First Trust Value Line® Dividend Index Fund (FVD)

First Trust Value Line^®Dividend Index Fund (FVD)

FVD Celebrates 10-Years Outperforming the S&P 500 Index

WHEATON, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- First Trust Advisors L.P. ("First Trust") today announced that First Trust Value Line^® Dividend Index Fund (NYSE Arca: FVD), an index exchange-traded fund advised by First Trust, celebrated its 10-year anniversary while outperforming the S&P 500 Index. Over the past decade ending 8/30/13, the fund outperformed the S&P 500 Index by 2.0% annually. Among its accomplishments, the fund has achieved a 5-Star Overall Morningstar Rating™ as of 8/30/13, among 1028 funds in the Large Value category based on the ETF's Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure.§

Dividend-paying ETF strategies have grown in popularity with investors seeking income in a historically low interest rate environment. "While the field has become more crowded over the past few years, FVD has distinguished itself for over a decade as an effective tool for investors seeking below-average volatility with above-average dividends," said Ryan Issakainen, Senior Vice President and ETF Strategist at First Trust. More important than the simple dividend yield of the various ETFs, are the strategies in place to allocate into companies based off of their dividend policy, in our opinion. The methodology of the index that FVD tracks is not focused on finding the highest dividend-paying stocks. Rather, the index looks for quality companies as determined by Value Line's^® safety rankings that have an above-average dividend yield when compared to the S&P 500 dividend yield.

One important lesson investors have learned is that "chasing yield" is not always the best approach when implementing a dividend strategy. FVD seeks to counter this by providing dividend potential with a total return approach. This methodology has rewarded investors as FVD has performed well as compared to the S&P 500 over various time periods ending 8/30/13. Since its inception on August 19, 2003, FVD realized an 8.60% average annual total return vs. the S&P 500's 7.16%. Over the 5-year period, the fund had an average annual total return of 9.31% vs. the S&P 500's performance of 7.32%. The fund's 30-day SEC yield^† was 2.68% as of 8/30/13.

About the First Trust Value Line^®Dividend Index Fund (FVD)

This exchange-traded fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the fund's fees and expenses) of an equity index called the Value Line^® Dividend Index™.

The index begins with the universe of stocks that Value Line^® gives a Safety™ Ranking of #1 or #2 using the Value Line^® Safety™ Ranking System. All registered investment companies, limited partnerships and foreign securities not listed in the U.S. are removed from this universe. From those stocks, Value Line^® selects those companies with a higher than average dividend yield, as compared to the indicated dividend yield of the Standard & Poor's 500 Composite Stock Price Index. Value Line^® then eliminates those companies with an equity market capitalization of less than $1 billion. The index seeks to be equally weighted in each of the securities in the index. The index is rebalanced on the application of the above model on a monthly basis.

Gross Expense Ratio^: 0.76%
Net Expense Ratio: 0.70%

Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results and current performance may be higher or lower than performance quoted. Investment returns and principal value will fluctuate and shares when sold or redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. You can obtain performance information which is current through the most recent month-end by visiting ftportfolios.com.

For more information about First Trust, please contact Chris Moon of JCPR at 973-850-7304 or cmoon@jcprinc.com.

About First Trust

First Trust Advisors L.P., along with its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P., are privately-held companies which provide a variety of investment services, including asset management and financial advisory services, with collective assets under management or supervision of approximately $72 billion as of August 31, 2013 through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds and separate managed accounts. First Trust is based in Wheaton, Illinois. For more information, visit http://www.ftportfolios.com.

*On December 15, 2006, the fund acquired the assets and adopted the performance history of the First Trust Value Line® Dividend Fund, a closed-end fund. The investment goals, strategies and policies of the fund are substantially similar to those of the predecessor fund. Performance information for periods prior to December 15, 2006 is based on the performance history of the predecessor fund and reflects the operating expenses of the predecessor fund. After Tax Held returns represent return after taxes on distributions. Assumes shares have not been sold. After Tax Sold returns represent the return after taxes on distributions and the sale of fund shares. Returns do not represent the returns you would receive if you traded shares at other times. Market Price returns are based on the midpoint of the bid/ask spread. Returns are average annualized total returns, except those for periods of less than one year, which are cumulative. The fund's performance reflects fee waivers and expense reimbursements, absent which performance would have been lower. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on the investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. The after-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

**Performance information for the Value Line® Dividend Index™ is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent actual fund performance. The Index does not charge management fees or brokerage expenses, and no such fees or expenses were deducted from the performance shown. Indexes are unmanaged and an investor cannot invest directly in an index.

^Expenses are capped contractually at 0.70% per year, at least until April 30, 2014.

†30-day SEC yield is calculated by dividing the net investment income per share earned during the most recent 30-day period by the maximum offering price per share on the last day of the period.

You should consider the fund's investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing. Contact First Trust Portfolios L.P. at 1-800-621-1675 or visitwww.ftportfolios.comto obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information about the fund. The prospectus or summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

ETF Characteristics

The fund lists and principally trades its shares on the NYSE Arca, Inc.

The fund's return may not match the return of the Value Line® Dividend Index™. The fund may not be fully invested at times. Securities held by the fund will generally not be bought or sold in response to market fluctuations.

Investors buying or selling fund shares on the secondary market may incur customary brokerage commissions. Market prices may differ to some degree from the net asset value of the shares. Investors who sell fund shares may receive less than the share's net asset value. Shares may be sold throughout the day on the exchange through any brokerage account. However, unlike mutual funds, shares may only be redeemed directly from the fund by authorized participants, in very large creation/redemption units.

Risk Considerations

The fund's shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in the fund. One of the principal risks of investing in the fund is market risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular stock owned by the fund, fund shares or stocks in general may fall in value.

The fund may invest in securities issued by companies concentrated in a particular industry. The fund may invest in small capitalization and mid capitalization companies. Such companies may experience greater price volatility than larger, more established companies.

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.

"Value Line®" and "Value Line® Dividend Index" are trademarks of Value Line®, Inc. and have been licensed for use for certain purposes by First Trust on behalf of the Fund. The Fund, based on the Value Line® Dividend Index, is not sponsored, endorsed, sold, or promoted by Value Line®, Inc., and Value Line® makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Fund.

§This fund was rated 4 stars/1028 funds (3 years), 5 stars/928 funds (5 years), 5 stars/607 funds (10 years).The Morningstar Rating™ is provided for those exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") with at least a three-year history. Ratings are based on the ETF's Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure which accounts for variation in monthly performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. An ETF's risk-adjusted return includes a brokerage commission estimate. This estimate is intended to reflect what an average investor would pay when buying or selling an ETF. PLEASE NOTE, this estimate is subject to change and the actual brokerage commission an investor pays may be higher or lower than this estimate. Morningstar compares each ETF's risk-adjusted return to the open-end mutual fund rating breakpoints for that category. Consistent with the open-end mutual fund ratings, the top 10% of ETFs in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The overall rating for an ETF is based on a weighted average of the time-period ratings (e.g., the ETF's 3,5, and 10 year rating). The determination of an ETF's rating does not affect the retail open end mutual fund data published by Morningstar. ©2013 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Morningstar Rating™ information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

JCPR
Chris Moon
973-850-7304
cmoon@jcprinc.com

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