BAPR vs BSEP: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Oct 13, 2026 BAPR can fall 11.5% before its buffer engages and BSEP 1.4%, and BAPR resets 153 days sooner. Net assets on Oct 13, 2026: $418m for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Apr and $470m for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Sep.
Both cost 0.79% a year; their one-year returns differ by 3.5 points; BSEP is 1.1 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| BAPR | BSEP | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.79% |
| Net assets | $418m | $470m |
| Total return, 1 year | +17.5% | +14.0% |
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Index fall to the buffer | 16.4% | 1.4% |
BAPR: reference +19.6% since period start, fund +12.5%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +18.5%; At its cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.
BAPR: reference +19.6% since period start, fund +12.5%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +18.5%; At its cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.
BSEP: reference +1.4% since period start, fund +1.3%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +19.8%; Between buffer and cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.
Figures to Oct 13, 2026.
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 →
BAPR is already at its cap, so more rise in the index adds nothing to it before the period ends.
They do not reset together. BAPR has 169 days of its period left and BSEP has 322, so the two are not the same bet on the same months.
Both are Innovator funds, so the difference between them is the terms rather than the house.
Where each one stands today
BAPR resets first, on Mar 31, 2027, 169 days from now; BSEP runs to Aug 31, 2027, 322 days. BAPR can still gain 4.9% before its cap, BSEP 18.1%. A fall from here reaches BAPR’s buffer after 11.5% and BSEP’s after 1.4%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Performance, window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | BAPR | BSEP | BAPR | BSEP |
| 3 months | +3.0% | +3.3% | −0.5 pts | −0.2 pts |
| 6 months | +7.5% | +8.9% | −4.5 pts | −3.1 pts |
| 1 year | +17.5% | +14.0% | +0.2 pts | −3.3 pts |
| 3 years | +56.2% | +61.8% | −24.1 pts | −18.5 pts |
| Since launch Not the same days: BAPR Apr 2019 · BSEP Sep 2019 | +117.9% | +126.8% | −54.3 pts | −40.8 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
As of Oct 13, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About BAPR
SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +18.5% 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 4.9% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 11.5% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 16.4% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 9.0% of the 9.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 169 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Mar 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
About BSEP
From its price on Oct 13, 2026, the fund can gain about 18.1% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.4% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 1.4% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. 322 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Aug 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
Questions people ask
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.
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ETFIQ, BAPR against BSEP, data as of Oct 13, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bapr-vs-bsep
ETFIQ. (Oct 13, 2026). BAPR against BSEP. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bapr-vs-bsep
[BAPR against BSEP (ETFIQ, Oct 13, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bapr-vs-bsep)
Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.