First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund FTHY

Competitive advantage analysis · financial-services

Asset Management Specialized
Overall moat score
65/100
Moderate

Ranked against 174 peers in Asset Management

Key strengths

  • Premium Fee Margins Fee margin quality is strong (score 0.76).
  • Lean Compensation Structure Compensation discipline is strong (cost efficiency score 0.76).

Key risks

  • Below-Peer Return on Equity Return on equity lags peers (score 0.34).

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

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Fee Revenue Quality

Strong
82
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Signals, strengths and risks for Fee Revenue Quality

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Signals, strengths and risks for Client Retention & Revenue Stickiness

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Signals, strengths and risks for Compensation Discipline

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Earnings Quality & Cash Conversion

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Signals, strengths and risks for Balance Sheet Strength

Where FTHY ranks in Asset Management

First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund ranks #15 of 173 scored companies in Asset Management by moat score — the top 9%. The widest moat in the group is Sound Point Meridian Capital Inc (SPMC) at 77/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
11 BlackRock ESG Capital Allocation Term Trust ECAT 68/100 Moderate
12 FS Credit Opportunities Corp. FSCO 67/100 Moderate
13 Cohen & Steers Real Estate Oppo RLTY 67/100 Moderate
14 PGIM Short Duration High Yield Opportunities Fund SDHY 67/100 Moderate
15 First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund FTHY 65/100 Moderate
16 abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund ASGI 65/100 Moderate
17 PIMCO Access Income Fund PAXS 65/100 Moderate
18 SEI Investments Company SEIC 65/100 Moderate
19 MainStay CBRE Global Infrastructure Megatrends Fund MEGI 65/100 Moderate

See every Asset Management & Capital Markets company ranked by moat score →

How FTHY scores on the Asset Management Specialized defenses

Fee Revenue Quality

Score 82 · 20% of the moat score

Fee revenue quality is the ability to charge above the industry's falling average and keep charging it.

Client Retention & Revenue Stickiness

Score 66 · 18% of the moat score

Assets under management leave far more easily than they arrive, and the fee leaves with them.

Compensation Discipline

Score 66 · 18% of the moat score

Compensation is the largest expense in asset management and the one that decides whether a good year ever reaches shareholders.

Capital Efficiency

Score 38 · 20% of the moat score

Asset managers are asset-light: with little capital employed, a healthy business should earn a very high return on equity, and a merely average one is a real warning.

Earnings Quality & Cash Conversion

Score 73 · 14% of the moat score

Reported profits here can be flattered by performance fees, seed-capital gains and consolidated fund accounting, none of which recur reliably.

Balance Sheet Strength

Score 74 · 10% of the moat score

Because the business needs so little capital, an asset manager carrying meaningful debt has usually borrowed to buy another manager or to fund distributions.

How each Asset Management Specialized defense is measured, in full →

Understanding FTHY's moat

What is First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund's moat score?

First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund (FTHY) scores 65 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as moderate. It ranks #15 of 173 scored companies in Asset Management, the top 9%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 174 companies in Asset Management. Its strongest defense is Fee Revenue Quality (82/100) and its weakest is Capital Efficiency (38/100).

How does First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund compare with other Asset Management companies?

First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund ranks #15 of 173 scored companies in Asset Management by moat score. The widest moat in Asset Management is Sound Point Meridian Capital Inc (SPMC) at 77/100. The companies ranked closest are PGIM Short Duration High Yield Opportunities Fund (SDHY) at 67 just above it and abrdn Global Infrastructure Income Fund (ASGI) at 65 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — Asset Management Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 174 companies in Asset Management. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund scored with the Asset Management Specialized template?

An asset manager owns almost nothing. It charges a fee on someone else's money, pays much of that fee out in compensation, and keeps the remainder — so its economics turn on the fee rate it can defend, whether client money stays, and how much revenue survives the bonus pool. The Asset Management template scores those questions rather than the balance sheet, which in this industry is largely beside the point.

Which competitive defenses are measured for First Trust High Yield Opportunities 2027 Term Fund?

The Asset Management Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and FTHY scores: Fee Revenue Quality (82), Client Retention & Revenue Stickiness (66), Compensation Discipline (66), Capital Efficiency (38), Earnings Quality & Cash Conversion (73), Balance Sheet Strength (74). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

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