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Beacon

GAUGFT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - August

Stay safeGrow my money2y track recordRanked #115 of 340 in this goal

Seeks to match the price return of SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up to 11.89% while providing a 15% loss buffer.

By First Trust · Launched 2023

Annual Cost

0.90%

#4,535 of 5,562 · expensive

Fund Size

$298M

#1,953 of 5,562 · mid-size

Dividend YieldGoal

0.00%

Track Record

2 years

#3,115 of 5,562 · seasoned

Performance

Total-return NAV · USD
Growth of $10,000
$11,404+14.0%

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 10 holdings = 104.9% of fundconcentrated

CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.SPY 8 C6.45
72.1%
CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.SPY 8 C6.45
21.3%
CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.SPY 8 C6.45
7.9%
CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.SPY 8 P643.46
2.5%
Dreyfus Government Cash Management
0.9%
CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.SPY 8 P643.46
0.7%
CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.SPY 8 P643.46
0.2%
CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.SPY 8 P546.94
-0.1%
CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.SPY 8 C719.97
-0.1%
CBOE GLOBAL MARKETS, INC.SPY 8 P546.94
-0.3%

Asset allocation

Stocks
99.4%
Cash
0.6%

Risk profile

Last 12 months · Sharpe & Sortino need 3+ years
Volatility (1Y)
5.6%Low

Year-on-year price swings

Max drawdown
-10.1%Mild

Worst peak-to-trough loss

Sharpe (3Y)
Unavailable

Needs 3+ years of history

Sortino (3Y)
Not yet

Needs 3+ years of history

Where to buy

Listing

Exchange
Cboe BZX

Full fund details

Objective
Seeks to match the price return of SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up to 11.89% while providing a 15% loss buffer.
Strategy
Invests primarily in FLEX Options referencing the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust to achieve a target outcome strategy. Aims for upside participation up to 11.89% and protects against the first 15% of losses.
Inception date
August 18, 2023
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