Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
BAUG vs GJUL: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 GJUL can fall 3.4% before its buffer engages and BAUG 2.6%, and GJUL resets 15 days sooner.
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Net assets: $270m on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Aug, and $408m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - July.
BAUG: reference +2.6% since period start, fund +2.4%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +17.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
BAUG: reference +2.6% since period start, fund +2.4%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +17.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.GJUL: reference +3.1% since period start, fund +2.6%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
GJUL: reference +3.1% since period start, fund +2.6%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
BAUG costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.7 points; GJUL is 1.5 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | BAUG | GJUL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.9% | +10.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 2.5% | 3.1% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $266m | $408m |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | not published | |
How much of a bear-market fall the buffer would absorb from today's level, ranked against 292 buffer ETFs on stocks with a live outcome period. 100 is best. How it is computed
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 →
Risk and return
Aug 4, 2023 to Oct 30, 2026 · 169 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Aug 2023 to Oct 2026, BAUG returned more: +61.6% to +45.1%. GJUL swung less: 7.3% to 9.6%. GJUL fell less at its worst: −9.4% to −12.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BAUG | GJUL | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +61.6% | +45.1% | BAUG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +15.9% | +12.1% | BAUG | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +61.6% | +45.1% | BAUG | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 9.6% | 7.3% | GJUL | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 6.2% | 4.7% | GJUL | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −12.0% | −9.4% | GJUL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 60.7% | 40.8% | 100.0% | BAUG | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 69.2% | 51.0% | 100.0% | GJUL | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.67 | 0.50 | 1.00 | GJUL lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.97 | 0.92 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 1.11 | 0.98 | BAUG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.74 | 1.53 | BAUG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.159 | 0.144 | 0.139 | BAUG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.32 | 1.29 | BAUG (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.4% a year | +0.3% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 1.51 | 0.24 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −0.4% to +3.1% | −2.0% to +2.5% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.65 | −0.91 | BAUG | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 4.9% | 7.3% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 169 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | BAUG | GJUL | BAUG | GJUL |
| 3 months | +0.5% | +0.7% | +0.9 pts | +1.1 pts |
| 6 months | +5.7% | +4.6% | +1.2 pts | +0.1 pts |
| 1 year | +12.9% | +10.2% | −0.7 pts | −3.4 pts |
| 3 years | +66.1% | +47.9% | −10.4 pts | −28.5 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: BAUG Aug 2019 · GJUL Jul 2023 | +122.4% | +45.0% | −37.7 pts | −23.8 pts |
Each fund's gap is to its reference's price return, dividends left out: the basis the outcome period uses. Open this comparison in the app →
Side by side
As of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
Where each one stands today
GJUL resets first, on Jul 16, 2027, 254 days from now; BAUG runs to Jul 31, 2027, 269 days. BAUG can still gain 14.8% before its cap, GJUL 10.1%. A fall from here reaches BAUG’s buffer after 2.6% and GJUL’s after 3.4%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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BAUG
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 14.8% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.6% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 2.5% 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. 269 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Jul 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
GJUL
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 10.1% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 3.4% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 3.1% 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. 254 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Jul 16, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
Questions people ask
Links are sources, not endorsements. 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 number 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 number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.
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ETFIQ, BAUG against GJUL, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/baug-vs-gjul
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). BAUG against GJUL. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/baug-vs-gjul
[BAUG against GJUL (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/baug-vs-gjul)
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