Sabrient UITs & ETFs

Sabrient has partnered with First Trust Portfolios for several series of Unit Investment Trust portfolios (UITs) and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

UITs

Baker's Dozen Series
Defensive Equity Series
Dividend Series
Dividend Opportunity Series
Forward Looking Value Series
International Opportunity Series
Rising Rate Series
Small Cap Growth Series
Weak Treasury Series

ETFs

Sabrient provides the EQR component for the stock selection process for the First Trust Long/Short Equity ETF.

The UIT Process

The UIT selection process combines the research methodology of both Sabrient and Gradient Analytics.

For each UIT series, a quantitative, series-specific strategy is developed by the Sabrient research team, led by Chief Market Strategist David Brown.

A critical element of all strategies is the Sabrient/Gradient Earnings Quality Rank (EQR Rank), a proprietary forensic accounting factor that measures the aggressiveness of a company's accounting practices.

Companies in the bottom quintile of the EQR rankings are eliminated from consideration. This helps us avoid the risk of companies that could be overstating reported growth.

For each portfolio in the series, a list of strong candidates is compiled based on the relevant quant strategy. Then the Sabrient team, led David Brown, qualitatively reviews the list of stocks to select the final candidates.

The final step in the process is a review by the Gradient Analytics team, led by Director of Research Brent Miller, CFA.  This team further screens out any candidates that might not have been eliminated by the EQR rankings but that nevertheless demonstrate unique risks related to earnings quality, corporate governance, or insider trading.

The final candidates are released to First Trust for their final approval.