First Trust, the Wheaton, Ill.-based fund provider behind the popular Internet-linked ETF “FDN,” filed paperwork with U.S. regulators to market three dividend-focused equities ETFs and a commodities-linked fund, all of which are built around its alpha-seeking AlphaDex indexing methodology.

The three dividend ETFs will be the latest additions to a growing roster of dividend-focused funds designed to help investors navigate the uncertain global economic outlook with an equities portfolio that generates steady income at a time when stocks prices have been volatile and bonds unusually low yielding.

The market already boasts more than 50 dividend-focused funds, but the First Trust strategies add a quasi-active element to the security selection process that separates them from purely beta funds through its AlphaDex quantitative indexing methodology.

AlphaDex seeks to generate extra return relative to traditional beta market capitalization-weighted indexes by employing an active security selection process. First Trust already offers some 30 AlphaDex funds that tap into everything from country-specific, to size and style methodologies, the first of which was rolled out back in 2007.

The dividend ETFs and their respective strategies are:

• First Trust Dividend AlphaDex Fund, which will track a modified equal-dollar-weighted S&P index that is a subset of the S&P U.S. BMI Index—a rules-based U.S. equities benchmark comprised of more than 2,800 securities.

The fund cherry-picks stocks that may generate positive alpha relative to traditional passive-style indexes through First Trust’s AlphaDex selection methodology. It excludes any stocks of companies whose market capitalizations are less than a $5 billion, don’t trade at least $2.5 million in average daily dollar value; and don’t pay a dividend.

• First Trust Emerging Markets Dividend AlphaDex Fund is also designed as a modified equal-dollar-weighted subset of a larger benchmark: The S&P Emerging Markets BMI Index. It relies on the AlphaDex methodology to select only alpha-generating securities for the portfolio.

• First Trust International Dividend AlphaDex Fund is the developed country, ex-U.S. counterpart of the emerging markets dividend strategy. The fund picks securities from the S&P Developed ex U.S. BMI Index, which is a broadly comprehensive portfolio of developed market stocks, excluding the United States.

Commodities Play

First Trust also detailed plans to launch a commodities portfolio, the company’s first fund to tap into equities of companies involved with the precious metal, base metal, agriculture and energy sectors.

First Trust already offers nine AlphaDex sector ETFs, including funds focused on energy, industrials and materials companies.

The First Trust Global Commodity AlphaDex Fund will track a NYSE Euronext index, which is a custom enhanced modified equal-dollar-weighted benchmark that picks securities from the StrataQuant Global Commodity Index, which is a broad global portfolio of commodities-linked companies.

The fund invests in the top names by market capitalization.

Ticker and fees for the four ETFs weren’t disclosed. All funds will have primary listings on Arca, the New York Stock Exchange’s electronic trading platform.