QCLN — First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund

QCLN Price Performance — Growth of $10,000

Value of a $10,000 investment in QCLN over time, compared with SPY. Both lines are rebased to $10,000 on the first shared date. Based on total returns — prices are adjusted for dividends and splits, so this assumes distributions were reinvested. Hover or tap the chart for exact values.

QCLN Drawdown

The "underwater" chart: QCLN's decline from its highest prior value at each point in time. It shows how deep past losses ran and how long the fund took to recover to break-even.

Overview

The First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (QCLN) operates within the Thematic category, where ETFValuer tracks a total of 17 funds. Issued by First Trust, this fund manages $837 million in assets and trades at a price of $49.26. It holds an overall rank of #396 out of 458 tracked ETFs across all categories, receiving an ETFValuer grade of D with a score of 45.4 out of 100. The fund charges an expense ratio of 0.59% and offers a dividend yield of 0.14%. The combination of a mid-tier asset size and a lower overall rank suggests a specific level of investor adoption relative to the broader universe of tracked funds. Its position in the lower half of the overall ranking reflects its current standing among the 458 ETFs monitored by the platform.

Recent price action shows a sharp decline over the last month, with the fund falling 18.61% over one month and 13.73% over three months. Short-term volatility is evident, as the fund dropped 5.70% in the last week and 4.53% in the single day prior to the report. Despite these recent losses, the fund has posted a year-to-date return of +6.00% and a one-year return of +33.56%. However, the longer-term trajectory remains negative, with a three-year return of -8.46%. This pattern indicates a divergence where recent short-term declines have offset significant gains from the previous year, resulting in a net loss over the three-year horizon.

QCLN carries a volatility label of Very High and a beta of 2.11, indicating that the fund's price movements are significantly more sensitive to market changes than the broader market. This high sensitivity is reflected in a maximum drawdown of -54.65%, representing the largest peak-to-trough decline experienced by the fund. The Sharpe ratio of 0.72 suggests that the returns generated have not fully compensated for the substantial risk taken relative to the volatility. Together, these metrics describe a fund that experiences extreme price swings, delivering high returns during up markets but suffering severe losses during down markets.

AI-generated summary based on the data on this page.

QCLN Top Holdings

Holdings as of 2026-03-31 per the fund's most recent SEC N-PORT-P filing. Top 10 holdings make up 58.6% of net assets — a rough gauge of concentration risk (the higher this figure, the more the fund's return depends on a handful of names). To see how QCLN's holdings overlap with other ETFs you own or are considering, check the Stock Overlap tool.

Which Funds Overlap With QCLN

Holding two funds that own the same companies adds cost and complexity without adding much diversification. These tracked ETFs share the most names with QCLN's top 10 — ICLN overlaps most, holding 3 of the same companies as QCLN's top 10 (19.1% of QCLN's assets).

Compares the top 10 reported holdings of each fund, so it's a floor on true overlap — two S&P 500 trackers overlap ~100% even when only 10 names are listed. Use the Stock Overlap tool to search by individual company.

Market Backdrop

10-Year Treasury Yield: 4.71% (as of 2026-07-23) — The yield on 10-year US Treasury bonds — the standard "risk-free rate" benchmark used to contextualize this fund’s Sharpe ratio and returns.

CBOE Volatility Index (VIX): 18.70 (as of 2026-07-23) — A real-time gauge of expected S&P 500 volatility over the next 30 days — useful context for this fund’s own volatility label.

Federal Funds Rate: 3.63% (as of 2026-06-01) — The Federal Reserve’s target policy rate, which anchors short-term borrowing costs across the economy.

QCLN Liquidity, Domicile & Tax Treatment

Liquidity: Quoted bid/ask spread is 0.28% and average daily volume is 242K/day. Tighter spreads and higher volume mean lower round-trip trading costs; this is a live-market snapshot and can widen during volatile sessions. AUM of $837M provides ample scale, supporting tight spreads and issuer commitment to keep the fund open.

Domicile & tax treatment: QCLN is a US-domiciled, SEC-registered ('40 Act) exchange-traded fund. Dividends and capital gains distributions are reported to US investors on Form 1099-DIV, and the fund is not subject to the PFIC reporting or UCITS-specific rules that apply to Irish- or Luxembourg-domiciled funds. Non-US investors should note that US-domiciled ETFs are generally subject to 30% US withholding tax on dividends (unless reduced by treaty) and to US estate tax exposure on the position — Irish-domiciled UCITS ETFs tracking the same index often avoid both, which is why non-US residents frequently prefer the UCITS equivalent where one exists. This is general information, not tax advice — consult a tax professional for your situation.

QCLN Performance History

How QCLN Compares to Other Thematic ETFs