Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
BMAR vs DFEB: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 DFEB can fall 12.2% before its buffer engages and BMAR 9.4%, and DFEB resets 9 days sooner.
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Net assets: $203m on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Mar, and $456m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - February.
BMAR: reference +11.7% since period start, fund +9.8%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +17.0%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
BMAR: reference +11.7% since period start, fund +9.8%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +17.0%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.DFEB: reference +11.2% since period start, fund +7.2%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +11.9%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
DFEB: reference +11.2% since period start, fund +7.2%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +11.9%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
BMAR costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 3.5 points; DFEB is 2.3 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | BMAR | DFEB |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +14.6% | +11.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 10.5% | 14.6% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $200m | $456m |
| 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
Mar 13, 2020 to Oct 30, 2026 · 346 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Mar 2020 to Oct 2026, BMAR returned more: +144.3% to +84.6%. DFEB swung less: 7.7% to 12.2%. DFEB fell less at its worst: −9.4% to −13.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BMAR | DFEB | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +144.3% | +84.6% | BMAR | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +14.4% | +9.6% | BMAR | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +144.3% | +84.6% | BMAR | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 12.2% | 7.7% | DFEB | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 8.1% | 5.1% | DFEB | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −13.9% | −9.4% | DFEB | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 51.8% | 30.8% | 100.0% | BMAR | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 67.3% | 47.7% | 100.0% | DFEB | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.66 | 0.41 | 1.00 | DFEB lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.94 | 0.92 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.92 | 0.85 | BMAR (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.39 | 1.27 | BMAR (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.171 | 0.160 | 0.156 | BMAR (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.03 | 1.03 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.0% a year | +0.1% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.83 | 0.16 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.3% to +3.3% | −1.6% to +1.9% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.64 | −0.83 | BMAR | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 6.9% | 10.9% | 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, 346 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | BMAR | DFEB | BMAR | DFEB |
| 3 months | +1.2% | +1.4% | +1.6 pts | +1.8 pts |
| 6 months | +4.9% | +4.1% | +0.4 pts | −0.4 pts |
| 1 year | +14.6% | +11.1% | +1.1 pts | −2.4 pts |
| 3 years | +61.5% | +47.2% | −14.9 pts | −29.2 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: BMAR Mar 2020 · DFEB Feb 2020 | +122.7% | +71.4% | −25.4 pts | −66.4 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
DFEB resets first, on Feb 19, 2027, 107 days from now; BMAR runs to Feb 28, 2027, 116 days. BMAR can still gain 6.0% before its cap, DFEB 3.6%. A fall from here reaches BMAR’s buffer after 9.4% and DFEB’s after 12.2%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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BMAR
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 6.0% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 9.4% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 10.5% 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. 116 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Feb 28, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
DFEB
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 3.6% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 12.2% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 14.6% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 25.0% of the 25.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 107 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Feb 19, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
Questions people ask
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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, BMAR against DFEB, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bmar-vs-dfeb
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). BMAR against DFEB. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bmar-vs-dfeb
[BMAR against DFEB (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bmar-vs-dfeb)
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