Data as of Nov 4, 2026.
GSEP vs POCT: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Nov 4, 2026 GSEP can fall 1.7% before its buffer engages and POCT 0.8%, and GSEP resets 13 days sooner.
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Net assets: $366m on Nov 3, 2026 for FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - September, and $1.1bn on Nov 4, 2026 for Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - Oct.
GSEP: reference +0.7% since period start, fund +0.8%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +14.1%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
GSEP: reference +0.7% since period start, fund +0.8%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +14.1%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.POCT: reference +0.5% since period start, fund +0.7%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +15.6%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Nov 4, 2026.
Data to Nov 4, 2026.Pair scorecard
POCT costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 0.4 points; POCT is 3.0 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | GSEP | POCT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +10.9% | +11.3% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 0.6% | 0.5% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.85% | 0.79% |
| Net assets, as of Nov 3, 2026 | $366m | $1.1bn |
| 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 29, 2023 to Oct 30, 2026 · 161 weekly returns · each against SPYFrom Sep 2023 to Oct 2026, GSEP returned slightly more: +42.1% to +40.8%. GSEP swung slightly less: 6.6% to 6.8%. GSEP fell slightly less at its worst: −8.8% to −9.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GSEP | POCT | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +42.1% | +40.8% | GSEP (slight) | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +12.0% | +11.7% | GSEP (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +42.1% | +40.8% | GSEP (slight) | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 6.6% | 6.8% | GSEP (slight) | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 4.3% | 4.4% | Tie | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −8.8% | −9.1% | GSEP (slight) | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 35.5% | 35.1% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 45.5% | 45.9% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.44 | 0.45 | 1.00 | Tie | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 0.87 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 1.08 | 1.00 | GSEP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.66 | 1.55 | GSEP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.162 | 0.152 | 0.161 | GSEP (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 1.37 | 1.28 | GSEP (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | −0.4% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.04 | −0.31 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.5% to +2.6% | −3.2% to +2.3% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −1.09 | −1.14 | GSEP (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 8.3% | 8.2% | 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, 161 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | GSEP | POCT | GSEP | POCT |
| 3 months | +1.9% | +2.2% | +2.3 pts | +2.6 pts |
| 6 months | +4.9% | +5.3% | +0.4 pts | +0.8 pts |
| 1 year | +10.9% | +11.3% | −2.7 pts | −2.3 pts |
| 3 years | +41.6% | +40.0% | −34.8 pts | −36.4 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: GSEP Sep 2023 · POCT Oct 2018 | +40.3% | +100.3% | −32.6 pts | −62.5 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
GSEP resets first, on Sep 17, 2027, 317 days from now; POCT runs to Sep 30, 2027, 330 days. GSEP can still gain 12.3% before its cap, POCT 14.7%. A fall from here reaches GSEP’s buffer after 1.7% and POCT’s after 0.8%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
Client brief:
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GSEP
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 12.3% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 1.7% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 0.6% 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. 317 days remained on Nov 4, 2026. On Sep 17, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
POCT
From its price on Nov 4, 2026, the fund can gain about 14.7% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 0.8% 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. 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, GSEP against POCT, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/gsep-vs-poct
ETFIQ. (Nov 4, 2026). GSEP against POCT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/gsep-vs-poct
[GSEP against POCT (ETFIQ, Nov 4, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/gsep-vs-poct)
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