Which resets first, ARLU or DMAR?

ARLU ends its outcome period on Mar 31, 2027 and DMAR on Mar 19, 2027. New terms are set the day after each.

Which is cheaper, ARLU or DMAR?

ARLU charges 0.74% a year and DMAR charges 0.85%, so ARLU is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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ARLU vs DMAR: Cap, Buffer & Days Left

As of Oct 13, 2026 ARLU can fall 13.4% before its buffer engages and DMAR 13.4%, and DMAR resets 12 days sooner. Net assets on Oct 12, 2026: $56m for AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped ETF - Apr and $466m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - March.

ARLU costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.9 points; DMAR is 8.3 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

ARLU vs DMAR: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
	ARLU	DMAR
Expense ratio	0.74%	0.85%
Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026	$56m	$466m
Total return, 1 year	+12.4%	+13.3%
What it tracks	SPY	SPY
Holdings in common	not published
Index fall to the buffer	16.3%	20.7%

13.4%

ARLU can fall this far before its buffer

13.4%

DMAR can fall this far before its buffer

uncapped

ARLU can still gain

3.3%

DMAR can still gain

ARLUNo cap

ARLU: reference +19.5% since period start, fund +14.5%; buffer 0 to −15; no cap; No cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.

DMARAt its cap

DMAR: reference +19.8% since period start, fund +8.7%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +13.1%; At its cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.

ETFIQ Downside Cover Score · DMAR scores higherIf the market falls into a bear market from here, how much does the buffer absorb?

ARLU 5.1

DMAR 5.7

0.2, the lowest in this set99.8, the highest

A percentile among the 292 buffer ETFs on stocks with a live outcome period. Today's position against one 20% fall; it ignores smaller falls, and stock buffers are never ranked against bond or commodity ones. All buffer ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →

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

Where each one stands today

DMAR resets first, on Mar 19, 2027, 157 days from now; ARLU runs to Mar 31, 2027, 169 days. A fall from here reaches ARLU’s buffer after 13.4% and DMAR’s after 13.4%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.

Performance, window by window

Performance, window by window: ARLU vs DMAR: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
	Total return		Gap to the reference's price return
Window	ARLU	DMAR	ARLU	DMAR
3 months	+2.8%	+2.5%	−1.0 pts	−1.4 pts
6 months	+10.6%	+5.8%	−2.9 pts	−7.6 pts
1 year	+12.4%	+13.3%	−6.7 pts	−5.8 pts
3 years	not published	+42.1%	not published	−38.2 pts
Since launch Not the same days: ARLU Apr 2024 · DMAR Mar 2021	+31.6%	+54.2%	−17.4 pts	−44.0 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

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

DMAR

FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - March · Absorbs losses from 5.0% to 30.0% on SPY and caps the gain at 13.1%, over a period ending Mar 19, 2027

Issuer AllianzIM First Trust

Reference index SPY SPY

Buffer 15% 5% to 30%

Outcome period Apr 1, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027 Mar 23, 2026 to Mar 19, 2027

Days left 169 157

Starting cap uncapped +13.1%

Can still gain uncapped 3.3%

Fall before buffer 13.4% 13.4%

Protection left, index points 15.0% of 15.0% 25.0% of 25.0%

Index return this period +19.5% +19.8%

Fund return this period +14.5% +8.7%

State today Uncapped At cap

Expense ratio 0.74% 0.85%

Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 $56m $466m

As of Oct 13, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

About ARLU

This fund has no cap. It takes a share of any further rise in SPY. The fund's price can fall 13.4% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 16.3% 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. 169 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Mar 31, 2027 the period ends and new terms are set.

About DMAR

SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +13.1% 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 3.3% as the period runs out. In index terms, SPY can fall 20.7% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 25.0% of the 25.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 157 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Mar 19, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

Which resets first, ARLU or DMAR?: ARLU ends its outcome period on Mar 31, 2027 and DMAR on Mar 19, 2027. New terms are set the day after each.
Which is cheaper, ARLU or DMAR?: ARLU charges 0.74% a year and DMAR charges 0.85%, so ARLU is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

ARLU vs FMAR ARLU vs GMAR ARLU vs BAPR ARLU vs PAPR DMAR vs CPSP DMAR vs FLAO DMAR vs DDFA DMAR vs PBAP

SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust →ARLU on its own →DMAR on its own →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

ARLU filings on SEC EDGAR ↗AllianzIM page for ARLU ↗DMAR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗First Trust page for DMAR ↗

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

How this is computed

It is a place in a set, not a rating or a recommendation.

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

Open data

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