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BUFG

GradeCChicago Board Options Exchange

FT Vest Buffered Allocation Growth ETF

Buffered · First Trust · Inception 2021-10-26 · SEC filings

$30.04−0.10 (−0.35%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 2:17 PM EDT

History starts Oct 27, 2021.
Intraday session: down, 49 prints from 30.14 to 30.04. Range 29.99 to 30.10. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$30.00$30.05$30.07$30.1010 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.20%
Fund size
$336M
1Y return
+12.1%
Yield · Last 12 months
—
Holdings
7
Volume · 30D
0M sh
NAV per share
$30.12
52W range
low $26.25high $30.17

The ETF.net BUFG Grade

C

47/ 100

Rank 8 of 18 in S&P 500 Laddered Buffer⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for BUFG. Scores out of 100: Cost 53, Risk 25, Mission not scored, Tradability 51, Holdings 45, Durability 73. Strongest: Durability (73). Weakest: Risk (25). Based on 5 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 47 of 100 sits in the C band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.

  • Cost

    What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.
    CScore 53
    Category rank8/18 · top 44%

  • Mission

    How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.
    Not scored
    —

  • Risk

    How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.
    DScore 25
    Category rank16/18 · bottom quartile

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    CScore 51
    Category rank9/18 · top 50%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    CScore 45
    Category rank10/17 · mid-pack

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    AScore 73
    Category rank4/18 · top 22%

Graded as of Sep 22, 2026 · Based on 5 of 6 pillars

Our read on BUFG

ETF.net Research

COne ticket instead of a calendar. BUFG holds a basket of buffered ETFs, each tied to the price return of a big S&P 500 fund up to a cap with a defined cushion against losses, so you skip picking an outcome month yourself.

Stated mandate

The Fund seeks capital appreciation by investing in ETFs designed to provide returns based on SPY’s price return up to a predetermined cap, with a defined buffer against SPY losses over a one-year period.

Why people hold it

  1. 01A fund of buffer funds: one holding spreads you across several defined-outcome ETFs at once, instead of betting everything on a single start date.ftportfolios.com
  2. 02The mechanism is the point: equity exposure to a large S&P 500 fund's price move, with a stated buffer against its losses over a one-year period.
  3. 03Cheaper than the other fund built on the same reference: 1.13% a year versus BUFT's 1.21%.
  4. 04Running since 2021, with a few hundred million dollars behind it, from an issuer with one of the deepest buffered-ETF lineups.

Worth knowing

  1. 01You pay for the packaging: 1.13% a year, above the roughly 0.79% median in its buffer-fund peer group and above laddered sibling BUFR at 0.95%.
  2. 02Buffers come with caps. Upside is limited by design, and the buffer and cap apply across a full outcome period, so mid-period buyers get different terms.ftportfolios.com
  3. 03Thinly traded next to the largest buffer ETFs, so bid-ask spreads can be wider. The mandate targets capital appreciation, not income, and it has not been paying distributions.

BUFG Holdings

As of Sep 21, 2026, 5:44 PM
Asset class
Other
Holdings
7
Top-10 weight
100%
Largest holding
FMAY17.0%

Sectors

  • Technology38.5%
  • Financials12.1%
  • Communication9.6%
  • Consumer Discr.9.3%
  • Health Care9.3%
  • Industrials7.8%
  • Cons. Staples4.5%
  • Energy3.4%
  • Utilities2.0%
  • Real Estate1.8%
  • Materials1.7%

Geography

  • United States100.00%
The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001FMAYFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - May16.98%987,667$57M2
002FJUNFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - June16.67%910,404$56M2
003FAPRFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - April14.22%993,024$47M2
004FJANFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - January13.15%776,281$44M2
005GMAYFT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - May13.07%993,579$44M2
006GJUNFT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - June12.95%1,031,153$43M2
007FFEBFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - February12.94%690,711$43M2
008—US Dollar0.02%65,661$66K394

Showing 1–8 of 8 holdings

BUFG Performance

Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.

BUFG$11,213
SPY tracks large US stocks. It provides market context, rather than representing this fund’s strategy, asset class or investment benchmark.$11,723
Sep 22, 2025 to Sep 22, 2026. BUFG $11,213. SPY $11,723. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$9,353$10,646$11,940Sep 2025Mar 2026Sep 2026

Sep 22, 2025 – Sep 22, 2026

Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.

Trailing total return for BUFG. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodBUFG
Year to date+9.5%
1 month+0.8%
3 months+3.1%
1 year+12.1%
3 years+15.1%per year
5 yearsFund is under 5 years old—per year
10 yearsFund is under 10 years old—per year

As of the close, with distributions reinvested.

Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.

Annual total returns for BUFG
YearReturn barBUFG
2026 YTD+9.5%
2025+12.3%
2024+15.1%
2023+18.5%
2022−11.6%
2021+1.8%

History from Oct 27, 2021

BUFG in the news

ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on BUFG yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.

BUFG Dividends

This fund pays no distributions.
—Last 12 months
Payout per share
—Last 12 months

No distributions in the last 12 months.

BUFG Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
8.3%
Annualised · 36 months to Aug 2026
How it’s calculated: standard deviation

The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.

Return above 3-month US Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
1.04
vs 3-month T-bills · to Aug 2026
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio

Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.

Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.

The largest fall from a peak to the low that followed.
−17.6%
58 months · trough Oct 2022
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown

The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.

Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.

How strongly the fund’s returns move with its asset-class index.
0.67
vs its asset-class index
How it’s calculated: beta

The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.

BUFG Cost

Expense ratio0.20%
  • The middle half of S&P 500 Laddered Buffer funds
  • Median 0.20%

8 of the 18 S&P 500 Laddered Buffer funds charge less.

BUFG costs $20.00 a year on $10,000. The median S&P 500 Laddered Buffer fund costs $20.00.