Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PAPR vs PAUG: Cap, Buffer & Days Left
As of Oct 28, 2026 PAPR can fall 8.9% before its buffer engages and PAUG 2.5%, and PAPR resets 122 days sooner.
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Net assets on Oct 28, 2026: $965m for Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - Apr and $1.0bn for Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - Aug.
PAPR: reference +18.7% since period start, fund +9.2%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +14.0%; At its cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
PAPR: reference +18.7% since period start, fund +9.2%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +14.0%; At its cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.PAUG: reference +3.3% since period start, fund +2.4%; buffer 0 to −15; cap +13.8%; Between buffer and cap. Data to Oct 28, 2026.
Data to Oct 28, 2026.Pair scorecard
Both cost 0.79% a year; their one-year returns differ by 2.8 points.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | PAPR | PAUG |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +12.4% | +9.6% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Index fall to the buffer | 15.7% | 3.2% |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | SPY | SPY |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.79% | 0.79% |
| Net assets | $965m | $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
A percentile among the 292 buffer ETFs on stocks with a live outcome period. 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 9, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 376 weekly returns · each against SPYPAUG returned more: +89.9% to +73.9%. PAPR swung less: 8.2% to 9.2%. PAPR fell less at its worst: −14.1% to −17.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PAPR | PAUG | SPY | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +73.9% | +89.9% | PAUG | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +8.0% | +9.3% | PAUG | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +68.7% | +87.4% | PAUG | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 8.2% | 9.2% | PAPR | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 5.7% | 6.4% | PAPR | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −14.1% | −17.3% | PAPR | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 29.4% | 35.9% | 100.0% | PAUG | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 47.1% | 54.2% | 100.0% | PAPR | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 0.42 | 0.48 | 1.00 | PAPR lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.88 | 0.92 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.63 | 0.70 | PAUG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 0.89 | 1.01 | PAUG | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.122 | 0.133 | 0.135 | PAUG (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.56 | 0.54 | PAPR (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | SPY | SPY | SPY | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.6% a year | −0.1% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.53 | −0.10 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −2.6% to +1.5% | −2.0% to +1.8% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | −0.76 | −0.72 | PAUG (slight) | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.0% | 9.9% | 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, 376 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
Window by window
| Total return | Gap to the reference's price return | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | PAPR | PAUG | PAPR | PAUG |
| 3 months | +3.0% | +2.4% | −2.9 pts | −3.5 pts |
| 6 months | +5.0% | +5.6% | −3.6 pts | −2.9 pts |
| 1 year | +12.4% | +9.6% | 0.0 pts | −2.8 pts |
| 3 years | +45.1% | +54.9% | −43.0 pts | −33.1 pts |
| Since launchNot the same days: PAPR Apr 2019 · PAUG Aug 2019 | +77.3% | +90.4% | −92.9 pts | −71.5 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 Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PAPR is already at its cap, so more rise in the index adds nothing to it before the period ends.
They do not reset together. PAPR has 154 days of its period left and PAUG has 276, so the two are not the same bet on the same months.
Both are Innovator funds, so the difference between them is the terms rather than the house.
Where each one stands today
PAPR resets first, on Mar 31, 2027, 154 days from now; PAUG runs to Jul 31, 2027, 276 days. PAPR can still gain 3.9% before its cap, PAUG 11.0%. A fall from here reaches PAPR’s buffer after 8.9% and PAUG’s after 2.5%. Both track SPY, so what separates them is where each is in its own period.
PAPR and PAUG are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Outcome period. PAPR runs Mar 31, 2026 to Mar 31, 2027 with 154 days left; PAUG runs Jul 31, 2026 to Jul 31, 2027 with 276 days left.
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PAPR returned +12.4% and PAUG +9.6% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 2.8 points.
- Protection and cap (similar). PAPR: Absorbs the first 15% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 14.0%, over a period ending Mar 31, 2027. PAUG: Absorbs the first 15% of loss on SPY and caps the gain at 13.8%, over a period ending Jul 31, 2027. The starting caps are 0.2 points apart.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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PAPR
SPY had already risen past this fund's cap of +14.0% for the period on Oct 28, 2026, so in index terms there is no more upside to collect. The fund's own price can still drift up to about 3.9% as the period runs out. The fund's price can fall 8.9% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 15.7% 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. 154 days remained on Oct 28, 2026. On Mar 31, 2027 the period ends and a new cap is set.
PAUG
From its price on Oct 28, 2026, the fund can gain about 11.0% more before it reaches its cap. The fund's price can fall 2.5% from here before the buffer starts absorbing losses, by the issuer's number. In index terms, SPY can fall 3.2% from today's level to the point where the buffer begins. 276 days remained on Oct 28, 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, PAPR against PAUG, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/papr-vs-paug
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PAPR against PAUG. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/papr-vs-paug
[PAPR against PAUG (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/buffer/papr-vs-paug)
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