BOCT vs FOCT: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Oct 9, 2026 FOCT can fall 13.1% before its buffer engages and BOCT 1.5%, and FOCT resets 349 days sooner. Net assets on Oct 9, 2026: $307m for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Oct and $1.2bn for FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - October.
BOCT costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.5 points; FOCT is 4.0 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| BOCT | FOCT | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.85% |
| Net assets | $307m | $1.2bn |
| Total return, 1 year | +14.9% | +14.4% |
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Index fall to the buffer | 2.0% | 14.7% |
BOCT: reference +2.1% since period start, fund +1.5%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +20.2%; Between buffer and cap. Figures to Oct 9, 2026.
BOCT: reference +2.1% since period start, fund +1.5%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +20.2%; Between buffer and cap. Figures to Oct 9, 2026.
FOCT: reference +17.2% since period start, fund +14.1%; buffer 0 to −10; cap +15.1%; At its cap. Figures to Oct 9, 2026.
FOCT: reference +17.2% since period start, fund +14.1%; buffer 0 to −10; cap +15.1%; At its cap. Figures to Oct 9, 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 →
FOCT is already at its cap, so more rise in the index adds nothing to it before the period ends.
They do not reset together. FOCT has 7 days of its period left and BOCT has 356, so the two are not the same bet on the same months.
Where each one stands today
FOCT resets first, on Oct 16, 2026, 7 days from now; BOCT runs to Sep 30, 2027, 356 days. BOCT can still gain 18.4% before its cap, FOCT 0.1%. A fall from here reaches BOCT’s buffer after 1.5% and FOCT’s after 13.1%. 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 | BOCT | FOCT | BOCT | FOCT |
| 3 months | +4.5% | +3.8% | +1.4 pts | +0.7 pts |
| 6 months | +12.7% | +11.1% | −1.9 pts | −3.5 pts |
| 1 year | +14.9% | +14.4% | −1.1 pts | −1.6 pts |
| 3 years | +55.6% | +47.4% | −23.6 pts | −31.8 pts |
| Since launch Not the same days: BOCT Oct 2018 · FOCT Oct 2020 | +127.7% | +84.2% | −39.2 pts | −43.5 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 9, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
About BOCT
From its price on Oct 9, 2026, the fund can gain about 18.4% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.5% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 2.0% 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. 356 days remained on Oct 9, 2026. On Sep 30, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
About FOCT
SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +15.1% for the period on Oct 9, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 0.1% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 13.1% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 14.7% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 10.0% of the 10.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 7 days remained on Oct 9, 2026. On Oct 16, 2026 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, BOCT against FOCT, data as of Oct 9, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-foct
ETFIQ. (Oct 9, 2026). BOCT against FOCT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-foct
[BOCT against FOCT (ETFIQ, Oct 9, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-foct)
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