Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
DFEB vs PMAR: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 DFEB can fall 12.2% before its buffer engages and PMAR 7.8%, and DFEB resets 9 days sooner.
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Net assets: $456m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - February, and $748m on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - Mar.
DFEB: reference +11.2% since period start, fund +7.2%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +11.9%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
DFEB: reference +11.2% since period start, fund +7.2%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +11.9%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.PMAR: reference +11.7% since period start, fund +7.9%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +12.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
PMAR: reference +11.7% since period start, fund +7.9%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +12.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
PMAR costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.5 points; PMAR is 1.6 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | DFEB | PMAR |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +11.1% | +11.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 14.6% | 10.5% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.79% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $456m | $742m |
| 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
Mar 13, 2020 to Oct 30, 2026 · 346 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Mar 2020 to Oct 2026, PMAR returned more: +98.2% to +84.6%. DFEB swung less: 7.7% to 9.3%. DFEB fell slightly less at its worst: −9.4% to −10.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DFEB | PMAR | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +84.6% | +98.2% | PMAR | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +9.6% | +10.8% | PMAR | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +84.6% | +98.2% | PMAR | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 7.7% | 9.3% | DFEB | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 5.1% | 6.3% | DFEB | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −9.4% | −10.2% | DFEB (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 30.8% | 33.1% | 100.0% | PMAR (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 47.7% | 48.8% | 100.0% | DFEB (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.41 | 0.49 | 1.00 | DFEB lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.92 | 0.89 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.85 | 0.83 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.27 | 1.23 | DFEB (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.160 | 0.159 | 0.156 | Tie | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.03 | 1.06 | PMAR (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.1% a year | +0.2% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.16 | 0.13 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.6% to +1.9% | −2.2% to +2.5% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.83 | −0.80 | PMAR (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 10.9% | 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, 346 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | DFEB | PMAR | DFEB | PMAR |
| 3 months | +1.4% | +1.9% | +1.8 pts | +2.2 pts |
| 6 months | +4.1% | +4.4% | −0.4 pts | −0.1 pts |
| 1 year | +11.1% | +11.6% | −2.4 pts | −1.9 pts |
| 3 years | +47.2% | +44.9% | −29.2 pts | −31.5 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: DFEB Feb 2020 · PMAR Mar 2020 | +71.4% | +84.8% | −66.4 pts | −63.3 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
DFEB resets first, on Feb 19, 2027, 107 days from now; PMAR runs to Feb 28, 2027, 116 days. DFEB can still gain 3.6% before its cap, PMAR 4.0%. A fall from here reaches DFEB’s buffer after 12.2% and PMAR’s after 7.8%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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DFEB
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 3.6% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 12.2% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 14.6% 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. 107 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Feb 19, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
PMAR
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 4.0% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 7.8% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 10.5% 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. 116 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Feb 28, 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, DFEB against PMAR, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/dfeb-vs-pmar
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). DFEB against PMAR. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/dfeb-vs-pmar
[DFEB against PMAR (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/dfeb-vs-pmar)
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