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BUFGFT Vest Buffered Allocation Growth ETF

Grow my moneyStay safe4y track recordRanked #136 of 340 in this goal

Seeks to provide investors with capital appreciation.

By First Trust · Launched 2021

Annual Cost

1.13%

#5,185 of 5,562 · expensive

Fund Size

$312M

#1,924 of 5,562 · mid-size

Return (1Y)Goal

+17.3%

Track Record

4 years

#2,524 of 5,562 · seasoned

Performance

Total-return NAV · USD
Growth of $10,000
$11,774+17.7%

Total-return NAV, USD. Net of fund fees, before tax.

Classification

How Beacon categorizes this fund

Asset class

Alternative

Region

North america

Strategy

Structured outcome

Index tracked

S&P 500 Index

What it actually holds

By weight

Concentration

Top 8 holdings = 100.0% of fundconcentrated

FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - September
16.2%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August
15.5%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - July
14.8%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - December
13.9%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - January
13.4%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - February
13.4%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - September
12.9%
MSILF Treasury Portfolio
0.0%

Asset allocation

Stocks
99.1%
Cash
0.9%

Risk profile

Last 12 months · Sharpe & Sortino need 3+ years
Volatility (1Y)
7.7%Low

Year-on-year price swings

Max drawdown
-17.6%Moderate

Worst peak-to-trough loss

Sharpe (3Y)
0.97Decent risk-adjusted returns
Sortino (3Y)
1.44Good downside protection

Where to buy

Listing

Exchange
Cboe BZX

Full fund details

Objective
Seeks to provide investors with capital appreciation.
Strategy
Invests primarily in ETFs that aim to track the price return of SPY with a cap and provide a defined buffer against losses over one year. Under normal conditions, the Fund allocates substantially all assets to these Underlying ETFs.
Inception date
October 26, 2021
Fund family
First Trust

Our take

Structural notes on how this fund behaves. Read our guide on the 6 warning signs.

Buffer
Warning

Buffer ETF — downside protection at a cost

Defined-outcome funds cap upside (typically 8–20%) in exchange for partial downside protection (9–30%), priced via options. Fees are materially higher than the underlying index (often 0.70%+ vs 0.03–0.10%). For most pre-retirees, a simple stock/bond mix achieves similar downside behaviour at a fraction of the cost.

Source: Morningstar, 'Defined-Outcome ETFs: Useful or Uneconomic?' (2023)

Why we flagged this: strategy=structured_outcome + structured_outcome_strategy

Educational analysis of structural product characteristics. Not investment advice. Always read the fund prospectus and consult a qualified advisor before investing. More

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Data updated on 2026-06-19