Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BSEP vs PAUG: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Oct 28, 2026 PAUG can fall 2.5% before its buffer engages and BSEP 0.9%, and PAUG resets 31 days sooner.
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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $465m for Innovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - Sep and $1.0bn for Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - Aug.
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.PAUG: reference +3.3% since period start, fund +2.4%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
PAUG: reference +3.3% since period start, fund +2.4%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.79% a year; their one-year returns differ by 1.7 points; PAUG is 2.2 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | BSEP | PAUG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +11.3% | +9.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 0.6% | 3.2% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.79% |
| Net assets | $465m | $1.0bn |
| 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
Sep 13, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 371 weekly returns · each against SPYBSEP returned more: +118.1% to +87.1%. PAUG swung less: 9.3% to 12.8%. PAUG fell less at its worst: −17.3% to −22.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BSEP | PAUG | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +118.1% | +87.1% | BSEP | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +11.5% | +9.2% | BSEP | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +115.0% | +84.6% | BSEP | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 12.8% | 9.3% | PAUG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 8.9% | 6.4% | PAUG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −22.9% | −17.3% | PAUG | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 56.4% | 35.8% | 100.0% | BSEP | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 74.4% | 54.1% | 100.0% | PAUG | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.68 | 0.48 | 1.00 | PAUG lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.97 | 0.92 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.69 | 0.68 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.00 | 0.98 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.130 | 0.131 | 0.133 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.51 | 0.53 | PAUG (slight) | 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 | −0.1% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.21 | −0.08 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.0% to +1.6% | −2.0% to +1.9% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.70 | −0.70 | Tie | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 6.3% | 9.9% | 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, 371 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | BSEP | PAUG | BSEP | PAUG |
| 3 months | +3.7% | +2.4% | −2.1 pts | −3.5 pts |
| 6 months | +6.9% | +5.6% | −1.7 pts | −2.9 pts |
| 1 year | +11.3% | +9.6% | −1.1 pts | −2.8 pts |
| 3 years | +67.1% | +54.9% | −21.0 pts | −33.1 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: BSEP Sep 2019 · PAUG Aug 2019 | +125.5% | +90.4% | −40.1 pts | −71.5 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 Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
They do not reset together. PAUG has 276 days of its period left and BSEP has 307, 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
PAUG resets first, on Jul 31, 2027, 276 days from now; BSEP runs to Aug 31, 2027, 307 days. BSEP can still gain 18.7% before its cap, PAUG 11.0%. A fall from here reaches BSEP’s buffer after 0.9% and PAUG’s after 2.5%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
BSEP and PAUG 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. PAUG: Absorbs the first 15% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 13.8%, over a period ending Jul 31, 2027. The starting caps are 6.0 points apart.
- Outcome period (similar). BSEP runs Aug 31, 2026 to Aug 31, 2027 with 307 days left; PAUG runs Jul 31, 2026 to Jul 31, 2027 with 276 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.
PAUG
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 11.0% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.5% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 3.2% 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. 276 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Jul 31, 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 PAUG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bsep-vs-paug
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BSEP against PAUG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bsep-vs-paug
[BSEP against PAUG (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/bsep-vs-paug)
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