Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
DSEP vs OCTU: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 DSEP can fall 6.5% before its buffer engages and OCTU 1.0%, and DSEP resets 13 days sooner.
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Net assets on Nov 3, 2026: $429m for FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - September and $60m for AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped ETF - Oct.
DSEP: reference +0.7% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +14.6%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
DSEP: reference +0.7% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer −5 to −30; cap +14.6%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.OCTU: reference +0.5% since period start, fund +0.3%; buffer 0 to −15; no cap; No cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
OCTU: reference +0.5% since period start, fund +0.3%; buffer 0 to −15; no cap; No cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
OCTU costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.4 points; DSEP is 7.2 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | DSEP | OCTU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.5% | +9.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 5.6% | 0.5% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.74% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $429m | $60m |
| 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
Oct 11, 2024 to Oct 30, 2026 · 107 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Oct 2024 to Oct 2026, DSEP and OCTU returned about the same: +21.4% and +21.4%. DSEP swung less: 7.4% to 9.9%. DSEP fell less at its worst: −8.8% to −10.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DSEP | OCTU | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +21.4% | +21.4% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +9.9% | +9.9% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +21.4% | +21.4% | Tie | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 7.4% | 9.9% | DSEP | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 4.8% | 6.5% | DSEP | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −8.8% | −10.0% | DSEP | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 39.7% | 61.9% | 100.0% | OCTU | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 52.1% | 79.6% | 100.0% | DSEP | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.49 | 0.64 | 1.00 | DSEP lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.96 | 0.93 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.77 | 0.59 | DSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.17 | 0.91 | DSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.116 | 0.091 | 0.111 | DSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.12 | 0.98 | DSEP | 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 | −1.3% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.26 | −0.69 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −1.8% to +2.3% | −4.9% to +2.3% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.70 | −0.88 | DSEP | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.8% | 5.9% | 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, 107 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | DSEP | OCTU | DSEP | OCTU |
| 3 months | +1.7% | −1.1% | +2.1 pts | −0.7 pts |
| 6 months | +5.0% | +2.8% | +0.5 pts | −1.7 pts |
| 1 year | +10.5% | +9.1% | −3.1 pts | −4.5 pts |
| 3 years | +42.5% | – | −33.9 pts | – |
| Since launchNot the same days: DSEP Sep 2020 · OCTU Oct 2024 | +65.4% | +24.2% | −69.1 pts | −10.7 pts |
Each fund's gap is to its reference's price return, dividends left out: the basis the outcome period uses. – means no data for this window. Open this comparison in the app →
Side by side
As of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
Where each one stands today
DSEP resets first, on Sep 17, 2027, 317 days from now; OCTU runs to Sep 30, 2027, 330 days. A fall from here reaches DSEP’s buffer after 6.5% and OCTU’s after 1.0%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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DSEP
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 12.9% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 6.5% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 5.6% 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. 317 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Sep 17, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
OCTU
This fund has no cap. It takes a share of any further rise in SPY. The fund's price can fall 1.0% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.5% 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. 330 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Sep 30, 2027 the period ends and new terms are 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, DSEP against OCTU, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/dsep-vs-octu
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). DSEP against OCTU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/dsep-vs-octu
[DSEP against OCTU (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/dsep-vs-octu)
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