Which resets first, ARLU or MARM?

ARLU ends its outcome period on Mar 31, 2027 and MARM on Mar 19, 2027. A new cap is set the day after each.

Which is cheaper, ARLU or MARM?

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

ARLU vs MARM: which one stands where?

As of Oct 2, 2026 ARLU can fall 12.6% before its buffer engages and MARM 4.4%, and MARM resets 12 days sooner. AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped ETF - Apr and FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - March.

ARLU costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.8 points; MARM is 1.9 times larger.

	ARLU	MARM
Expense ratio	0.74%	0.85%
Net assets	$55m	$106m
Total return, 1 year	+9.0%	+6.2%
What it tracks	SPY	SPY
Holdings in common	not published

12.6%

ARLU can fall this far before its buffer

4.4%

MARM can fall this far before its buffer

uncapped

ARLU can still gain

2.3%

MARM can still gain

ARLUNo cap

ARLU: reference +18.3% since period start, fund +13.4%; buffer 0 to −15; no cap; No cap.

MARMAt its cap

MARM: reference +18.7% since period start, fund +3.8%; buffer 0 to −78; cap +7.0%; At its cap.

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

ARLU 7.7

MARM 94

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

A percentile among the 294 buffer ETFs with a live outcome period. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All buffer ETFs ranked by it → How it is computed →

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

Where each one stands today

MARM resets first, on Mar 19, 2027, 168 days from now; ARLU runs to Mar 31, 2027, 180 days. A fall from here reaches ARLU’s buffer after 12.6% and MARM’s after 4.4%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.

Every figure is ETFIQ’s own, from the issuer’s published outcome-period terms. A buffer ETF holds FLEX options on its reference index rather than shares, so there is no holdings overlap between two of them to report.

Performance, window by window

	Total return		Gap to the reference
Window	ARLU	MARM	ARLU	MARM
3 months	+2.4%	+1.4%	−1.2 pts	−2.2 pts
6 months	+12.9%	+3.3%	−5.0 pts	−14.6 pts
1 year	+9.0%	+6.2%	−7.3 pts	−10.1 pts

ARLU and MARM over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ. Open the live comparison on ETFIQ →

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

MARM

FT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - March · Absorbs the first 78% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 7.0%, over a period ending Mar 19, 2027

Issuer AllianzIM First Trust

Reference index SPY SPY

Buffer 15% 78%

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

Days left 180 168

Starting cap uncapped +7.0%

Can still gain uncapped 2.3%

Fall before buffer 12.6% 4.4%

Protection left, index points 15.0% of 15.0% 77.8% of 77.8%

Index return this period +18.3% +18.7%

Fund return this period +13.4% +3.8%

State today Uncapped At cap

Expense ratio 0.74% 0.85%

Net assets $55m $106m

ARLU and MARM on the same fields, as of Oct 2, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

ARLU in plain words

This fund has no cap. It takes a share of any further rise in SPY. The fund's price can fall 12.6% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 15.5% 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. 180 days remained on Oct 2, 2026. On Mar 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.

MARM in plain words

SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +7.0% for the period on Oct 2, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 2.3% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 4.4% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 15.7% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 77.8% of the 77.8% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 168 days remained on Oct 2, 2026. On Mar 19, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.

Questions people ask

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

Other comparisons

ARLU vs GMAR ARLU vs XBAP ARLU vs XMAR ARLU vs ZAPR MARM vs BAPR MARM vs CPSP MARM vs FLAO MARM vs PAPR

SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust →ARLU on its own →MARM 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 ↗MARM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗First Trust page for MARM ↗

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page

ETFIQ, ARLU against MARM, data as of Oct 2, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/arlu-vs-marm

Open data

Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. Every figure is calculated from a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology.