As of October 13, 2026, 127 of the 430 buffer ETFs tracked across 8 issuers were sitting at their cap, meaning the index backing those funds has already risen far enough that this period's upside is used up. Another 41 funds had their buffer absorbing losses, with one fund having exhausted its buffer entirely. The remaining 261 funds, 61% of the total, were in an open state, neither capped nor drawing on their downside protection. For the median fund across the full set, the published data point to 5.6% of further gain still available before the cap and 4.2% of decline it could absorb before the buffer starts working.
The issuer breakdown shows meaningful spread. Innovator, the largest issuer with 138 funds, had 44 at cap and a median fund that could still gain 6.8%, with 5.2% of room before its buffer engages. First Trust, with 104 funds, had 40 at cap and a narrower remaining gain of 5.2%, but more room on the downside at 6.4%. AllianzIM and PGIM showed lower remaining upside, 4.6% and 4.2% respectively, with PGIM showing no funds in buffer-working territory among its 44. Corgi, Calamos, TrueShares and iShares round out the table with smaller fund counts; Corgi and TrueShares did not report a median remaining gain number. Expense ratios across issuers ranged from 0.30% for Corgi to 0.80% for Innovator, First Trust and TrueShares.
The reset calendar for the next twelve months illustrates how the cap position connects to timing. Funds resetting soonest, such as the 25 reaching their period end in October 2026 and the 29 in November 2026, carry the least remaining cap room, a median of 0.6% and 1.5% respectively, because their underlying index has already had a full period to climb toward the ceiling. The median index move since period start for those near-term buckets sits at +14.0% and +13.7%, consistent with caps having been largely used up. By contrast, funds resetting further out, including the 35 in August 2027 and 35 in September 2027, show median remaining gain numbers of 13.3% and 14.2%, alongside smaller index moves since period start of +1.3% and +1.9%. The fresh caps set at the most recent resets simply have not had time to be approached yet, which is reflected in the numbers rather than any difference in fund design.
Readers can look up any individual fund's current band state, its remaining cap, its downside before buffer, and its next reset date on ETFIQ's fund pages.