Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
BOCT vs FSEP: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 FSEP can fall 1.5% before its buffer engages and BOCT 0.7%, and FSEP resets 13 days sooner.
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Net assets: $360m on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Oct, and $1.4bn on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - September.
BOCT: reference +0.5% since period start, fund +0.6%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +20.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
BOCT: reference +0.5% since period start, fund +0.6%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +20.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.FSEP: reference +0.7% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer 0 to −10; cap +16.7%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
FSEP: reference +0.7% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer 0 to −10; cap +16.7%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
BOCT costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.7 points; FSEP is 3.9 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | BOCT | FSEP |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.9% | +13.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 0.5% | 0.7% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $357m | $1.4bn |
| 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
Oct 2, 2020 to Oct 30, 2026 · 317 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Oct 2020 to Oct 2026, BOCT returned slightly more: +97.8% to +89.8%. FSEP swung slightly less: 9.8% to 10.2%. FSEP fell slightly less at its worst: −13.2% to −14.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BOCT | FSEP | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +97.8% | +89.8% | BOCT (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +11.8% | +11.1% | BOCT (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +97.8% | +89.8% | BOCT (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 10.2% | 9.8% | FSEP (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 6.7% | 6.4% | FSEP (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −14.0% | −13.2% | FSEP (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 50.6% | 48.2% | 100.0% | BOCT (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 65.9% | 64.7% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.62 | 0.59 | 1.00 | FSEP lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.93 | 0.92 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.83 | 0.79 | BOCT (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.27 | 1.21 | BOCT (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.137 | 0.130 | 0.128 | BOCT (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.85 | 0.84 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.6% a year | +0.2% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.52 | 0.14 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.6% to +2.8% | −2.0% to +2.3% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.64 | −0.72 | BOCT | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 6.7% | 7.0% | 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, 317 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | BOCT | FSEP | BOCT | FSEP |
| 3 months | +2.2% | +2.2% | +2.6 pts | +2.6 pts |
| 6 months | +6.3% | +6.1% | +1.9 pts | +1.6 pts |
| 1 year | +13.9% | +13.2% | +0.3 pts | −0.4 pts |
| 3 years | +53.8% | +52.7% | −22.6 pts | −23.7 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: BOCT Oct 2018 · FSEP Sep 2020 | +125.8% | +94.7% | −37.1 pts | −39.8 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
FSEP resets first, on Sep 17, 2027, 317 days from now; BOCT runs to Sep 30, 2027, 330 days. BOCT can still gain 19.3% before its cap, FSEP 15.1%. A fall from here reaches BOCT’s buffer after 0.7% and FSEP’s after 1.5%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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BOCT
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 19.3% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 0.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.5% 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. 330 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Sep 30, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
FSEP
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 15.1% 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 number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.7% 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. 317 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Sep 17, 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, BOCT against FSEP, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-fsep
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). BOCT against FSEP. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-fsep
[BOCT against FSEP (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-fsep)
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