equityquant.dev

Metadata

Date

08.18.25
Reading Time

5min.
Categories

Defined Outcome, Options

Blog

Reuters recently claimed in an article that there are some 350 buffer funds with a combined $70 billion in net assets. Wow. Big number! Is this accurate? It's complicated. In our view, 350 maybe overstates the group by a factor of almost 12.

Buffers come in many flavours and serve different risk assets, including Bitcoin. But they aren't conceived in single file. If one buffer comes to the market, so do 11 more. Think of these buffer fund-of-funds as 12 funds wearing an ETF trenchcoat. In a ladder, 12 ETFs are held in roughly equal weighting to represent each month's boundaries with reference to the index's then value, rolling the average downside protection and cap. We talk about this in more detail in Still Buffering. These monthly holdings are described as "series" or "vintages". For this reason, we take Reuters’ headline-grabbing funds tally with a pinch of salt. SEC N-Port reveals 276 ETFs with a defined outcome strategy. And bucketing them into these vintages, where each January–December (or variations therein) ETF is counted as a vintage of one fund, rather than as separate funds, reveals a more sensible figure than 350: 16. There are 16 vintage families of ETFs from First Trust Vest, AllianzIM, PGIM, Innovator, Pacer ETFs and iShares.

The table shows these 16 families of buffer funds, and their net assets. Click each fund name to see every vintage (or series)

Table: Monthly Buffer ETF fund-of-funds and their monthly series

Click to sort rows by [object Object] header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by [object Object] header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by [object Object] header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by [object Object] header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by [object Object] header in ascending order	Click to sort rows by [object Object] header in ascending order
BUFY	FT Vest Laddered International Moderate Buffer ETF	32.36m	21.50	1.00	14.14
YSEP	FT Vest International Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - September	93.69m	24.99	0.90	15.12
YMAR	FT Vest International Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - March	133.88m	26.03	0.90	14.05
YJUN	FT Vest International Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - June	171.89m	24.80	0.90	15.23
YDEC	FT Vest International Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - December	74.94m	25.47	0.90	12.85
BUFD	FT Vest Laddered Deep Buffer ETF	1.38bn	27.18	0.95	6.76
DAPR	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - April	278.32m	38.27	0.85	2.94
DAUG	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - August	291.63m	42.78	0.85	7.91
DDEC	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - December	342.32m	42.84	0.85	6.80
DFEB	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - February	407.30m	45.66	0.85	6.90
DJAN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - January	346.90m	41.32	0.85	5.79
DJUL	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - July	383.76m	45.91	0.85	9.34
DJUN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - June	282.03m	45.83	0.85	6.06
DMAR	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - March	357.93m	40.33	0.85	5.76
DMAY	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - May	284.90m	43.69	0.85	7.67
DNOV	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - November	321.08m	45.90	0.85	7.27
DOCT	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - October	326.35m	42.25	0.85	7.32
DSEP	FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - September	262.78m	43.61	0.85	7.59
BUFS	FT Vest Laddered Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETF	93.29m	21.94	1.00	3.05
SAUG	FT Vest U.S. Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETF - August	97.78m	24.50	0.90	4.03
SFEB	FT Vest U.S. Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETF - February	84.37m	22.27	0.90	3.88
SMAY	FT Vest U.S. Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETF - May	100.69m	24.88	0.90	0.40
SNOV	FT Vest U.S. Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETF - November	129.53m	24.09	0.90	4.37
BUFR	FT Vest Laddered Buffer ETF	7.12bn	32.72	0.95	7.53
FOCT	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - October	953.57m	46.17	0.85	8.27
FAUG	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August	894.48m	50.70	0.85	9.08
FDEC	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - December	1.04bn	47.99	0.85	7.83
FFEB	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - February	1.07bn	53.84	0.85	8.32
FJAN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - January	1.10bn	48.96	0.85	6.68
FJUL	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - July	989.57m	53.52	0.85	9.56
FNOV	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - November	973.95m	51.64	0.85	7.95
FSEP	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - September	924.63m	49.58	0.85	8.46
FJUN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - June	976.88m	54.99	0.85	7.03
FMAY	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - May	1.02bn	51.32	0.85	8.34
FAPR	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - April	837.76m	42.99	0.85	4.12
FMAR	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - March	907.98m	45.73	0.85	5.86
BUFX	FT Vest Laddered Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF	4.08m	20.60	0.95	2.41
XDEC	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - December	194.53m	39.60	0.85	6.17
XFEB	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - February	48.00m	34.54	0.85	5.51
XOCT	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - October	116.61m	36.46	0.85	6.52
XJAN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - January	41.52m	35.60	0.85	5.56
XNOV	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - November	26.95m	36.20	0.85	6.15
XJUL	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - July	43.12m	37.83	0.85	6.68
XMAY	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - May	21.84m	33.86	0.85	7.25
XJUN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - June	143.96m	41.75	0.85	8.11
XSEP	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - September	125.14m	41.34	0.85	6.18
XMAR	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - March	174.73m	38.85	0.85	7.32
XAUG	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - August	26.14m	36.24	0.85	6.06
XAPR	FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - April	50.33m	35.55	0.85	9.81
BUFH	FT Vest Laddered Max Buffer ETF	3.04m	20.39	0.95	1.58
OCTM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - October	29.32m	31.90	0.85	4.57
SEPM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - September	23.28m	31.22	0.85	4.59
AUGM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - August	18.26m	33.31	0.85	4.47
DECM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - December	38.17m	31.97	0.85	3.95
JANM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - January	35.99m	32.14	0.85	2.91
NOVM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - November	21.40m	31.91	0.85	4.33
JULM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - July	29.42m	32.88	0.85	4.64
FEBM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - February	54.59m	29.65	0.85	2.88
APXM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - April	5.31m	30.52	0.85	3.60
JUNM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - June	66.82m	33.57	0.85	5.70
MARM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - March	130.54m	32.37	0.85	4.69
MAYM	FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - May	18.06m	31.55	0.85	1.99
BUFQ	FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF	1.01bn	34.07	1.00	8.54
QDEC	FT Vest Nasdaq-100® Buffer ETF - December	529.96m	30.10	0.90	9.80
QSPT	FT Vest Nasdaq-100® Buffer ETF - September	399.49m	30.51	0.90	10.26
QJUN	FT Vest Nasdaq-100® Buffer ETF - June	620.81m	30.37	0.90	8.04
QMAR	FT Vest Nasdaq-100® Buffer ETF - March	442.60m	31.66	0.90	6.44
BUFZ	FT Vest Laddered Moderate Buffer ETF	605.33m	25.47	0.95	6.61
GAUG	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - August	248.87m	37.88	0.85	7.31
GFEB	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - February	363.46m	39.87	0.85	6.86
GJUL	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - July	554.46m	39.83	0.85	8.70
GJUN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - June	344.77m	38.32	0.85	6.57
GMAY	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - May	305.65m	39.91	0.85	8.19
GOCT	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - October	221.72m	37.54	0.85	7.41
GDEC	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - December	302.93m	36.04	0.85	6.82
GJAN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - January	383.04m	40.95	0.85	5.74
GNOV	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - November	268.20m	37.36	0.85	6.96
GMAR	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - March	424.32m	39.67	0.85	5.98
GSEP	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - September	205.45m	37.60	0.85	7.28
GAPR	FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - April	247.12m	38.87	0.85	3.86
BUFF	Innovator Laddered Allocation Power Buffer ETF™	729.90m	48.14	0.89	7.10
PAPR	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - April	820.57m	37.94	0.79	3.60
PAUG	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - August	772.20m	41.70	0.79	8.53
PDEC	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - December	1.08bn	41.01	0.79	6.99
PFEB	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - February	845.98m	39.00	0.79	5.78
PJAN	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - January	1.25bn	45.01	0.79	6.69
PJUL	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - July	1.19bn	44.84	0.79	9.28
PJUN	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - June	756.95m	40.53	0.79	8.16
PMAR	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - March	662.81m	43.21	0.79	7.74
PMAY	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - May	637.73m	38.42	0.79	7.01
PNOV	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - November	666.74m	40.48	0.79	7.03
POCT	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - October	793.51m	42.42	0.79	7.66
PSEP	Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - September	724.52m	42.10	0.79	7.81
BUFB	Innovator Laddered Allocation Buffer ETF™	214.90m	34.91	0.89	7.93
BAPR	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - April	383.64m	46.22	0.79	4.61
BAUG	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August	162.68m	47.80	0.79	9.52
BDEC	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF -December	215.77m	46.45	0.79	7.98
BFEB	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - February	203.48m	46.01	0.79	6.91
BJAN	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - January	291.27m	51.77	0.79	8.18
BJUL	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - July	294.49m	48.47	0.79	8.96
BJUN	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - June	186.48m	44.91	0.79	8.28
BMAR	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - March	220.56m	50.43	0.79	9.49
BMAY	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - May	155.04m	43.20	0.79	7.18
BNOV	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - November	133.31m	42.56	0.79	8.40
BOCT	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - October	232.40m	46.96	0.79	8.76
BSEP	Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - September	165.89m	46.92	0.79	9.46
PBQQ	PGIM LADDERED NASDAQ-100 BUFFER 12 ETF	10.88m	27.50	0.50	9.54
PQAP	PGIM Nasdaq-100 Buffer 12 ETF - April	6.28m	27.40	0.50	9.18
PQJA	PGIM Nasdaq-100 Buffer 12 ETF - January	4.88m	27.34	0.50	9.56
PQJL	PGIM Nasdaq-100 Buffer 12 ETF - July	4.10m	27.59	0.50	10.59
PQOC	PGIM Nasdaq-100 Buffer 12 ETF - October	3.52m	27.18	0.50	7.53
BUFP	PGIM Laddered S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF	51.75m	28.83	0.50	7.91
APRP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - April	10.24m	28.70	0.50	4.11
AUGP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - August	6.47m	29.80	0.50	9.06
DECP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - December	8.18m	28.57	0.50	7.82
FEBP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - February	8.69m	30.24	0.50	6.43
JANP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - January	9.21m	31.11	0.50	7.55
JULP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - July	13.43m	29.55	0.50	8.97
JUNP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - June	8.75m	29.42	0.50	8.61
MAYP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - May	8.28m	29.89	0.50	7.35
MRCP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - March	9.99m	30.59	0.50	9.05
NOVP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - November	6.08m	29.34	0.50	10.62
OCTP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - October	20.61m	29.09	0.50	8.60
SEPP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF - September	8.06m	29.27	0.50	9.11
PBFR	PGIM Laddered S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF	55.28m	28.19	0.50	6.47
PBAP	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - April	22.08m	28.15	0.50	3.44
PBAU	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - August	7.73m	28.93	0.50	6.85
PBDE	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - December	25.00m	28.04	0.50	6.46
PBFB	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - February	15.07m	29.23	0.50	5.46
PBJA	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - January	39.20m	29.70	0.50	6.05
PBJL	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - July	22.09m	28.98	0.50	8.18
PBJN	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - June	18.42m	29.02	0.50	8.56
PBMR	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - March	14.30m	29.42	0.50	7.03
PBMY	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - May	13.34m	29.20	0.50	6.75
PBNV	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - November	9.34m	28.55	0.50	8.61
PBOC	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - October	9.24m	28.30	0.50	6.88
PBSE	PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - September	7.61m	28.46	0.50	7.12
SPBW	AllianzIM Buffer20 Allocation ETF	39.40m	26.54	0.79	5.89
APRW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Apr ETF	172.67m	33.90	0.74	3.25
AUGW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Aug ETF	117.56m	31.46	0.74	7.38
DECW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Dec ETF	396.15m	32.37	0.74	6.63
FEBW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Feb ETF	106.75m	32.65	0.74	5.25
JANW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Jan ETF	495.55m	35.67	0.74	6.02
JULW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Jul ETF	337.61m	37.88	0.74	7.97
JUNW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Jun ETF	64.33m	32.44	0.74	8.00
MARW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Mar ETF	85.53m	33.19	0.74	6.70
MAYW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 May ETF	76.95m	32.66	0.74	7.37
NVBW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Nov ETF	72.54m	32.88	0.74	6.39
OCTW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Oct ETF	230.67m	37.88	0.74	6.68
SEPW	AllianzIM U.S. Large Cap Buffer20 Sep ETF	64.98m	30.89	0.74	6.93
SPBU	AllianzIM Buffer15 Uncapped Allocation ETF	49.51m	26.77	0.79	8.28
ARLU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Apr ETF	43.95m	28.75	0.74	5.71
AUGU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Aug ETF	30.48m	28.09	0.74	7.40
DECU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Dec ETF	261.64m	26.04	0.74	6.48
FEBU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Feb ETF	52.14m	26.40	0.74	5.26
JANU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Jan ETF	75.24m	26.74	0.74	6.82
JNEU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Jun ETF	20.67m	28.90	0.74	6.34
JULU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Jul ETF	47.45m	28.29	0.74	7.03
MARU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Mar ETF	20.25m	26.46	0.74	7.25
MAYU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped May ETF	23.56m	29.88	0.74	5.35
NVBU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Nov ETF	28.34m	27.34	0.74	7.11
OCTU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Oct ETF	52.66m	26.98	0.74	6.60
SEPU	AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped Sep ETF	27.17m	27.58	0.74	7.14
PSFF	Pacer Swan SOS Fund of Funds ETF	479.53m	31.18	0.75	6.55
PSCQ	Pacer Swan SOS Conservative (October) ETF	39.42m	28.55	0.61	7.92
PSCJ	Pacer Swan SOS Conservative (July) ETF	38.74m	28.99	0.61	8.79
PSCW	Pacer Swan SOS Conservative (April) ETF	78.50m	27.06	0.61	3.28
PSCX	Pacer Swan SOS Conservative (January) ETF	31.51m	29.64	0.61	6.94
PSMO	Pacer Swan SOS Moderate (October) ETF	75.52m	29.70	0.60	7.66
PSMJ	Pacer Swan SOS Moderate (July) ETF	77.46m	31.01	0.61	9.19
PSMR	Pacer Swan SOS Moderate (April) ETF	89.64m	28.93	0.61	3.53
PSMD	Pacer Swan SOS Moderate (January) ETF	83.31m	31.16	0.61	6.88
PSFO	Pacer Swan SOS Flex (October) ETF	14.55m	31.09	0.61	8.24
PSFJ	Pacer Swan SOS Flex (July) ETF	29.10m	31.79	0.61	8.91
PSFM	Pacer Swan SOS Flex (April) ETF	22.89m	30.76	0.61	3.55
PSFD	Pacer Swan SOS Flex (January) ETF	49.29m	35.60	0.61	7.49

Source: equityquant.dev. Data as of September 2, 2025.

Note: To explain their absences: Alliance Bernstein and Goldman Sachs also have buffers with three-monthly vintages. Invesco has buffer funds that are not ETFs.

Buffer ETFs and their series