Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
DOCT vs FAPR: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Oct 28, 2026 FAPR can fall 7.0% before its buffer engages and DOCT 6.3%, and FAPR resets 182 days sooner.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $421m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - October and $1.4bn for FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - April.
DOCT: reference +1.2% since period start, fund +0.5%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +14.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
DOCT: reference +1.2% since period start, fund +0.5%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +14.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.FAPR: reference +8.8% since period start, fund +6.6%; buffer 0 to −10; cap +15.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
FAPR: reference +8.8% since period start, fund +6.6%; buffer 0 to −10; cap +15.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.85% a year; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points; FAPR is 3.3 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | DOCT | FAPR |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.1% | +10.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 6.1% | 8.1% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.85% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $421m | $1.4bn |
| 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
Apr 30, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 286 weekly returns · each against SPYFAPR returned more: +58.8% to +51.2%. DOCT swung less: 6.8% to 9.5%. DOCT fell less at its worst: −9.0% to −15.5%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DOCT | FAPR | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +51.2% | +58.8% | FAPR | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +7.8% | +8.8% | FAPR | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +51.2% | +58.8% | FAPR | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 6.8% | 9.5% | DOCT | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 4.5% | 6.6% | DOCT | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −9.0% | −15.5% | DOCT | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 31.5% | 44.2% | 100.0% | FAPR | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 45.5% | 61.1% | 100.0% | DOCT | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.39 | 0.57 | 1.00 | DOCT lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.84 | 0.90 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.62 | 0.55 | DOCT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.93 | 0.80 | DOCT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.106 | 0.092 | 0.099 | DOCT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.87 | 0.57 | DOCT | 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 | −0.4% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.23 | −0.30 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.0% to +2.5% | −3.0% to +2.2% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.58 | −0.62 | DOCT (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 9.9% | 7.4% | 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, 286 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | DOCT | FAPR | DOCT | FAPR |
| 3 months | +4.3% | +4.3% | −1.5 pts | −1.6 pts |
| 6 months | +6.8% | +6.4% | −1.7 pts | −2.1 pts |
| 1 year | +10.1% | +10.0% | −2.3 pts | −2.4 pts |
| 3 years | +44.1% | +53.9% | −44.0 pts | −34.1 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: DOCT Aug 2020 · FAPR Apr 2021 | +285.9% | +60.6% | +157.4 pts | −25.4 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.
They do not reset together. FAPR has 170 days of its period left and DOCT has 352, so the two are not the same bet on the same months.
Both are First Trust funds, so the difference between them is the terms rather than the house.
Where each one stands today
FAPR resets first, on Apr 16, 2027, 170 days from now; DOCT runs to Oct 15, 2027, 352 days. DOCT can still gain 12.7% before its cap, FAPR 7.3%. A fall from here reaches DOCT’s buffer after 6.3% and FAPR’s after 7.0%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
DOCT and FAPR are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Protection and cap. DOCT: Absorbs losses from 5.0% to 30.0% on SPY and caps the gain at 14.2%, over a period ending Oct 15, 2027. FAPR: Absorbs the first 10% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 15.2%, over a period ending Apr 16, 2027. The starting caps are 1.0 points apart.
- Outcome period. DOCT runs Oct 19, 2026 to Oct 15, 2027 with 352 days left; FAPR runs Apr 20, 2026 to Apr 16, 2027 with 170 days left.
- Size. DOCT has $421m in net assets and FAPR $1.4bn (net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026); FAPR is 3.3 times larger.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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DOCT
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 12.7% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 6.3% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 6.1% 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. 352 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Oct 15, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
FAPR
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 7.3% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 7.0% 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: 10.0% of the 10.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 170 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Apr 16, 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, DOCT against FAPR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/doct-vs-fapr
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). DOCT against FAPR. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/doct-vs-fapr
[DOCT against FAPR (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/doct-vs-fapr)
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