First Trust NASDAQ ABA Community Bank Index

QABA offers exposure to community banks, a sub-sector of the financial space that often receives little to no weight in broad-based indexes and ETFs. Community banks are often impacted by very different factors than giant Wall Street institutions, and as such QABA may offer be a way to complement exposure to big banks or to achieve financial exposure in a different manner. The hyper-targeted nature of this fund may diminish its appeal to those constructing long-term portfolios, but QABA can be an effective tool for establishing a tactical tilt, especially for opportunistic investors. This fund is dominated by small and mid cap stocks, and offers a risk/return profile that is unique even from regional banking ETFs such as KRE. The balanced nature of the portfolio is appealing, as QABA presents a way to play a high level investment thesis as opposed to concentrated developments in a small handful of stocks. Most investors will find this fund to be too targeted for their purposes, but it can be a very efficient way to play a specific strategy.