Which has more room to gain, BALT or ZALT?

From their prices on Oct 2, 2026, BALT can gain about 2.3% before its cap and ZALT about 3.2%, so ZALT has more room left this period.

Which resets first, BALT or ZALT?

BALT ends its outcome period on Dec 31, 2026 and ZALT on Dec 31, 2026. A new cap is set the day after each.

Which is cheaper, BALT or ZALT?

BALT charges 0.69% a year and ZALT charges 0.69%, so BALT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Share on X Download as PDF Open live

BALT vs ZALT: which one stands where?

As of Oct 2, 2026 ZALT can fall 0.4% before its buffer engages and BALT 0.2%. Innovator Defined Wealth Shield ETF - Quarterly and Innovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly.

their one-year returns differ by 2.0 points; BALT is 3.8 times larger.

	BALT	ZALT
Expense ratio	0.69%	0.69%
Net assets	$3.1bn	$808m
Total return, 1 year	+6.5%	+8.5%
What it tracks	SPY	SPY
Holdings in common	not published

0.2%

BALT can fall this far before its buffer

0.4%

ZALT can fall this far before its buffer

2.3%

BALT can still gain

3.2%

ZALT can still gain

BALTBetween buffer and cap

BALT: reference +0.9% since period start, fund +0.2%; buffer 0 to −20; cap +2.4%; Between buffer and cap.

ZALTBetween buffer and cap

ZALT: reference +0.9% since period start, fund +0.4%; buffer 0 to −10; cap +3.6%; Between buffer and cap.

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

BALT 99.8

ZALT 35.9

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 →

Both are Innovator funds, so the difference between them is the terms rather than the house.

Where each one stands today

BALT resets first, on Dec 31, 2026, 90 days from now; ZALT runs to Dec 31, 2026, 90 days. BALT can still gain 2.3% before its cap, ZALT 3.2%. A fall from here reaches BALT’s buffer after 0.2% and ZALT’s after 0.4%. 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	BALT	ZALT	BALT	ZALT
3 months	+2.1%	+2.4%	−1.5 pts	−1.2 pts
6 months	+4.4%	+6.1%	−13.6 pts	−11.8 pts
1 year	+6.5%	+8.5%	−9.7 pts	−7.7 pts
3 years	+26.1%	+36.3%	−63.2 pts	−53.0 pts

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

On the same fields

BALT

Innovator Defined Wealth Shield ETF - Quarterly · Absorbs the first 20% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 2.4%, over a period ending Dec 31, 2026

ZALT

Innovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly · Absorbs the first 10% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 3.6%, over a period ending Dec 31, 2026

Issuer Innovator Innovator

Reference index SPY SPY

Buffer 20% 10%

Outcome period Sep 30, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026 Sep 30, 2026 to Dec 31, 2026

Days left 90 90

Starting cap +2.4% +3.6%

Can still gain 2.3% 3.2%

Fall before buffer 0.2% 0.4%

Protection left, index points 20.0% of 20.0% 10.0% of 10.0%

Index return this period +0.9% +0.9%

Fund return this period +0.2% +0.4%

State today Open Open

Expense ratio 0.69% 0.69%

Net assets $3.1bn $808m

BALT and ZALT on the same fields, as of Oct 2, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

BALT in plain words

From its price on Oct 2, 2026, the fund can gain about 2.3% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 0.2% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.9% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 20.0% of the 20.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 90 days remained on Oct 2, 2026. On Dec 31, 2026 the period ends and a new cap is set.

ZALT in plain words

From its price on Oct 2, 2026, the fund can gain about 3.2% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 0.4% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. Protection left, in index points: 10.0% of the 10.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level.

Questions people ask

Which has more room to gain, BALT or ZALT?: From their prices on Oct 2, 2026, BALT can gain about 2.3% before its cap and ZALT about 3.2%, so ZALT has more room left this period.
Which resets first, BALT or ZALT?: BALT ends its outcome period on Dec 31, 2026 and ZALT on Dec 31, 2026. A new cap is set the day after each.
Which is cheaper, BALT or ZALT?: BALT charges 0.69% a year and ZALT charges 0.69%, so BALT is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

BALT vs JANW BALT vs OCTP BALT vs OCTT BALT vs OCTU ZALT vs DSEP ZALT vs EALT ZALT vs FSEP ZALT vs GSEP

SPY →BALT on its own →ZALT on its own →How every figure is computed →Standards and sources →

Where these figures came from

Innovator page for BALT ↗ZALT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗Innovator page for ZALT ↗

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, BALT against ZALT, data as of Oct 2, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/balt-vs-zalt

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.