What Is FDN? First Trust Dow Jones Internet Index Fund

The index behind FDN admits companies that derive a substantial share of revenue from internet commerce or internet services, and splits them into commerce and services groups. When that rule was written, the distinction between an internet company and a technology company was meaningful. Today the largest technology companies sell devices, cloud infrastructure and semiconductors, and several of them do not qualify under a revenue test built for a different era.

The result is a portfolio with conspicuous absences. Apple, Microsoft and NVIDIA are among the largest companies in the world and none appears here. Meanwhile Cisco Systems sits at 8.5%, the third-largest weight, on the strength of selling the equipment that networks run on. Oracle at 4.6% and Salesforce at 4.1% represent enterprise software rather than consumer internet.

This is not a defect in the fund's execution. FDN tracks its index faithfully. It is a reminder that a thematic index encodes the definitions current at the time it was written, and that themes drift away from their definitions faster than indices are rewritten.

The ten largest positions come to 60.9% of the fund. Amazon at 10.0%, Meta at 9.8% and Cisco at 8.5% lead, with Alphabet contributing 10.0% across its Class A and Class C listings, which are one company held under two lines. Arista Networks and Booking Holdings sit at 5.0% each, Oracle at 4.6%, Salesforce at 4.1% and Netflix at 3.9%.

By sector, technology is 45%, consumer discretionary 26% and communication services 25%, with financials at 2% and industrials at 1%. Those three sectors carry essentially the entire fund. Anyone holding FDN is making a concentrated bet on a handful of very large companies, not taking diversified exposure to an industry.

The 0.00% yield is a straightforward consequence of which companies qualify. Internet businesses have historically reinvested rather than distributed, and the ones here that do pay dividends carry too little weight to register. Any return from this fund has to come from price movement, since there is no income component at all.

At 0.49%, FDN is priced well above broad technology index funds and above most sector ETFs. Part of that reflects its age: it launched in 2006, before fee competition compressed the sector, and it has retained assets, $5.0 billion of them, without needing to cut. Part reflects the specialised index licence behind it.

The practical comparison is against a broad technology fund or a communication services fund. Those hold many of the same companies, cost considerably less, and in most cases include the large technology names FDN's definition excludes. An investor who specifically wants the internet-revenue screen has a reason to pay the difference. An investor who assumed they were buying technology exposure generally is paying more for less coverage.

It is the wrong tool for an income requirement, given the 0.00% yield, and the wrong tool for anyone who cannot tolerate a fund where three positions account for nearly a third of assets. It is a targeted holding, and the targeting is narrower and older than the name conveys.

Approximate weights as of August 2026. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.

There are three common ways to get FDN exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) of FDN directly at any major broker that lists it. Hold it as a core position and layer more concentrated ideas on top. Or build it into a thematic portfolio in Walnut, so FDN sits alongside other holdings that express the same thesis, with target weights you can rebalance toward. FDN trades like a stock during market hours, so you buy it the same way you would any listed share.

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Whether FDN is a good buy depends less on any single call and more on your time horizon and what you already hold: it tracks the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index, so the real question is whether you want that exposure in your mix and at what weight. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is FDN a buy?

FDN gives you the Dow Jones Internet Composite Index exposure in one ticker at a 0.49% expense ratio. Most investors use it as a core holding and layer more concentrated thematic portfolios on top.

Whether FDN is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is FDN a buy?

FDN yields 0.00% as of August 2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see FDN dividend: yield and schedule.

New to funds like FDN? Start with what an ETF is, then how to buy an ETF, or browse the full guide to ETF investing.