Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
AOCT vs GSEP: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 GSEP can fall 1.7% before its buffer engages and AOCT 1.1%, and GSEP resets 379 days sooner.
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Net assets: $69m on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator Equity Defined Protection ETF - Oct 2028, and $366m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - September.
AOCT: reference +0.5% since period start, fund +1.0%; buffer Floor; cap +21.3%; Full floor. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.GSEP: reference +0.7% since period start, fund +0.8%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +14.1%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
GSEP: reference +0.7% since period start, fund +0.8%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +14.1%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
AOCT costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 4.4 points; GSEP is 5.4 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | AOCT | GSEP |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +6.5% | +10.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 0.5% | 0.6% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $68m | $366m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
Risk and return
Oct 11, 2024 to Oct 30, 2026 · 107 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Oct 2024 to Oct 2026, GSEP returned more: +21.2% to +12.1%. AOCT swung less: 3.0% to 7.2%. AOCT fell less at its worst: −3.2% to −8.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | AOCT | GSEP | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +12.1% | +21.2% | GSEP | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +5.7% | +9.8% | GSEP | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +12.1% | +21.2% | GSEP | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 3.0% | 7.2% | AOCT | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 2.0% | 4.9% | AOCT | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −3.2% | −8.8% | AOCT | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 14.7% | 37.6% | 100.0% | GSEP | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 18.2% | 49.1% | 100.0% | AOCT | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.18 | 0.47 | 1.00 | AOCT lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.81 | 0.95 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.51 | 0.77 | GSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.78 | 1.14 | GSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.084 | 0.117 | 0.111 | GSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.81 | 1.11 | AOCT | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.5% a year | +0.3% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.53 | 0.28 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.3% to +1.3% | −1.9% to +2.5% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.78 | −0.69 | GSEP | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 12.2% | 8.0% | 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, 107 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | AOCT | GSEP | AOCT | GSEP |
| 3 months | +1.7% | +1.9% | +2.1 pts | +2.3 pts |
| 6 months | +3.2% | +4.9% | −1.2 pts | +0.4 pts |
| 1 year | +6.5% | +10.9% | −7.1 pts | −2.7 pts |
| 3 years | – | +41.6% | – | −34.8 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: AOCT Oct 2024 · GSEP Sep 2023 | +12.6% | +40.3% | −22.3 pts | −32.6 pts |
Each fund's gap is to its reference's price return, dividends left out: the basis the outcome period uses. – means no data for this window. Open this comparison in the app →
Side by side
As of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
These are two different products. AOCT is a floor fund, which caps how far a holder can fall. GSEP is a buffer fund, which absorbs the first part of a fall and leaves everything below it with the holder.
They do not reset together. GSEP has 317 days of its period left and AOCT has 696, so the two are not the same bet on the same months.
Where each one stands today
GSEP resets first, on Sep 17, 2027, 317 days from now; AOCT runs to Sep 30, 2028, 696 days. AOCT can still gain 20.0% before its cap, GSEP 12.3%. A fall from here reaches AOCT’s buffer after 1.1% and GSEP’s after 1.7%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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AOCT
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 20.0% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.1% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.5% 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. 696 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Sep 30, 2028 the period ends and a new cap is set.
GSEP
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 12.3% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.6% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 15.0% of the 15.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 317 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Sep 17, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
Questions people ask
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How this is computed
ETFIQ calculates every number 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 number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, AOCT against GSEP, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/aoct-vs-gsep
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). AOCT against GSEP. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/aoct-vs-gsep
[AOCT against GSEP (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/aoct-vs-gsep)
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