On Oct 20, 2026, ETFIQ's data covered 431 buffer ETFs from 8 issuers. These funds use a yearly or similar cycle, with each fund's index-linked upside limited to a stated "cap" and its downside cushioned by a "buffer" that absorbs a set range of losses before an investor's capital is affected. As of this date, 95 of the 431 funds had already reached their cap, meaning their underlying index has risen far enough that there is no further upside left for the current period. Separately, 64 funds had their buffer actively absorbing losses, which happens when the index has fallen enough to reach the cushioned range. Across all funds, the median fund could still gain 6.2% from its current price before hitting its cap, and could fall 3.8% before its buffer starts working, based on the issuers' own published data.
By issuer, Innovator's 138 funds had 33 at cap and 23 with buffers working, with a median remaining gain of 7.2% and a median fall of 4.9% before the buffer begins; its median expense ratio was 0.80%. First Trust's 104 funds had 25 at cap and 12 with buffers working, a median remaining gain of 6.5%, a median fall of 5.1%, and a 0.80% median expense ratio. AllianzIM's 57 funds showed 7 at cap and 8 with buffers working, a 5.2% median remaining gain, a 2.9% median fall, and a 0.70% expense ratio. PGIM, Corgi, Calamos, TrueShares and iShares rounded out the group, with Corgi and TrueShares showing no funds at cap and numbers for remaining gain not available for Corgi, Calamos or TrueShares.
Looking at where every fund stands today, 22% of the 431 funds sat at cap, 63% remained open with room to move in either direction, 15% had buffers working, and under 1%, a single fund, had a buffer fully exhausted.
The next twelve months of resets show a pattern tied to how much time each fund's index has had to climb. Funds ending in Oct 2026 and Nov 2026, the soonest resets, carried the least remaining cap room, at 1.2% and 1.6% respectively, alongside index moves since period start of +12.8% and +12.6%. The pattern shifts through the year, with funds resetting in Aug 2027 and Sep 2027 showing far larger remaining cap room, at 13.9% and 14.7%, alongside smaller index moves since their period start, +0.3% and +0.8%. This reflects how much of the year's move has already occurred relative to each fund's own reset clock, not a difference in fund design.
Readers can look up any individual fund's current cap, buffer range, and reset date on ETFIQ's fund pages.