# Deconstructing buffered ETFs > Allianz Investment Management’s paper “Deconstructing buffered ETFs”, summarized by ETFIQ with its own data beside it. Summary by ETFIQ. Data as of Oct 21, 2026. Rebuilt every trading night. Published Apr 22, 2026 by Allianz Investment Management. Summary by ETFIQ as of Oct 21, 2026. ## Deconstructing buffered ETFs In an April 2026 explainer, Allianz Investment Management describes how its buffered ETFs stack three options layers to provide a 10% or 20% cushion against losses. Allianz Investment Management · Issuer · Read the full paper at Allianz Investment Management ↗ ### What it says Figures as stated by Allianz Investment Management, Apr 22, 2026 - Allianz Investment Management says the buffer comes from a put spread, pairing a purchased at-the-money put with a sold put struck lower, covering 10% or 20% of reference asset declines. (AllianzIM, p. 2) - Allianz Investment Management creates 1:1 exposure to the S&P 500 synthetically, using a bought call whose strike sits far below the index price instead of holding the stocks. (AllianzIM, p. 2) - Allianz Investment Management limits upside by writing a call struck above the current price, so the fund follows gains 1:1 only until the stated cap is reached. (AllianzIM, p. 1) - The funds hold FLEX Options, exchange-traded contracts with custom strikes and expiry dates, which carry the risk that the Options Clearing Corporation fails to settle them. (AllianzIM) - The paper notes that caps and buffers fully apply only when shares are held for the whole outcome period, are not guaranteed, and that investors can lose everything. (AllianzIM) ### The ETFIQ take ETFIQ data to Oct 21, 2026 · 431 buffer ETFs on Oct 21, 2026 On Oct 21, 2026, 107 of 431 buffer ETFs from 8 issuers sat at their cap, so they had no further upside this outcome period. 107 of 431 buffer ETFs at their cap , Oct 21, 2026. ETFIQ 8 issuers with a buffer ETF , Oct 21, 2026. ETFIQ Paper: as Allianz Investment Management states it above. ETFIQ: 431 buffer ETFs on Oct 21, 2026. Each fund is read against its own outcome period and the cap its issuer states. The two sets and windows differ; the figures are stated, not reconciled. Method Data ### Related ETFs The largest buffer ETFs ETFIQ covers, by net assets - BALT Innovator Defined Wealth Shield ETF - Quarterly: 1.8% - FJAN FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - January: 4.0% - FMAY FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - May: 11.5% - FAUG FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August: 15.0% - FJUN FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - June: 12.1% - FSEP FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - September: 14.7% Figure: can still gain from today’s fund price, to Oct 21, 2026, from each fund’s page. All 431 buffer ETFs → ### Related papers Allianz Investment Management · Issuer · May 6, 2026 · ETFIQ take #### AllianzIM Buffered ETFs Investor Guide Allianz Investment Management's May 2026 investor guide explains its buffered ETFs, which aim to cushion reference asset losses of 5%, 10%, 15% or 20% per outcome period. Buffer Read the paper ↗ All 2 papers on buffer → ### Questions people ask What does the Allianz Investment Management paper conclude? In an April 2026 explainer, Allianz Investment Management describes how its buffered ETFs stack three options layers to provide a 10% or 20% cushion against losses. The paper’s own words are at the link above. What does ETFIQ’s data show on the same question? On Oct 21, 2026, 107 of 431 buffer ETFs from 8 issuers sat at their cap, so they had no further upside this outcome period. ETFIQ states both figures and does not reconcile them. What is a buffer ETF? A fund that holds options so that, over a stated outcome period, it absorbs a stated part of an index’s fall and gives up gains above a cap. Where can I read “Deconstructing buffered ETFs”? On Allianz Investment Management’s own site. ETFIQ summarizes the paper and does not host it. --- Source: ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices. Cite: ETFIQ, Deconstructing buffered ETFs (Allianz Investment Management), summary and ETFIQ take, as of Oct 21, 2026. https://etfiq.com/research/library/allianzim-deconstructing-buffered-etfs/ Licence: https://etfiq.com/license/ Figures ETFIQ computes are free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms. HTML: https://etfiq.com/research/library/allianzim-deconstructing-buffered-etfs/