Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
FAUG vs SEPU: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 FAUG can fall 1.6% before its buffer engages and SEPU 0.6%, and FAUG resets 11 days sooner.
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Net assets on Nov 3, 2026: $1.4bn for FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August and $164m for AllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer15 Uncapped 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.SEPU: reference 0.0% since period start, fund −0.2%; buffer 0 to −15; no cap; Buffer working. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
SEPU: reference 0.0% since period start, fund −0.2%; buffer 0 to −15; no cap; Buffer working. Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
SEPU costs 0.11 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.2 points; FAUG is 8.5 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | FAUG | SEPU |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +11.1% | +9.9% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 0.1% | 0.0% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.74% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $1.4bn | $164m |
| 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
Sep 13, 2024 to Oct 30, 2026 · 111 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Sep 2024 to Oct 2026, FAUG returned slightly more: +27.2% to +25.4%. FAUG swung less: 9.0% to 10.3%. SEPU fell slightly less at its worst: −10.4% to −11.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | FAUG | SEPU | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +27.2% | +25.4% | FAUG (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +11.9% | +11.2% | FAUG (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +27.2% | +25.4% | FAUG (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 9.0% | 10.3% | FAUG | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 6.0% | 6.7% | FAUG | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −11.3% | −10.4% | SEPU (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 49.3% | 65.6% | 100.0% | SEPU | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 61.2% | 82.0% | 100.0% | FAUG | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.60 | 0.68 | 1.00 | FAUG lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.94 | 0.93 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.84 | 0.69 | FAUG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.26 | 1.05 | FAUG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.127 | 0.104 | 0.121 | FAUG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.06 | 1.07 | Tie | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +0.4% a year | −1.1% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.24 | −0.60 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.6% to +3.3% | −4.8% to +2.6% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.72 | −0.92 | FAUG | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 6.3% | 5.4% | 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, 111 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | FAUG | SEPU | FAUG | SEPU |
| 3 months | +1.0% | −0.9% | +1.4 pts | −0.6 pts |
| 6 months | +4.4% | +3.3% | −0.1 pts | −1.2 pts |
| 1 year | +11.1% | +9.9% | −2.5 pts | −3.7 pts |
| 3 years | +52.8% | – | −23.6 pts | – |
| Since launchNot the same days: FAUG Nov 2019 · SEPU Sep 2024 | +92.1% | +28.5% | −56.8 pts | −10.4 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
FAUG resets first, on Aug 20, 2027, 289 days from now; SEPU runs to Aug 31, 2027, 300 days. A fall from here reaches FAUG’s buffer after 1.6% and SEPU’s after 0.6%. 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.
SEPU
This fund has no cap. It takes a share of any further rise in SPY. The fund's price can fall 0.6% 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: 15.0% 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 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, FAUG against SEPU, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/faug-vs-sepu
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). FAUG against SEPU. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/faug-vs-sepu
[FAUG against SEPU (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/faug-vs-sepu)
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