycles, fierce competition, aggressive pricing and reduced profit margins, loss of patent, copyright and trademark protections, cyclical market patterns, evolving industry standards and regulation and frequent new product introductions. Large capitalization companies may grow at a slower rate than the overall market. Leverage may result in losses that exceed the amount originally invested and may accelerate the rates of losses. Leverage tends to magnify, sometimes significantly, the effect of any increase or decrease in a fund's exposure to an asset or class of assets and may cause the value of a fund's shares to be volatile and sensitive to market swings. 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. When a fund sells Underlying ETFs in the open market, the resulting gain or loss may have a negative impact on fund returns. In addition, a fund may effect a portion of its creations and redemptions for cash rather than in-kind, which may be less tax efficient. In addition, cash transactions may involve higher brokerage fees and taxes than in-kind transactions. 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. Large inflows and outflows may impact a new fund's market exposure for limited periods of time. A fund classified as "non-diversified" may invest a relatively high percentage of its assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, a fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers, experience increased volatility and be highly concentrated in certain 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 prices of options are volatile and the effective use of options depends on a fund's ability to terminate option positions at times deemed desirable to do so. There is no assurance that a fund will be able to effect closing transactions at any particular time or at an acceptable price. A fund's investment in equity securities and written call options are not correlated, meaning the performance is independent of one another. Market events may impact one position held by a fund more than the other position and the returns from a fund's investments in equity securities and written call options may not move in the same direction as one another. High portfolio turnover may result in higher levels of transaction costs and may generate greater tax liabilities for shareholders. 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. 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. A fund may have temporary larger exposures to certain Underlying ETFs and under such circumstances, a fund's return would be more greatly influenced by the returns of the Underlying ETFs with the larger exposures. If a fund's Underlying ETF holds FLEX Options that reference SPY, the fund is subject to certain of the risks of owning shares of an ETF as well as the risks of the types of instruments in which SPY invests. If a fund's Underlying ETF holds FLEX Options that reference SPY, each Underlying ETF has exposure to the equity securities markets. 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. An Underlying ETF's investment strategy is designed to deliver returns if shares are bought on the first day that the Underlying ETF enters into the FLEX Options and are held until the FLEX options expire at the end of the Target Outcome Period subject to the cap. A fund may occasionally sell assets to convert return of capital distributions into taxable dividends, potentially increasing the tax liability for current shareholders. Therefore, the strategy may not be appropriate for investors seeking to minimize and/or defer taxes. While a fund will take the position that these transactions serve a valid business purpose, the IRS may disagree and may impose penalties, which could reduce shareholder returns. If a fund does not qualify as a RIC for any taxable year and certain relief provisions were not available, a fund's taxable income would be subject to tax at the fund level and to a further tax at the shareholder level when such income is distributed. Further, there may be other tax implications to a fund based on the type of investments in a fund. 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. The fund's investment in shares of the Underlying ETFs subjects it to the risks of owning the securities held by the Underlying ETF, as well as the same structural risks faced by an investor purchasing shares of the fund. An underlying ETF with investments that are concentrated in a single asset class, country, region, industry, or sector may be more affected by adverse events than the market as a whole. A fund that invests in Underlying ETFs may provide returns that are lower than the returns that an investor could achieve by investing in one or more Underlying ETFs alone and the fund bears its proportionate share of each ETF's expenses, subjecting fund shareholders to duplicative expenses. A fund of Underlying ETFs does not itself pursue a defined outcome strategy and does not provide any buffer against Underlying ETF losses. 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. 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). The information presented is not intended to constitute an investment recommendation for, or advice to, any specific person. By providing this information, First Trust is not undertaking to give advice in any fiduciary capacity within the meaning of ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code or any other regulatory framework. Financial professionals are responsible for evaluating investment risks independently and for exercising independent judgment in determining whether investments are appropriate for their clients. The Target Outcome registered trademarks are registered trademarks of Vest Financial LLC. The funds and the underlying ETFs are not issued, sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust, PDR, or Standard & Poor's® (together with their affiliates hereinafter referred to as the "Corporations"). The Corporations have not passed on the legality or suitability of, or the accuracy or adequacy of, descriptions and disclosures relating to the funds or the underlying ETFs or the FLEX Options. The Corporations make no representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding the advisability of investing in the funds or the underlying ETFs or the FLEX Options or results to be obtained by the funds or the underlying ETFs or the FLEX Options, shareholders or any other person or entity from use of the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust. The Corporations have no liability in connection with the management, administration, marketing or trading of the funds or the underlying ETFs or the FLEX Options. Nasdaq® and The Growth Strength™ Index ("the Nasdaq Indexes") are registered trademarks and service marks of Nasdaq, Inc. (together with its affiliates hereinafter referred to as the "Corporations") and are licensed for use by First Trust. The funds have not been passed on by the Corporations as to their legality or suitability. The funds are not issued, endorsed, sold or promoted by the Corporations. THE CORPORATIONS MAKE NO WARRANTIES AND BEAR NO LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO THE FUNDS. Definitions: An option is a contractual obligation between a buyer and a seller. There are two types of options known as “calls” and “puts.” The buyer of a call option has the right, but not the obligation, to purchase an agreed upon quantity of an underlying asset from the writer (seller) of the option at a predetermined price (the strike price) within a certain window of time (until the option’s expiration), creating a long position. A put option is the opposite of a call option and gives the buyer the right to sell to the writer (seller) the underlying asset at the strike price until the option’s expiration. If the strike price is reached, the buyer has the right to exercise the option. For this right, the buyer pays a fee to the seller, called a premium. The S&P 500® Index is an unmanaged index of 500 companies used to measure large-cap U.S. stock market performance. The Growth StrengthTM Index seeks to provide exposure to well-capitalized companies with strong market positions. The companies are screened for strong balance sheets, a high degree of liquidity, the ability to generate earnings and cash flow growth and a record of financial strength and profit growth. The Index is composed of 50 securities selected objectively based on cash on hand, debt ratios and revenue and cash flow growth. An option is a contractual obligation between a buyer and a seller. There are two types of options known as “calls” and “puts.” The buyer of a call option has the right, but not the obligation, to purchase an agreed upon quantity of an underlying asset from the writer (seller) of the option at a predetermined price (the strike price) within a certain window of time (until the option’s expiration), creating a long position. A call option is at-the-money (ATM) if the market price of the underlying security is equal to the strike price. More News From First Trust Advisors L.P.

First Trust Expands ETF Lineup with Launch of Three New Target Outcome Strategy ETFs

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