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BUFTFT Vest Buffered Allocation Defensive ETF

Stay safeGrow my money4y track recordRanked #199 of 340 in this goal

Seeks to provide capital preservation for investors.

By First Trust · Launched 2021

Annual Cost

1.21%

#5,238 of 5,562 · expensive

Fund Size

$145M

#2,592 of 5,562 · mid-size

Dividend YieldGoal

0.00%

Track Record

4 years

#2,524 of 5,562 · seasoned

Performance

Total-return NAV · USD
Growth of $10,000
$11,143+11.4%

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 Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - April
16.9%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - March
15.5%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - April
14.6%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - April
14.2%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - December
13.8%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - January
12.6%
FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - March
12.5%
MSILF Treasury Portfolio
0.0%

Asset allocation

Stocks
99.5%
Cash
0.5%

Risk profile

Last 12 months · Sharpe & Sortino need 3+ years
Volatility (1Y)
3.3%Low

Year-on-year price swings

Max drawdown
-10.4%Mild

Worst peak-to-trough loss

Sharpe (3Y)
0.94Decent risk-adjusted returns
Sortino (3Y)
1.39Good downside protection

Where to buy

Listing

Exchange
Cboe BZX

Full fund details

Objective
Seeks to provide capital preservation for investors.
Strategy
Invests primarily in ETFs that aim to track the price return of SPY with a cap, while providing a defined buffer against SPY 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