BUFSFT Vest Laddered Small Cap Mode
Seeks to provide investors with capital appreciation.
By First Trust · Launched 2024
1.01%
#4,997 of 5,562 · expensive
$162M
#2,485 of 5,562 · mid-size
+20.6%
2 years
#3,594 of 5,562 · seasoned
Performance
Total-return NAV · USDTotal-return NAV, USD. Net of fund fees, before tax.
Classification
How Beacon categorizes this fundWhat it actually holds
By weightConcentration
Top 5 holdings = 100.0% of fundconcentrated
Asset allocation
Risk profile
Last 12 months · Sharpe & Sortino need 3+ yearsYear-on-year price swings
Worst peak-to-trough loss
Needs 3+ years of history
Needs 3+ years of history
Where to buy
Listing
- Exchange
- Cboe BZX
Full fund details
- Objective
- Seeks to provide investors with capital appreciation.
- Strategy
- Fund-of-funds holding four FT Vest U.S. Small Cap Moderate Buffer ETFs in a laddered portfolio with rolling target-outcome expiration dates, providing U.S. small-cap equity exposure to the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) while attempting to limit downside via the Underlying ETFs' buffers. The Fund itself provides no stated buffer and its upside is constrained by the Underlying ETFs' caps.
- Inception date
- May 29, 2024
- Fund family
- First Trust
Similar ETFs
Closest matches by profileOur take
Structural notes on how this fund behaves. Read our guide on the 6 warning signs.
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