FAAR · First Trust Alternative Absolute Return Strategy ETF
FAAR is actively managed and returned +18.3% over the past year.
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| Window | Total return | S&P 500 (SPY) | Gap to SPY | Gap to QQQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3M Jul 9 – Oct 8, 2026 | +4.1% | +3.2% | +0.9 pts | +0.7 pts |
| 6M Apr 9 – Oct 8, 2026 | −2.3% | +14.4% | −16.7 pts | −25.1 pts |
| 1Y Oct 8, 2025 – Oct 8, 2026 | +18.3% | +16.2% | +2.0 pts | −4.6 pts |
| 3Y Oct 9, 2023 – Oct 8, 2026 | +38.3% | +85.6% | −47.3 pts | −69.1 pts |
| Since launch May 23, 2016 – Oct 8, 2026 | +59.7% | +346.5% | −286.8 pts | −597.6 pts |
Source: ETFIQ.
Money in and out
Daily figures · as of Oct 8, 2026FAAR: in the 3 trading days to Oct 8, 2026, net $4.8m came in.
Oct 8, 2026
Jul 1, 2025 to Jun 30, 2026
monthly, from SEC filings
Jul 1, 2023 to Jun 30, 2026
monthly, from SEC filings
Jul 1, 2021 to Jun 30, 2026
monthly, from SEC filings
SEC filings, then daily counts
FAAR, net flow each trading day over the 63 sessions from Jul 13, 2026 to Oct 8, 2026: money came in on 2 days and went out on 0 days. Before Oct 6, 2026 ETFIQ has the fund’s monthly figures only, from SEC filings: that span is shaded and draws no bars, and its months are in the month by month list.
Money in on 2 of the 63 trading days, out on 0.
FAAR, net flow each trading day over the 252 sessions from Oct 8, 2025 to Oct 8, 2026: money came in on 2 days and went out on 0 days. Before Oct 6, 2026 ETFIQ has the fund’s monthly figures only, from SEC filings: that span is shaded and draws no bars, and its months are in the month by month list.
Money in on 2 of the 252 trading days, out on 0.
FAAR, net flow each trading day over the 400 sessions from Mar 7, 2025 to Oct 8, 2026: money came in on 2 days and went out on 0 days. Before Oct 6, 2026 ETFIQ has the fund’s monthly figures only, from SEC filings: that span is shaded and draws no bars, and its months are in the month by month list.
Money in on 2 of the 400 trading days, out on 0.
ETFIQ’s daily counts for FAAR start Oct 6, 2026, so the 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, year to date and 1 year windows have no daily figure; the longer spans are from its SEC filings. Every day and month ETFIQ holds for FAAR, back to 2019, is in its flows file. Flows across every fund · How these flows are computed · Compare FAAR with other funds in the flows tool
How this is computed
Computed by ETFIQ from First Trust’s daily figures: each day’s change in shares outstanding times the previous day’s net asset value, dated to the day of the count. Percentages are of net assets at the start of each window. Each figure is net, money in less money out.
Every trading day, last 3 months3 days
Most recent first.
Week by week, last year1 week
Net flow into FAAR each week, Oct 6, 2026 to Oct 8, 2026, most recent first, each week named by its last trading day with a figure. Computed by ETFIQ.
Month by month, money in and money outAug 2023 to Oct 2026
FAAR, money in and money out each month from Aug 2023 to Jun 2026: two bars a month, money in above the line and money out below. Every bar is from FAAR’s SEC filings (N-PORT item B.6). Oct 2026 is still in progress, so it is in the list and not drawn. Of the 36 months listed, money came in on net in 16 and went out in 15.
Every bar is from FAAR’s SEC filings (N-PORT item B.6). Of the 36 months listed, money came in on net in 16 and went out in 15.
Most recent first.
How this is computed
On a month from SEC Form N-PORT, money in is the filing’s sales plus reinvestments and money out its redemptions. On a month that is the sum of its days, money in sums the days money came in and money out the days it went out.
A month from SEC Form N-PORT is sales and reinvestments less redemptions as filed; a later month is the sum of its days, and says so where a day is missing.
FAAR’s 26 futures contracts, a notional value of 120.2% of its net assets, then its collateral, from its N-PORT for Jun 30, 2026. A contract’s notional is what it is worth at that day’s price, as a share of the fund’s net assets that day. Source: the fund’s SEC filing.
In plain words
Questions people ask about FAAR
- How has FAAR performed?
- Over the year to Oct 8, 2026, FAAR returned +18.3% with distributions reinvested, against +38.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg Commodity Index. Over three years the figure is +38.3%.
- What does FAAR cost?
- The prospectus expense ratio is 0.98% a year.
- How far is FAAR below its high?
- 4.6% below its high of May 18, 2026, measured on the reinvested series to Oct 8, 2026.
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
ETFIQ, FAAR, commodity fund, data as of Oct 8, 2026. https://etfiq.com/funds/faar
ETFIQ. (Oct 8, 2026). FAAR, commodity fund. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/funds/faar
[FAAR, commodity fund (ETFIQ, Oct 8, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/funds/faar)
Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data.