BOCT vs PMAY: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Oct 13, 2026 PMAY can fall 5.4% before its buffer engages and BOCT 1.5%, and PMAY resets 153 days sooner. Net assets on Oct 12, 2026: $307m for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Oct and $819m for Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - May.
Both cost 0.79% a year; their one-year returns differ by 6.7 points; PMAY is 2.7 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| BOCT | PMAY | |
|---|---|---|
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.79% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026 | $307m | $819m |
| Total return, 1 year | +17.0% | +10.3% |
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Holdings in common | not published | |
| Index fall to the buffer | 1.9% | 7.5% |
BOCT: reference +1.9% since period start, fund +1.5%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +20.2%; Between buffer and cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.
BOCT: reference +1.9% since period start, fund +1.5%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +20.2%; Between buffer and cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.
PMAY: reference +8.2% since period start, fund +5.3%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.0%; Between buffer and cap. Figures to Oct 13, 2026.
PMAY: reference +8.2% since period start, fund +5.3%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.0%; Between buffer and cap. 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 →
They do not reset together. PMAY has 199 days of its period left and BOCT has 352, 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
PMAY resets first, on Apr 30, 2027, 199 days from now; BOCT runs to Sep 30, 2027, 352 days. BOCT can still gain 18.4% before its cap, PMAY 7.0%. A fall from here reaches BOCT’s buffer after 1.5% and PMAY’s after 5.4%. 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 | BOCT | PMAY | BOCT | PMAY |
| 3 months | +4.9% | +3.0% | +1.0 pts | −0.9 pts |
| 6 months | +11.8% | +5.5% | −1.6 pts | −7.9 pts |
| 1 year | +17.0% | +10.3% | −2.2 pts | −8.9 pts |
| 3 years | +56.4% | +43.8% | −23.9 pts | −36.5 pts |
| Since launch Not the same days: BOCT Oct 2018 · PMAY May 2020 | +127.5% | +68.4% | −39.2 pts | −106.8 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 BOCT
From its price on Oct 13, 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 1.9% 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. 352 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Sep 30, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
About PMAY
From its price on Oct 13, 2026, the fund can gain about 7.0% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 5.4% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's figure. In index terms, SPY can fall 7.5% 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. 199 days remained on Oct 13, 2026. On Apr 30, 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, BOCT against PMAY, data as of Oct 13, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-pmay
ETFIQ. (Oct 13, 2026). BOCT against PMAY. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-pmay
[BOCT against PMAY (ETFIQ, Oct 13, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/boct-vs-pmay)
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