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BUFQFT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF

Grow my moneyDiversifier4y track recordRanked #70 of 240 in this goal

Seeks to provide investors with capital appreciation.

By First Trust · Launched 2022

Annual Cost

1.00%

#4,954 of 5,562 · expensive

Fund Size

$1.5B

#888 of 5,562 · large

Return (1Y)Goal

+21.3%

Track Record

4 years

#2,702 of 5,562 · seasoned

Performance

Total-return NAV · USD
Growth of $10,000
$12,140+21.4%

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

Classification

How Beacon categorizes this fund

Asset class

Alternative

Strategy

Structured outcome

Index tracked

Nasdaq-100 Index

What it actually holds

By weight

Concentration

Top 5 holdings = 100.0% of fundconcentrated

FT Vest Nasdaq-100 Buffer ETF - December
25.2%
FT Vest Nasdaq-100 Buffer ETF - September
25.0%
FT Vest Nasdaq-100 Buffer ETF - June
24.9%
FT Vest Nasdaq-100 Buffer ETF - March
24.9%
MSILF Treasury Portfolio
0.0%

Asset allocation

Stocks
99.3%
Cash
0.7%

Risk profile

Last 12 months · Sharpe & Sortino need 3+ years
Volatility (1Y)
8.3%Low

Year-on-year price swings

Max drawdown
-15.7%Moderate

Worst peak-to-trough loss

Sharpe (3Y)
1.11Strong risk-adjusted returns
Sortino (3Y)
1.64Good downside protection

Where to buy

Listing

Exchange
Cboe BZX

Full fund details

Objective
Seeks to provide investors with capital appreciation.
Strategy
Invests primarily in a laddered portfolio of four FT Vest Nasdaq-100 Buffer ETFs to gain large-cap equity exposure while limiting downside risk. The laddered approach aims to provide ongoing benefits from QQQ's value increases and downside protection through periodic resets of caps and buffers.
Inception date
June 15, 2022
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