Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
BSEP vs GAUG: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 GAUG can fall 1.6% before its buffer engages and BSEP 0.6%, and GAUG resets 11 days sooner.
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Net assets: $462m on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Sep, and $414m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - August.
BSEP: reference −0.1% since period start, fund +0.5%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +19.8%; Buffer working. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
BSEP: reference −0.1% since period start, fund +0.5%; buffer 0 to −9; cap +19.8%; Buffer working. Data to Nov 4, 2026.GAUG: reference +0.1% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
GAUG: reference +0.1% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
BSEP costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 2.8 points; BSEP is 1.1 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | BSEP | GAUG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.1% | +9.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 0.0% | 0.1% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $459m | $414m |
| 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
Sep 1, 2023 to Oct 30, 2026 · 165 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Sep 2023 to Oct 2026, BSEP returned more: +53.8% to +38.4%. GAUG swung less: 6.9% to 9.4%. GAUG fell less at its worst: −8.8% to −11.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BSEP | GAUG | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +53.8% | +38.4% | BSEP | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +14.5% | +10.8% | BSEP | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +53.8% | +38.4% | BSEP | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 9.4% | 6.9% | GAUG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 6.2% | 4.5% | GAUG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −11.8% | −8.8% | GAUG | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 56.4% | 35.9% | 100.0% | BSEP | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 67.4% | 47.0% | 100.0% | GAUG | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.65 | 0.46 | 1.00 | GAUG lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.95 | 0.89 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 1.01 | 0.87 | BSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.55 | 1.32 | BSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.147 | 0.130 | 0.140 | BSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.23 | 1.22 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.4% a year | −0.5% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.37 | −0.36 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.9% to +2.7% | −3.0% to +2.1% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.84 | −1.01 | BSEP | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 5.4% | 8.0% | 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, 165 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | BSEP | GAUG | BSEP | GAUG |
| 3 months | +1.3% | +1.1% | +1.7 pts | +1.4 pts |
| 6 months | +5.0% | +3.8% | +0.5 pts | −0.7 pts |
| 1 year | +12.1% | +9.3% | −1.5 pts | −4.2 pts |
| 3 years | +59.6% | +41.8% | −16.8 pts | −34.6 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: BSEP Sep 2019 · GAUG Aug 2023 | +125.0% | +42.0% | −38.7 pts | −32.5 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
GAUG resets first, on Aug 20, 2027, 289 days from now; BSEP runs to Aug 31, 2027, 300 days. BSEP can still gain 19.0% before its cap, GAUG 12.1%. A fall from here reaches BSEP’s buffer after 0.6% and GAUG’s after 1.6%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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BSEP
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 19.0% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 0.6% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.0% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 8.9% of the 9.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 300 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Aug 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
GAUG
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 12.1% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.6% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.1% 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. 289 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Aug 20, 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, BSEP against GAUG, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bsep-vs-gaug
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). BSEP against GAUG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bsep-vs-gaug
[BSEP against GAUG (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bsep-vs-gaug)
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