Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
FAUG vs PSEP: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 FAUG can fall 1.6% before its buffer engages and PSEP 0.7%, and FAUG resets 11 days sooner.
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Net assets: $1.4bn on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August, and $1.2bn on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - Sep.
FAUG: reference +0.1% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer 0 to −10; cap +17.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
FAUG: reference +0.1% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer 0 to −10; cap +17.2%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.PSEP: reference −0.1% since period start, fund +0.6%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +15.0%; Buffer working. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
PSEP: reference −0.1% since period start, fund +0.6%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +15.0%; Buffer working. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
PSEP costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.8 points; FAUG is 1.2 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | FAUG | PSEP |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +11.1% | +9.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.79% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $1.4bn | $1.2bn |
| 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
Nov 15, 2019 to Oct 30, 2026 · 363 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Nov 2019 to Oct 2026, FAUG returned slightly more: +88.7% to +83.8%. PSEP swung less: 9.4% to 11.7%. PSEP fell less at its worst: −17.2% to −21.0%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FAUG | PSEP | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +88.7% | +83.8% | FAUG (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +9.5% | +9.1% | FAUG (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +88.7% | +83.8% | FAUG (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 11.7% | 9.4% | PSEP | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 8.2% | 6.5% | PSEP | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −21.0% | −17.2% | PSEP | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 46.7% | 36.0% | 100.0% | FAUG | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 67.7% | 54.6% | 100.0% | PSEP | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.61 | 0.48 | 1.00 | PSEP lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.94 | 0.92 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.59 | 0.66 | PSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.83 | 0.96 | PSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.113 | 0.129 | 0.130 | PSEP | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.45 | 0.53 | PSEP | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −1.0% a year | 0.0% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.97 | −0.04 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −3.1% to +1.1% | −2.0% to +1.9% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.78 | −0.67 | PSEP | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.8% | 10.0% | 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, 363 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | FAUG | PSEP | FAUG | PSEP |
| 3 months | +1.0% | +1.0% | +1.4 pts | +1.4 pts |
| 6 months | +4.4% | +3.7% | −0.1 pts | −0.8 pts |
| 1 year | +11.1% | +9.3% | −2.5 pts | −4.2 pts |
| 3 years | +52.8% | +43.5% | −23.6 pts | −32.9 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: FAUG Nov 2019 · PSEP Sep 2019 | +92.1% | +91.4% | −56.8 pts | −72.3 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
FAUG resets first, on Aug 20, 2027, 289 days from now; PSEP runs to Aug 31, 2027, 300 days. FAUG can still gain 15.5% before its cap, PSEP 14.2%. A fall from here reaches FAUG’s buffer after 1.6% and PSEP’s after 0.7%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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FAUG
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 15.5% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.6% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.1% 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. 289 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Aug 20, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
PSEP
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 14.2% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 0.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.0% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. Protection left, in index points: 14.9% of the 15.0% buffer still sits below today's SPY level. 300 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Aug 31, 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, FAUG against PSEP, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/faug-vs-psep
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). FAUG against PSEP. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/faug-vs-psep
[FAUG against PSEP (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/faug-vs-psep)
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