CORRECTING and REPLACING Top Ranking First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance® ETF Reaches New Milestones in Growth and Performance over its 10+ Year History

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WHEATON, Ill., January 29, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Please replace the release issued January 24, 2025 at 9:25am ET with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions.

The updated release reads:

TOP RANKING FIRST TRUST RBA AMERICAN INDUSTRIAL RENAISSANCE® ETF REACHES NEW MILESTONES IN GROWTH AND PERFORMANCE OVER ITS 10+ YEAR HISTORY

First Trust Advisors L.P. ("First Trust"), a leading ETF provider and asset manager, announced that the First Trust RBA American Industrial Renaissance® ETF (NASDAQ: AIRR) has reached over $3 billion in net assets as of 1/6/2025 and continues to be a top performing fund. AIRR seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the fund’s fees and expenses) of an equity index called the Richard Bernstein Advisors American Industrial Renaissance® Index (the "index"). The index is designed to measure the performance of small and mid-cap U.S. companies in the industrial and community banking sectors. These companies are directly involved in manufacturing, related infrastructure, and banking, including regional banks from U.S. states traditionally known as manufacturing hubs.

Richard Bernstein Advisors ("RBA") believes the U.S. industrial sector may continue gaining global market share over the next decade as a result of deglobalization, potentially making the American Industrial Renaissance® an investment theme for many years to come.

"The American Industrial Renaissance has proven to be an exceptionally successful investment theme, as evidenced AIRR surpassing $3 billion in net assets," said Richard Bernstein, CEO, CIO at Richard Bernstein Advisors. "Despite this achievement, the critical need for the U.S. to invest in manufacturing—both to safeguard economic independence and bolster national security—remains widely underappreciated. This underscores the American Industrial Renaissance's potential as a compelling long-term investment opportunity."

"In our view, one of the most intriguing aspects of this theme is how little attention it has received from investors," said Ryan Issakainen, CFA, Senior Vice President and ETF Strategist at First Trust. "Not only in light of its strong performance over the past decade, but more importantly, how well we believe it’s positioned for the next several years."

AIRR Performance Highlights as of 12/31/2024:

  • 1-year average annual total return of 33.43%, based on net asset value (NAV), versus 17.47% for the S&P 500® Industrials Index.

  • Since its inception in March 2014, AIRR has achieved an average annual total return of 13.56%, based on NAV, outperforming the S&P 500® Industrials Index which had a total return of 10.80% over the same period.

  • Largest and fastest-growing ETF in Morningstar’s Industrials category, based on total net assets.1

  • 5-Star Overall Morningstar RatingTM, among 44 funds in the Industrials category. This fund was rated 5 stars/44 funds (3 years), 5 stars/42 funds (5 years), 5 stars/32 funds (10 years) based on risk adjusted returns.

  • #1 performing fund in Morningstar’s Industrials category, ranking #1/41 funds (1 year), #1/32 funds (5 years), #1/25 funds (10 years) and #1/25 funds (since fund inception).

  • AIRR has outperformed the S&P 500® Index in the 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year time periods based on NAV despite not holding information technology or large cap growth companies.