Which resets first, ARLU or PBAP?

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

Which is cheaper, ARLU or PBAP?

ARLU charges 0.74% a year and PBAP charges 0.50%, so PBAP is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

ARLU vs PBAP: which one stands where?

As of Oct 2, 2026 ARLU can fall 12.6% before its buffer engages and PBAP 7.8%. AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped ETF - Apr and PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - April .

PBAP costs 0.24 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.6 points; ARLU is 1.5 times larger.

	ARLU	PBAP
Expense ratio	0.74%	0.50%
Net assets	$55m	$37m
Total return, 1 year	+9.0%	+11.6%
What it tracks	SPY	SPY
Holdings in common	not published

12.6%

ARLU can fall this far before its buffer

7.8%

PBAP can fall this far before its buffer

uncapped

ARLU can still gain

3.9%

PBAP can still gain

ARLUNo cap

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

PBAPAt its cap

PBAP: reference +18.3% since period start, fund +7.9%; buffer 0 to −20; cap +12.6%; At its cap.

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

ARLU 7.7

PBAP 59

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 →

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

Where each one stands today

ARLU resets first, on Mar 31, 2027, 180 days from now; PBAP runs to Mar 31, 2027, 180 days. A fall from here reaches ARLU’s buffer after 12.6% and PBAP’s after 7.8%. 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	PBAP	ARLU	PBAP
3 months	+2.4%	+2.3%	−1.2 pts	−1.3 pts
6 months	+12.9%	+7.2%	−5.0 pts	−10.8 pts
1 year	+9.0%	+11.6%	−7.3 pts	−4.7 pts

ARLU and PBAP 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

PBAP

PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETF - April · Absorbs the first 20% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 12.6%, over a period ending Mar 31, 2027

Issuer AllianzIM PGIM

Reference index SPY SPY

Buffer 15% 20%

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

Days left 180 180

Starting cap uncapped +12.6%

Can still gain uncapped 3.9%

Fall before buffer 12.6% 7.8%

Protection left, index points 15.0% of 15.0% 20.0% of 20.0%

Index return this period +18.3% +18.3%

Fund return this period +13.4% +7.9%

State today Uncapped At cap

Expense ratio 0.74% 0.50%

Net assets $55m $37m

ARLU and PBAP 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.

PBAP in plain words

SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +12.6% 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 3.9% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 7.8% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. Protection left, in index points: 20.0% of the 20.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level.

Questions people ask

Which resets first, ARLU or PBAP?: ARLU ends its outcome period on Mar 31, 2027 and PBAP on Mar 31, 2027. A new cap is set the day after each.
Which is cheaper, ARLU or PBAP?: ARLU charges 0.74% a year and PBAP charges 0.50%, so PBAP is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

ARLU vs PAPR ARLU vs SIXO ARLU vs TAPR ARLU vs UAPR PBAP vs ZAPR PBAP vs BAPR PBAP vs CPSP PBAP vs DDFA

SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust →ARLU on its own →PBAP 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 ↗PBAP filings on SEC EDGAR ↗PGIM website ↗

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 PBAP, data as of Oct 2, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/arlu-vs-pbap

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.