FT Vest Buffered Allocation Growth ETF
$30.30+0.01 (+0.03%)
- 0.20%
- $338M
- +13.9%
- 0M sh
- $30.29
- low $26.25high $30.31
The ETF.net BUFG Grade
C
Score 48 out of 100
- 8 of 18
Score 48 of 100 falls in the C band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.B56 out of 100Rank 8 of 18Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.D26 out of 100Rank 16 of 18Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.C52 out of 100Rank 9 of 18Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.C44 out of 100Rank 12 of 18Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A71 out of 100Rank 5 of 18
Our read on BUFG
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.
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
- A 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
- The 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.
- Cheaper than the other fund built on the same reference: 1.13% a year versus BUFT's 1.21%.
- Running since 2021, with a few hundred million dollars behind it, from an issuer with one of the deepest buffered-ETF lineups.
Worth knowing
- You 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%.
- Buffers 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
- Thinly 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
- Other
- 8
- 100%
- FAUG
Sectors
- Technology40.1%
- Financials11.3%
- Communication9.9%
- Health Care9.4%
- Consumer Discretionary8.7%
- Industrials7.6%
- Consumer Staples4.4%
- Energy3.4%
- Utilities1.9%
- Real Estate1.7%
- Materials1.6%
Geography
- United States100.00%
BUFG Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Not enough history yet.Not enough history yet.
BUFG$11,390
Returns run to the Oct 12, 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.
| Period | BUFG |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +10.0% |
| 1 month | +1.3% |
| 3 months | +2.6% |
| 1 year | +13.9% |
| 3 years | +15.0% |
| 5 years | — |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | BUFG |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +10.0% | |
| 2025 | +12.3% | |
| 2024 | +15.1% | |
| 2023 | +18.5% | |
| 2022 | −11.6% | |
| 2021 | +1.8% |
BUFG in the news
BUFG Dividends
No distributions in the last 12 months.
BUFG Risk
- 7.9%
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.
- 1.26
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.
- −17.6%
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.
- 0.67
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
0.20%
BUFG0.20%
- The middle half of S&P 500 Laddered Buffer funds
- Median 0.25%
7 of the 18 S&P 500 Laddered Buffer funds charge less.
Other funds in S&P 500 Laddered Buffer
- BBUFTFT Vest Buffered Allocation Defensive ETFExpense ratio 0.20%1 year return +10.3%
- CPBFRPGIM Laddered S&P 500 Buffer 20 ETFExpense ratio 0.50%1 year return +10.8%
- CBUFPPGIM Laddered S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETFExpense ratio 0.50%1 year return +14.4%
- CALDBEtf Series Solutions - Aptus Laddered Deep Buffer ETFExpense ratio 0.30%1 year return —
- CBFEWFirst Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII - FT Vest Laddered U.S. Equity Equal Weight Buffer ETFExpense ratio 0.10%1 year return —