Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DJUL vs UJUL: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Oct 28, 2026 DJUL can fall 8.2% before its buffer engages and UJUL 7.6%, and UJUL resets 16 days sooner.
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Net assets: $496m on Oct 27, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - July, and $307m on Oct 28, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Ultra Buffer ETF - Jul.
DJUL: reference +3.9% since period start, fund +2.6%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +13.6%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
DJUL: reference +3.9% since period start, fund +2.6%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +13.6%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.UJUL: reference +3.3% since period start, fund +2.5%; buffer −5 to −35; cap +14.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
UJUL: reference +3.3% since period start, fund +2.5%; buffer −5 to −35; cap +14.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.Pair scorecard
UJUL costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.9 points; DJUL is 1.6 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | DJUL | UJUL |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +9.3% | +8.4% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 8.6% | 8.1% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.79% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $496m | $306m |
| 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
Jul 31, 2020 to Oct 23, 2026 · 325 weekly returns · each against SPYDJUL returned more: +68.5% to +61.4%. UJUL swung slightly less: 7.3% to 7.6%. UJUL fell less at its worst: −10.6% to −12.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DJUL | UJUL | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +68.5% | +61.4% | DJUL | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +8.7% | +8.0% | DJUL (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +68.5% | +61.4% | DJUL | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 7.6% | 7.3% | UJUL (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 5.0% | 4.7% | UJUL (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −12.2% | −10.6% | UJUL | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 34.6% | 31.5% | 100.0% | DJUL (slight) | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 51.5% | 48.6% | 100.0% | UJUL (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.44 | 0.41 | 1.00 | UJUL lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.86 | 0.80 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.72 | 0.66 | DJUL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.10 | 1.01 | DJUL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.124 | 0.117 | 0.130 | DJUL (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.71 | 0.75 | UJUL (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.3% a year | −0.5% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.24 | −0.41 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.6% to +2.0% | −3.1% to +2.0% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.81 | −0.83 | DJUL (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 9.3% | 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, 325 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | DJUL | UJUL | DJUL | UJUL |
| 3 months | +3.4% | +3.3% | −2.5 pts | −2.6 pts |
| 6 months | +5.5% | +4.3% | −3.0 pts | −4.2 pts |
| 1 year | +9.3% | +8.4% | −3.1 pts | −4.0 pts |
| 3 years | +55.1% | +50.7% | −32.9 pts | −37.3 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: DJUL Jul 2020 · UJUL Aug 2018 | +70.0% | +76.2% | −68.2 pts | −94.4 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.
Where each one stands today
UJUL resets first, on Jun 30, 2027, 245 days from now; DJUL runs to Jul 16, 2027, 261 days. DJUL can still gain 9.9% before its cap, UJUL 11.1%. A fall from here reaches DJUL’s buffer after 8.2% and UJUL’s after 7.6%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
DJUL and UJUL are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Protection and cap. DJUL: Absorbs losses from 5.0% to 30.0% on SPY and caps the gain at 13.6%, over a period ending Jul 16, 2027. UJUL: Absorbs losses from 5.0% to 35.0% on SPY and caps the gain at 14.2%, over a period ending Jun 30, 2027. The starting caps are 0.6 points apart.
- Outcome period (similar). DJUL runs Jul 20, 2026 to Jul 16, 2027 with 261 days left; UJUL runs Jun 30, 2026 to Jun 30, 2027 with 245 days left.
- What each follows (similar). Both follow SPY.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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DJUL
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 9.9% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 8.2% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 8.6% 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. 261 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Jul 16, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
UJUL
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 11.1% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 7.6% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 8.1% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 30.0% of the 30.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 245 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Jun 30, 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.
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ETFIQ, DJUL against UJUL, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/djul-vs-ujul
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[DJUL against UJUL (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/djul-vs-ujul)
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