Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
GJUL vs PAUG: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 GJUL can fall 3.4% before its buffer engages and PAUG 2.4%, and GJUL resets 15 days sooner.
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Net assets: $408m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - July, and $1.0bn on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - Aug.
GJUL: reference +3.1% since period start, fund +2.6%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
GJUL: reference +3.1% since period start, fund +2.6%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.PAUG: reference +2.6% since period start, fund +2.2%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
PAUG costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.1 points; PAUG is 2.5 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | GJUL | PAUG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.2% | +10.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 3.1% | 2.5% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.79% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $408m | $1.0bn |
| 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
Aug 4, 2023 to Oct 30, 2026 · 169 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Aug 2023 to Oct 2026, PAUG returned slightly more: +46.6% to +45.1%. GJUL and PAUG swung about the same: 7.3% and 7.3%. GJUL and PAUG fell about the same at their worst: −9.4% and −9.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GJUL | PAUG | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +45.1% | +46.6% | PAUG (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +12.1% | +12.5% | PAUG (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +45.1% | +46.6% | PAUG (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 7.3% | 7.3% | Tie | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 4.7% | 4.8% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −9.4% | −9.3% | Tie | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 40.8% | 40.9% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 51.0% | 50.0% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.50 | 0.50 | 1.00 | Tie | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.92 | 0.93 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.98 | 1.03 | PAUG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.53 | 1.57 | PAUG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.144 | 0.151 | 0.139 | PAUG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.29 | 1.34 | PAUG (slight) | 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 | +0.6% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.24 | 0.55 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.0% to +2.5% | −1.5% to +2.8% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.91 | −0.87 | PAUG (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 7.3% | 7.3% | 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, 169 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | GJUL | PAUG | GJUL | PAUG |
| 3 months | +0.7% | +0.7% | +1.1 pts | +1.1 pts |
| 6 months | +4.6% | +4.5% | +0.1 pts | 0.0 pts |
| 1 year | +10.2% | +10.1% | −3.4 pts | −3.5 pts |
| 3 years | +47.9% | +49.7% | −28.5 pts | −26.7 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: GJUL Jul 2023 · PAUG Aug 2019 | +45.0% | +90.1% | −23.8 pts | −69.9 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
GJUL resets first, on Jul 16, 2027, 254 days from now; PAUG runs to Jul 31, 2027, 269 days. GJUL can still gain 10.1% before its cap, PAUG 11.1%. A fall from here reaches GJUL’s buffer after 3.4% and PAUG’s after 2.4%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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GJUL
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 10.1% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 3.4% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 3.1% 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. 254 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Jul 16, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
PAUG
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 11.1% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.4% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 2.5% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. 269 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Jul 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, GJUL against PAUG, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/gjul-vs-paug
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). GJUL against PAUG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/gjul-vs-paug
[GJUL against PAUG (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/gjul-vs-paug)
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