Are SPY and UOCT the same kind of fund?

Name: ETFIQ comparison of SPY and UOCT
Creator: ETFIQ
License: https://etfiq.com/standards/

No. SPY is an index ETF and UOCT is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Data as of Sep 4, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.

SPY vs UOCT

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and Innovator U.S. Equity Ultra Buffer ETF - Oct.

SPY and UOCT on the fields both publish, as of Sep 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
	SPY SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust	UOCT Innovator U.S. Equity Ultra Buffer ETF - Oct
Where it sits	Core fund	Buffer desk
Issuer	State Street	Innovator
What it is	S&P 500, book from IVV	Defined outcome, on SPY
Total return, 1 year	+20.0%	not published
S&P 500 over the same days	+20.0%	not published
Gap to the S&P 500	+0.0 pts	not available
Expense ratio	not published	0.79%
Holdings	504	n/a

SPY in plain words

SPY is a index equity fund tracking S&P 500, book from IVV. Over the year to Sep 4, 2026 it returned +20.0% with distributions reinvested, against +20.0% for the S&P 500 and +25.6% for the Nasdaq-100. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 504 positions, with the top ten at 36.4%.

UOCT in plain words

SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +11.0% for the period on Sep 4, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 0.5% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 14.2% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 17.8% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 30.0% of the 30.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 26 days remained on Sep 4, 2026. On Sep 30, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

Are SPY and UOCT the same kind of fund?: No. SPY is an index ETF and UOCT is a buffer ETF, so they are built for different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and what each actually holds.

Other comparisons

Where to next

Cite this page. ETFIQ, SPY against UOCT, data as of Sep 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/SPY-UOCT.html Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

A comparison is not a recommendation. ETFIQ publishes the same fields for every fund and suggests no allocation. Standards and sources