As of October 12, 2026, 130 of the 430 buffer ETFs tracked across eight issuers sit at their cap, meaning the index they track has risen far enough that those funds have no further upside until their current period resets. That is 30% of the universe. A further 265 funds, or 62%, are classed as open, with room to move before either the cap or the downside buffer comes into play. Thirty-four funds, 8%, have their buffer already absorbing losses, and one fund has exhausted its buffer entirely.
Across all funds, the median one could still gain 5.5% from its current price before hitting its cap, and could fall 4.3% before its buffer would start cushioning losses, based on the issuers' own published data.
The pattern varies by issuer. Innovator, with 138 funds, has 46 at cap and 15 with buffers working, and its median fund shows 6.8% of room left to gain against a 5.1% cushion before losses begin. First Trust's 104 funds show a tighter median upside of 5.2% but a wider cushion of 6.4%. AllianzIM, PGIM, Corgi, Calamos, TrueShares and iShares each show their own mix: PGIM, for instance, has 17 of its 44 funds at cap and none with buffers currently working, while Corgi has only 1 fund at cap out of 36 and 7 with buffers absorbing losses. TrueShares has no funds at cap and none with buffers working among its 11 funds. Expense ratios across issuers range from 0.30% for Corgi to 0.80% for Innovator, First Trust and TrueShares.
Looking ahead by reset month, a clear pattern emerges: funds resetting soonest carry the least remaining room to gain, since their tracking index has had the most time to climb toward the cap already set. Funds ending in October 2026 show a median remaining gain of just 0.6%, with 18 of 25 funds already at cap, following a median index move since the period started of +14.2%. The same pattern holds through the winter months, with December 2026's 63 funds showing 2.7% median remaining gain and 25 at cap. Further out, funds with periods ending from May 2027 onward show considerably more room, with median remaining gains climbing to 10.6%, 11.6%, 13.2% and 14.2% in successive months, and few or no funds yet at cap, reflecting index moves since their period start that have mostly been smaller.
Readers can check any individual fund's current cap, buffer level, reset date and expense ratio on its page on ETFIQ.