FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF
Grades compare a fund with genuinely similar funds. This fund's comparison group currently has too few members for a fair comparison, so no letter is published.
The ETF.net BUFQ Grade
—
Too few comparable funds to grade fairly
Grades compare a fund with genuinely similar funds. This fund's comparison group currently has too few members for a fair comparison, so no letter is published.
Our read on BUFQ
BUFQ stacks four Nasdaq-100 buffer ETFs on a rolling ladder, so a fresh cap and 10% buffer starts on staggered dates instead of one all-or-nothing outcome date. The 1.00% fee is the price of that autopilot.
The Fund seeks capital appreciation through large-cap equity market exposure delivered mainly through a laddered portfolio of four Nasdaq-100 buffer ETFs. Those underlying ETFs seek QQQ-linked returns with an upside cap and a buffer against the first 10% of QQQ losses, while the Fund itself has no stated buffer.
Why people hold it
- Holds four Nasdaq-100 buffer ETFs, each aiming for index-linked returns with an upside cap and a buffer against the first 10% of losses, on staggered reset dates.
- One ticker replaces a four-fund defined-outcome calendar. The rolls and the reweighting happen inside the wrapper, not on your spreadsheet.
- Running since 2022 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund with moderate day-to-day trading activity.
Worth knowing
- At 1.00%, it sits at the expensive end of the Nasdaq-100 buffer group. Laddered rival PBQQ charges half that.
- The fund itself has no stated buffer. Cushion lives in the underlying sleeves, each at a different point in its own outcome period, and each caps upside.
- Not an income vehicle: the strategy has not been paying distributions.
BUFQ Holdings
- Other
- 5
- 100%
- QSPT
Sectors
- Technology44.2%
- Financials26.5%
- Communication9.3%
- Consumer Discretionary7.4%
- Consumer Staples4.2%
- Industrials3.7%
- Health Care2.8%
- Utilities0.8%
- Materials0.7%
- Energy0.3%
Geography
- United States100.00%
BUFQ 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.
BUFQ$11,857
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 | BUFQ |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +14.0% |
| 1 month | +2.7% |
| 3 months | +4.1% |
| 1 year | +18.6% |
| 3 years | +16.9% |
| 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 | BUFQ |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +14.0% | |
| 2025 | +14.0% | |
| 2024 | +16.4% | |
| 2023 | +35.5% | |
| 2022 | +0.7% |
BUFQ in the news
BUFQ Dividends
No distributions in the last 12 months.
BUFQ Risk
- 8.5%
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.
- 1.40
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.
- −15.7%
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.
- 0.61
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
BUFQ Cost
0.10%