Which resets first, AAPR or ARLU?

AAPR ends its outcome period on Mar 31, 2028 and ARLU on Mar 31, 2027. New terms are set the day after each.

Which is cheaper, AAPR or ARLU?

AAPR charges 0.79% a year and ARLU charges 0.74%, so ARLU is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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AAPR vs ARLU: Cap, Buffer & Days Left

As of Oct 13, 2026 ARLU can fall 13.5% before its buffer engages and AAPR 4.3%, and ARLU resets 366 days sooner. Net assets on Oct 13, 2026: $71m for Innovator Equity Defined Protection ETF - Apr 2028 and $56m for AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped ETF - Apr.

ARLU costs 0.05 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.8 points; AAPR is 1.3 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

AAPR vs ARLU: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
	AAPR	ARLU
Expense ratio	0.79%	0.74%
Net assets	$71m	$56m
Total return, 1 year	+7.2%	+11.0%
What it tracks	SPY	SPY
Holdings in common	not published
Index fall to the buffer	16.4%

4.3%

AAPR can fall this far before its buffer

13.5%

ARLU can fall this far before its buffer

10.8%

AAPR can still gain

uncapped

ARLU can still gain

AAPRAt its cap

AAPR: reference +19.6% since period start, fund +4.0%; buffer Floor; cap +15.7%; At its cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.

Figures to Oct 13, 2026.

ARLUNo cap

ARLU: reference +19.6% since period start, fund +14.6%; buffer 0 to −15; no cap; No cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.

These are two different products. AAPR is a floor fund, which caps how far a holder can fall. ARLU is a buffer fund, which absorbs the first part of a fall and leaves everything below it with the holder.

AAPR is already at its cap, so more rise in the index adds nothing to it before the period ends.

They do not reset together. ARLU has 169 days of its period left and AAPR has 535, so the two are not the same bet on the same months.

Where each one stands today

ARLU resets first, on Mar 31, 2027, 169 days from now; AAPR runs to Mar 31, 2028, 535 days. A fall from here reaches AAPR’s buffer after 4.3% and ARLU’s after 13.5%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.

Performance, window by window

Performance, window by window: AAPR vs ARLU: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
	Total return		Gap to the reference's price return
Window	AAPR	ARLU	AAPR	ARLU
3 months	+1.2%	+2.6%	−2.3 pts	−0.9 pts
6 months	+2.2%	+9.6%	−9.8 pts	−2.5 pts
1 year	+7.2%	+11.0%	−10.1 pts	−6.3 pts
Since launch AAPR Apr 2024 · ARLU Apr 2024	+20.6%	+31.7%	−28.4 pts	−17.3 pts

Each fund's gap is to its reference's price return, dividends left out: the basis the outcome period uses. Source: ETFIQ. Open this comparison in the app →

On the same fields

AAPR

Innovator Equity Defined Protection ETF - Apr 2028 · Absorbs the whole loss on SPY and caps the gain at 15.7%, over a period ending Mar 31, 2028

ARLU

AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped ETF - Apr · Absorbs the first 15% of loss on SPY and does not cap the gain, over a period ending Mar 31, 2027

Issuer Innovator AllianzIM

Reference index SPY SPY

Buffer 100% 15%

Outcome period Mar 31, 2026 to Mar 31, 2028 Apr 1, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027

Days left 535 169

Starting cap +15.7% uncapped

Can still gain 10.8% uncapped

Fall before buffer 4.3% 13.5%

Protection left, index points 100.0% of 100.0% 15.0% of 15.0%

Index return this period +19.6% +19.6%

Fund return this period +4.0% +14.6%

State today At cap Uncapped

Expense ratio 0.79% 0.74%

Net assets $71m $56m

As of Oct 13, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About AAPR

SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +15.7% for the period on Oct 13, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 10.8% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 4.3% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 16.4% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 100.0% of the 100.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 535 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Mar 31, 2028 the period ends and a new cap is set.

About ARLU

This fund has no cap. It takes a share of any further rise in SPY. The fund's price can fall 13.5% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. Protection left, in index points: 15.0% of the 15.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 169 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Mar 31, 2027 the period ends and new terms are set.

Questions people ask

Which resets first, AAPR or ARLU?: AAPR ends its outcome period on Mar 31, 2028 and ARLU on Mar 31, 2027. New terms are set the day after each.
Which is cheaper, AAPR or ARLU?: AAPR charges 0.79% a year and ARLU charges 0.74%, so ARLU is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

AAPR vs DDFA AAPR vs APRT AAPR vs ZAPR AAPR vs APOC ARLU vs ZAPR ARLU vs APOC ARLU vs DDFA ARLU vs MARM

SPY →All buffer ETFs ranked by the Downside Cover Score →How the scores are computed →AAPR on its own →ARLU on its own →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

Innovator page for AAPR ↗ARLU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗AllianzIM page for ARLU ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

ETFIQ calculates every figure from each issuer’s published outcome-period terms. Buffer ETFs hold options on an index, not shares, so there is no holdings overlap to report.

Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, AAPR against ARLU, data as of Oct 13, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/aapr-vs-arlu

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.