Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
DSEP vs UOCT: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 DSEP can fall 6.5% before its buffer engages and UOCT 5.7%, and DSEP resets 13 days sooner.
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Net assets: $429m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - September, and $271m on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Ultra Buffer 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.UOCT: reference +0.5% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer −5 to −35; cap +15.3%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
UOCT: reference +0.5% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer −5 to −35; cap +15.3%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
UOCT costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.2 points; DSEP is 1.6 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | DSEP | UOCT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.5% | +10.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 5.6% | 5.5% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.79% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $429m | $267m |
| 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 2, 2020 to Oct 30, 2026 · 317 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Oct 2020 to Oct 2026, DSEP and UOCT returned about the same: +63.2% and +62.9%. UOCT swung less: 6.1% to 7.0%. UOCT fell less at its worst: −8.3% to −11.6%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | DSEP | UOCT | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +63.2% | +62.9% | Tie | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +8.4% | +8.3% | Tie | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +63.2% | +62.9% | Tie | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 7.0% | 6.1% | UOCT | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 4.6% | 4.0% | UOCT | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −11.6% | −8.3% | UOCT | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 31.9% | 26.6% | 100.0% | DSEP | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 47.8% | 38.6% | 100.0% | UOCT | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.41 | 0.35 | 1.00 | UOCT lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.86 | 0.84 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.72 | 0.81 | UOCT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.10 | 1.25 | UOCT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.124 | 0.141 | 0.128 | UOCT | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.72 | 1.01 | UOCT | 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 | +0.5% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.15 | 0.45 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.2% to +1.9% | −1.5% to +2.5% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.79 | −0.74 | UOCT (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 9.8% | 10.6% | 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, 317 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | DSEP | UOCT | DSEP | UOCT |
| 3 months | +1.7% | +1.9% | +2.1 pts | +2.3 pts |
| 6 months | +5.0% | +5.1% | +0.5 pts | +0.6 pts |
| 1 year | +10.5% | +10.3% | −3.1 pts | −3.3 pts |
| 3 years | +42.5% | +37.9% | −33.9 pts | −38.5 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: DSEP Sep 2020 · UOCT Oct 2018 | +65.4% | +77.5% | −69.1 pts | −85.4 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 Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
Where each one stands today
DSEP resets first, on Sep 17, 2027, 317 days from now; UOCT runs to Sep 30, 2027, 330 days. DSEP can still gain 12.9% before its cap, UOCT 14.4%. A fall from here reaches DSEP’s buffer after 6.5% and UOCT’s after 5.7%. 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.
UOCT
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 14.4% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 5.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 5.5% 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. 330 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Sep 30, 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, DSEP against UOCT, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/dsep-vs-uoct
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). DSEP against UOCT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/dsep-vs-uoct
[DSEP against UOCT (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/dsep-vs-uoct)
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