Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
EBUF vs IEMG: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, EBUF returned +9.7% to IEMG's +15.3%, and IEMG charges 0.09% to EBUF's 0.89%.
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Net assets: $45m on Oct 28, 2026 for Innovator Emerging Markets 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly, and $150.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Core MSCI Emerging Markets ETF.
Pair scorecard
IEMG costs 0.80 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 5.6 points; IEMG is far larger, $150.4bn against $45m.
| Measure | EBUF | IEMG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +9.7% | +15.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 10.1%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | EEM | MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI) |
| The outcome period | ||
| Room to the cap | 7.6% | |
| Buffer left, in index points | 5.0% of 10.0% | |
| Days left in the period | 64 | |
| Period ends | Dec 31, 2026 | |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.89% | 0.09% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $45m | $150.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| In the S&P 500, by weight | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 32.7% | |
Risk and return
Jul 12, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 119 weekly returns · each against EEMIEMG returned more: +44.0% to +21.6%. EBUF swung less: 6.2% to 19.0%. EBUF fell less at its worst: −4.8% to −12.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | EBUF | IEMG | EEM | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +21.6% | +44.0% | IEMG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +8.9% | +17.3% | IEMG | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +21.6% | +35.8% | IEMG | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 6.2% | 19.0% | EBUF | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 4.5% | 13.4% | EBUF | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −4.8% | −12.3% | EBUF | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 21.4% | 94.5% | 100.0% | IEMG | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 36.8% | 98.2% | 100.0% | EBUF | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.27 | 0.97 | 1.00 | EBUF lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.73 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.73 | 0.72 | EBUF (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.02 | 1.01 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.168 | 0.140 | 0.143 | EBUF | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.85 | 1.41 | EBUF | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | EEM | EEM | EEM | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.7% a year | −0.2% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.32 | −0.26 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −3.6% to +4.9% | −1.8% to +1.4% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.66 | −0.50 | IEMG | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 14.6% | 1.4% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 119 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Side by side
EBUF and IEMG on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
EBUF and IEMG do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. EBUF follows EEM and IEMG follows MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 EBUF returned +9.7% and IEMG +15.3% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 5.6 points.
- Cost. EBUF charges 0.89% of assets a year and IEMG 0.09%, a gap of 0.80 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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EBUF
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 7.6% more before it reaches its cap. Protection left, in index points: 5.0% of the 10.0% buffer still sits below today's EEM level. 64 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Dec 31, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.
IEMG
IEMG tracks the MSCI Emerging Markets. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +15.3% with distributions reinvested, against +16.3% for its benchmark, the MSCI Emerging Markets Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,857 positions, with the top ten at 32.7%. It sat 10.1% below its high of Jun 22, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are EBUF and IEMG in the same category?
- EBUF is a buffer ETF and IEMG is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, EBUF or IEMG?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, EBUF returned +9.7% and IEMG +15.3%.
- Which is cheaper, EBUF or IEMG?
- IEMG is cheaper, by 0.80 percentage points a year. That is about $80 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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ETFIQ, EBUF against IEMG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ebuf-vs-iemg
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