First Trust is an American financial services firm based in Wheaton, Illinois. The firm is primarily engaged in issuing exchange-traded fund (ETF) products. However, it is also involved with other products such as unit investment trusts (UIT), mutual funds, and separately managed accounts for institutional investors.
First Trust was one of the first ETF providers to offer smart beta funds and thematic ETFs. Despite being one of the largest ETF issuers as well as UIT issuers, the firm has maintained a low profile.[2][3]
Background
In 1967, Robert Van Kampen, who had previously worked at Nuveen, co-founded an investment banking firm, Van Kampen, Wauterlek & Brown, which was later renamed to Clayton Brown & Associates. In 1974, he left the firm to found another firm, Van Kampen Merritt, that was later acquired by Xerox