First Trust Launches FT Energy Income Partners Strategy ETF

An actively managed ETF that provides exposure to energy and related industries

First Trust Advisors L.P. (“First Trust”), a leading exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) provider and asset manager, announced today that it has launched a new ETF, the FT Energy Income Partners Strategy ETF (NYSE Arca: EIPX) (the “fund”). The fund is managed and sub-advised by Energy Income Partners, LLC (“EIP”) and seeks risk-adjusted total return by investing at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in a portfolio of equity securities in the broader energy market.

“The energy sector has been a bright spot in 2022, producing robust returns even as the broader equity market declined. In our opinion, the energy sector remains an attractive opportunity as global demand for fossil fuels may reach record levels over the next few years, even as supply remains relatively tight,” said Ryan Issakainen, CFA, Senior Vice President, and ETF Strategist at First Trust. “We believe EIPX offers a unique strategy for long-term investors, providing dynamic exposure to energy, actively-managed by a team with a deep understanding of the sector and a proven track record,” Issakainen said.

The fund’s portfolio is selected based upon EIP’s belief that a professionally managed portfolio of energy companies offers an attractive balance of income and growth through a combination of dividends and capital appreciation. EIP believes that the attractive characteristics of the energy business can be materially enhanced through a rigorous application of investment research and portfolio construction tools that incorporate their wide industry knowledge and the discipline to balance expected total returns among yield, growth and expected changes in valuation.

“Rapid changes to the energy industry over the last five years have created a wider range of opportunities for investors than in the past. Low-cost renewables, shale, government policies, and environmental social and governance (“ESG”) pressures have widened valuation differentials between companies in the energy industry, and in many cases have changed management priorities. Capital discipline among the oil and gas producers today remains the most bullish development for investors, but the energy industry is always changing,” said John Tysseland, Co-Portfolio Manager and Principal of EIP. “EIPX is designed to evolve with these changes and invest in the best managed companies that are successfully navigating these changes,” Tysseland said.

For more information about First Trust, please contact Ryan Issakainen at (630) 765-8689 or RIssakainen@FTAdvisors.com.

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 $178 billion as of September 30, 2022 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 http://www.ftportfolios.com.

About EIP

Founded in 2003, EIP manages an approximate $4.8 billion portfolio (as of September 30, 2022) of well managed publicly traded energy companies that own natural monopolies or provide services under long term contracts that deliver stable and growing earnings. EIP’s expertise spans the entire energy sector but its investment focus is on companies that benefit from technological improvements that drive down the cost and environmental impact of the energy system while improving reliability and safety. The energy transition will take a long time so a fundamental knowledge of the cost and performance-related competitiveness of competing fuels such as oil, coal, hydrogen, renewables and nuclear is critical to investment success in energy over time.

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 SAI 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.

The Canadian economy is heavily dependent on the demand for natural resources and agricultural products. Canada is a major producer of certain commodities and any conditions that affect the supply and demand of these products could have a negative impact on the Canadian market as a whole and any a fund that invests in the securities of Canadian issuers.

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.

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.

Energy companies are subject to certain risks, including volatile fluctuations in price and supply of energy fuels, international politics, terrorist attacks, reduced demand, the success of exploration projects, natural disasters, clean-up and litigation costs relating to oil spills and environmental damage, and tax and other regulatory policies of various governments. Oil production and refining companies are subject to extensive federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations regarding air emissions and the disposal of hazardous materials and may be subject to tariffs. In addition, oil prices are generally subject to extreme volatility.

Energy infrastructure companies may be directly affected by energy commodity prices, especially those companies which own the underlying energy commodity. A decrease in the production or availability of commodities or a decrease in the volume of such commodities available for transportation, processing, storage or distribution may adversely impact the financial performance of energy infrastructure companies. In addition, energy infrastructure companies are subject to significant federal, state and local government regulation in virtually every aspect of their operations, which may negatively impact their financial performance.

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.

Political or economic disruptions in European countries, even in countries in which a fund is not invested, may adversely affect security values and thus the fund's holdings. A significant number of countries in Europe are member states in the European Union, and the member states no longer control their own monetary policies. In these member states, the authority to direct monetary policies, including money supply and official interest rates for the Euro, is exercised by the European Central Bank. The implications of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union are difficult to gauge and cannot yet be fully known.

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.

As inflation increases, the present value of a fund’s assets and distributions may decline.

The portfolio managers of an actively managed portfolio will apply investment techniques and risk analyses that may not have the desired result.

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, or other events could have significant negative impact on a fund. In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine which has caused and could continue to cause significant market disruptions and volatility within the markets in Russia, Europe, and the United States. The hostilities and sanctions resulting from those hostilities could have a significant impact on certain fund investments as well as fund performance. The COVID-19 global pandemic and the ensuing policies enacted by governments and central banks have caused and may continue to cause significant volatility and uncertainty in global financial markets. While the U.S. has resumed "reasonably" normal business activity, many countries continue to impose lockdown measures. Additionally, there is no guarantee that vaccines will be effective against emerging variants of the disease.

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.

Master limited partnerships ("MLPs") are subject to certain risks, including price and supply fluctuations caused by international politics, energy conservation, taxes, price controls, and other regulatory policies of various governments. In addition, there is the risk that MLPs could be taxed as corporations, resulting in decreased returns from such MLPs.

The benefit a fund derives from its investment in MLPs is largely dependent on their being treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A change in current tax law or a change in the underlying business mix of a given MLP could result in an MLP being treated as a corporation for income tax purposes which would result in the MLP being required to pay income tax at the applicable corporate tax rate.

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.

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.

A fund with significant exposure to a single asset class, country, region, industry, or sector may be more affected by an adverse economic or political development than a broadly diversified fund.

Securities of small- and mid-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.

Utilities companies are subject to imposition of rate caps, increased competition, difficulty in obtaining an adequate return on invested capital or in financing large construction projects, limitations on operations and increased costs attributable to environmental considerations and the capital market’s ability to absorb utility debt. Utilities companies may also be affected by taxes, government regulation, international politics, price and supply fluctuations, volatile interest rates and energy conservation.

First Trust Advisors L.P. is the adviser to the fund. First Trust Advisors L.P. is an affiliate of First Trust Portfolios L.P., the fund’s distributor.

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.

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