Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BSEP vs DJAN: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Oct 28, 2026 DJAN can fall 12.6% before its buffer engages and BSEP 0.9%, and DJAN resets 228 days sooner.
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Net assets: $465m on Oct 28, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Sep, and $462m on Oct 27, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - January.
BSEP: reference +0.6% since period start, fund +0.8%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +19.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
BSEP: reference +0.6% since period start, fund +0.8%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +19.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.DJAN: reference +11.7% since period start, fund +7.7%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +11.6%; At its cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
DJAN: reference +11.7% since period start, fund +7.7%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +11.6%; At its cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.Pair scorecard
BSEP costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.0 point.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | BSEP | DJAN |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +11.3% | +10.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 0.6% | 14.9% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $464m | $462m |
| 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
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 →
Risk and return
Jan 29, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 299 weekly returns · each against SPYBSEP returned more: +86.9% to +56.5%. DJAN swung less: 6.7% to 10.7%. DJAN fell less at its worst: −8.7% to −14.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BSEP | DJAN | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +86.9% | +56.5% | BSEP | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +11.5% | +8.1% | BSEP | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +86.9% | +56.5% | BSEP | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 10.7% | 6.7% | DJAN | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 7.1% | 4.4% | DJAN | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −14.4% | −8.7% | DJAN | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 57.3% | 31.0% | 100.0% | BSEP | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 72.5% | 45.6% | 100.0% | DJAN | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.67 | 0.39 | 1.00 | DJAN lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 0.85 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.75 | 0.69 | BSEP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.13 | 1.04 | BSEP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.120 | 0.117 | 0.117 | BSEP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.80 | 0.93 | DJAN | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.2% a year | 0.0% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.23 | 0.00 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.6% to +2.1% | −2.1% to +2.1% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.64 | −0.72 | BSEP | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 5.6% | 9.8% | 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, 299 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | BSEP | DJAN | BSEP | DJAN |
| 3 months | +3.7% | +3.8% | −2.1 pts | −2.0 pts |
| 6 months | +6.9% | +5.8% | −1.7 pts | −2.7 pts |
| 1 year | +11.3% | +10.3% | −1.1 pts | −2.1 pts |
| 3 years | +67.1% | +49.5% | −21.0 pts | −38.6 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: BSEP Sep 2019 · DJAN Jan 2021 | +125.5% | +55.8% | −40.1 pts | −48.2 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 Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
DJAN is already at its cap, so more rise in the index adds nothing to it before the period ends.
They do not reset together. DJAN has 79 days of its period left and BSEP has 307, so the two are not the same bet on the same months.
Where each one stands today
DJAN resets first, on Jan 15, 2027, 79 days from now; BSEP runs to Aug 31, 2027, 307 days. BSEP can still gain 18.7% before its cap, DJAN 2.9%. A fall from here reaches BSEP’s buffer after 0.9% and DJAN’s after 12.6%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
BSEP and DJAN are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Protection and cap. BSEP: Absorbs the first 9% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 19.8%, over a period ending Aug 31, 2027. DJAN: Absorbs losses from 5.0% to 30.0% on SPY and caps the gain at 11.6%, over a period ending Jan 15, 2027. The starting caps are 8.2 points apart.
- Outcome period. BSEP runs Aug 31, 2026 to Aug 31, 2027 with 307 days left; DJAN runs Jan 20, 2026 to Jan 15, 2027 with 79 days left.
- What each follows (similar). Both follow SPY.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BSEP
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 18.7% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 0.9% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.6% 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. 307 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Aug 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
DJAN
SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +11.6% for the period on Oct 28, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 2.9% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 12.6% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 14.9% 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. 79 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Jan 15, 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, BSEP against DJAN, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bsep-vs-djan
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BSEP against DJAN. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bsep-vs-djan
[BSEP against DJAN (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bsep-vs-djan)
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