Across the 429 buffer ETFs from 8 issuers tracked as of Sep 24, 2026, 127 funds, or 30% of the total, sat at their cap, meaning those funds have no further upside in index terms for the current period. Another 269 funds, 63% of the total, were in the open band, while 32 funds, 7%, had their buffer absorbing losses, and 1 fund had its buffer exhausted. By the issuers' own numbers, the median fund across all funds could still gain 5.2% from its current price and could fall 4.9% before its buffer begins.
The issuer breakdown shows some spread in these numbers. Innovator, the largest issuer with 138 funds, had 44 at cap and 13 with buffers working; its median fund could still gain 5.6% and had 6.1% of room before the buffer starts. First Trust, with 104 funds, had 34 at cap and 5 with buffers working, a median gain room of 5.8% and 6.0% before buffer. AllianzIM's 56 funds showed 11 at cap, 2 with buffers working, 4.5% median gain room and 4.7% before buffer. PGIM's 44 funds had 20 at cap and none with buffers working, with a smaller 3.9% median gain room and 4.3% before buffer. Corgi, with 36 funds, had none at cap but 8 with buffers working, and its median fall-before-buffer number was 1.8%, the lowest among issuers reporting one; gain room was not available. Calamos, with 32 funds, had 15 at cap and 5 with buffers working, 3.6% before buffer. TrueShares' 11 funds and iShares' 8 funds rounded out the group, with iShares showing 3 at cap, 4.1% median gain room and 5.9% before buffer. Expense ratios across issuers ranged from Corgi's 0.30% to Innovator's, First Trust's and TrueShares' 0.80%.
Looking ahead by reset month, the data shows a pattern tied to how much time each period's index has had to move. Periods resetting soonest carry the least remaining cap: Sep 2026, with 52 funds and 23 at cap, had a median remaining gain of just 0.6%, alongside a median index move since period start of +15.0%. This pattern continues through Mar 2027, where 34 funds and 23 at cap paired with a +18.0% median index move and only 4.8% remaining cap. From Apr 2027 onward, the picture shifts: fewer funds sit at cap, and median remaining gain room rises, reaching 14.4% for the 26 funds resetting in Aug 2027, where the median index move since period start was +0.0%. This reflects the summary's point that fresh caps sit in the months that reset last, since those periods' indexes have had the least time to climb toward their ceiling.
Readers working from the live desk can check any individual fund's current distance to cap and to its buffer floor, in both index and fund-price terms, against the numbers shown here for the same date.