A new ETF that taps into the growing demand for metals powering the future of technology and clean energy.
WHEATON, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–First Trust Advisors L.P. (“First Trust”), a leading exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) provider with more than $212 billion in ETF assets under management as of September 30, 2025, announced today that it has launched its 300th ETF, the First Trust Indxx Critical Metals ETF (NYSE Arca: FMTL) (the “fund”). The fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the fund’s fees and expenses) of the Indxx Global Critical Metals Index (the “index”).
“Major efforts are underway to bolster the supply chains of technologies that many of us take for granted,” said Ryan Issakainen, CFA, Senior Vice President and ETF Strategist at First Trust. “We believe companies engaged in developing new sources of critical metals, such as those found in FMTL, may represent an attractive long-term opportunity for investors,” Issakainen said. The fund provides exposure to companies that generate revenue in the U.S. and North America from mining “critical metals”, which are materials identified as having a high risk of supply chain disruption. These critical metals companies may be well-positioned to support the potential growth of the clean energy and technology sectors.
The index employs a rules-based methodology that begins with a universe of securities listed in the United States, as well as in developed and emerging markets (excluding Vietnam) that are members of the Minerals Security Partnership. Securities must meet certain geographic, size, liquidity, price and seasoning requirements. Eligible securities are then classified into one of three sub-themes based on their applications, as defined by the index provider:
- Sustainable Energy Metals: Supporting the production of solar and wind power plants.
- NextGen Mobility Metals: Enabling the production of batteries for electric vehicles.
- Other High Technology Metals: Powering advanced technology industries which are not covered by the other two sub-themes, such as smart phones, digital cameras, computer hard disks, fluorescent and light-emitting diode (LED) lights, flat screen televisions, computer monitors and electronic displays.
The top 50 securities are selected and weighted by free-float market capitalization. The index is reconstituted and rebalanced semi-annually.
“We want to congratulate First Trust on the launch of the First Trust Indxx Global Critical Metals ETF,” said Rahul Sen Sharma, President and Co-CEO at Indxx. “This fund aligns with the increasing global focus on critical metals that enable clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and emerging technologies.”
For more information about First Trust, please contact Ryan Issakainen at (630) 765-8689 or [email protected].
About First Trust
First Trust is a federally registered investment advisor and serves as the fund’s 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 $299 billion as of September 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 https://www.ftportfolios.com.
You should consider a fund’s 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 a fund. 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.
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.
Companies engaged in the mining of Critical Metals face a unique set of risks that can significantly impact their operations and financial performance. The profitability and valuations of Critical Metals mining companies are highly sensitive to the prices of the underlying Critical Metals they produce. Prices for these commodities can be volatile and are influenced by supply-demand dynamics, speculation, macroeconomic trends, changes in technology (such as battery chemistries), and actions by governments or large producers.
Changes in currency exchange rates and the relative value of non-US currencies may affect the value of a fund’s investments and the value of a fund’s shares.
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.
Depositary receipts may be less liquid than the underlying shares in their primary trading market and distributions may be subject to a fee. Holders may have limited voting rights, and investment restrictions in certain countries may adversely impact their value.
Investments in emerging market securities are generally considered speculative and involve additional risks relating to political, economic and regulatory conditions.
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 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.
Since securities that trade on non-U.S. exchanges are closed when a fund’s primary listing is open, there are likely to be deviations between the current price of an underlying security and the last quoted price from the closed foreign market, resulting in premiums or discounts to a fund’s NAV.
A fund that holds securities that traded on non-U.S. exchanges that are closed when the fund’s primary exchange is open, will likely experience deviations between the current price of a security and the last quoted foreign price from the closed foreign market. This can result in wider premiums or discounts to a fund’s net asset value. Additionally, investors may be unable to trade fund shares on days when events in foreign markets could materially affect a fund’s value.
Large capitalization companies may grow at a slower rate than the overall market.
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.
Materials and processing companies are subject to certain risks, including the general state of the economy, consolidation, domestic and international politics and excess capacity. Materials companies may also be significantly affected by volatility of commodity prices, import controls, worldwide competition, liability for environmental damage, depletion of resources and mandated expenditures for safety and pollution control devices.
Mid capitalization companies may experience greater price volatility than larger, more established companies.
Large inflows and outflows may impact a new fund’s market exposure for limited periods of time.
An index fund’s return may not match the return of the index for a number of reasons including operating expenses, costs of buying and selling securities to reflect changes in the index, and the fact that a fund’s portfolio holdings may not exactly replicate the index.
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.
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.
A fund that invests in securities included in or representative of an index will hold those securities regardless of investment merit and the fund generally will not take defensive positions in declining markets.
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.
Securities of small 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.
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.
Indxx and Indxx Global Critical Metals Index (“Index”) are trademarks of Indxx, Inc. (“Indxx”) and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by First Trust. The Fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Indxx and Indxx makes no representation regarding the advisability of trading in such product. The Index is determined, composed and calculated by Indxx without regard to First Trust or the Fund.
Contacts
Ryan Issakainen
First Trust (630) 765-8689
[email protected]
