Across 430 buffer ETFs from 8 issuers, 130 funds sat at their cap as of Oct 9, 2026, meaning their index has risen enough that, by the issuers' own numbers, these funds have no further upside for the current period. That is 30% of the group. Another 265 funds remain open, with room to move before either the cap or the buffer comes into play, and 34 funds had their buffer already absorbing losses, with one fund shown as buffer exhausted. The summary notes 35 funds with buffers working, a number close to but not identical to the 34 shown in the band-state table.
By issuer, Innovator has the largest lineup at 138 funds, with 46 at cap and 13 in buffer-working status; its median fund could still gain 6.8% and could fall 5.1% before the buffer begins, against a median expense ratio of 0.80%. First Trust runs 104 funds, 41 at cap, 6 in buffer-working status, a median remaining gain of 5.1% and median fall before buffer of 6.4%, also at 0.80%. AllianzIM's 57 funds show 8 at cap and a median remaining gain of 4.5%, with 3.7% median room before the buffer starts, at a 0.70% median expense ratio. PGIM's 44 funds have 17 at cap and none in buffer-working status, a 4.3% median remaining gain and 3.8% median fall before buffer, at the lowest median expense ratio in the table, 0.50%. Corgi, Calamos, and TrueShares report no median remaining gain number in this data; TrueShares additionally shows none of its 11 funds at cap or in buffer-working status. iShares' 8 funds include 3 at cap, a 5.7% median remaining gain, and 4.0% median fall before buffer, at 0.50%.
Looking ahead by reset month, the pattern described in the summary holds: funds resetting soonest carry smaller remaining caps because their index has had more time to climb toward it, while funds with resets further out show more room left to run. Oct 2026 funds, 25 in total with 18 at cap, show a median remaining gain of just 0.6%, alongside a median index move since period start of +14.2%. The pattern eases through the months: by May 2027, none of the 35 resetting funds sit at cap, and the median remaining gain rises to 10.6%, with the index having moved just +2.9% since period start. August 2027 shows a similar profile, with no funds at cap and a 13.2% median remaining gain against a +1.5% median index move. December 2026 stands out as the largest single cohort at 63 funds, with 25 at cap and a median remaining gain of 2.7%.
These numbers are issuer-published, in fund-price terms, and reflect medians across funds rather than asset-weighted averages; band states are ETFIQ's own calculation from published terms and reference returns. Readers can check the live desk for how any individual fund's current price compares to its stated cap and buffer level today.