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DFEB

GradeCChicago Board Options Exchange

FT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - February

Buffered · First Trust · Inception 2020-02-21 · SEC filings

$51.70−0.09 (−0.16%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 2:19 PM EDT

Intraday session: down, 51 prints from 51.79 to 51.70. Range 51.64 to 51.79. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$51.65$51.75$51.8010 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.85%
Fund size
$449M
1Y return
+11.4%
Yield · Last 12 months
—
Holdings
4
Volume · 30D
0M sh
NAV per share
$51.79
52W range
low $46.10high $51.84

The ETF.net DFEB Grade

C

53/ 100

Rank 4 of 19 in S&P 500 Deep Buffer 25-30%⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for DFEB. Scores out of 100: Cost 31, Risk 66, Mission not scored, Tradability 73, Holdings 63, Durability 75. Strongest: Durability (75). Weakest: Cost (31). Based on 5 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 53 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.
    DScore 31
    Category rank11/19 · mid-pack

  • 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.
    BScore 66
    Category rank2/18 · top 11%

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    AScore 73
    Category rank3/19 · top 16%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    BScore 63
    Category rank5/12 · top 42%

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    AScore 75
    Category rank4/19 · top 21%

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

Our read on DFEB

ETF.net Research

CA buffer with a deductible. DFEB lets the first 5% of a drop in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust land on you, then covers the next 25 points, in exchange for an upside cap that resets every February.

Stated mandate

The Fund seeks to match the price return of the State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust before fees and expenses, subject to an 11.87% upside cap, while protecting against Underlying ETF losses from -5% through -30% during the February 23, 2026–February 19, 2027 outcome period.

Why people hold it

  1. 01Deep coverage where it hurts: the fund targets protection against reference-ETF losses from -5% through -30%, a 25-point band, over each one-year outcome period.
  2. 02One of twelve monthly vintages on the same reference ETF (DMAR, DJUN, DDEC and the rest), so entries can be laddered across the calendar instead of hinging on one start date.
  3. 03Running since 2020, it has rolled through several full outcome periods, and it sits in the upper half of its deep-buffer peer group.
  4. 04At 0.85%, the fee sits right at the median for deep-buffer funds tracking this kind of strategy.

Worth knowing

  1. 01The trade for depth: you absorb the first 5% of losses yourself, and gains stop at a cap that is reset each February from option pricing at the time.
  2. 02It tracks price return only, so the reference ETF's dividends are not passed along, and the fund has not been paying distributions.
  3. 03Cheaper deep-buffer options exist (PSCX and PSCW run 0.49%), and DFEB trades lightly, so limit orders are the sane way in and out.

DFEB Holdings

As of Sep 21, 2026, 5:43 PM
Asset class
Other
Holdings
4
Top-10 weight
104%
Largest holding
2027-02-19 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 6.88102.8%

Sectors

The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—2027-02-19 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 6.88102.84%6,109$460M1
002—2027-02-19 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust P 654.960.90%6,109$4M1
003—US Dollar0.61%2,714,528$3M394

Showing 1–3 of 3 holdings

DFEB Performance

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

DFEB$11,141
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. DFEB $11,141. 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 DFEB. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodDFEB
Year to date+8.6%
1 month+1.0%
3 months+2.8%
1 year+11.4%
3 years+14.0%per year
5 years+8.5%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 DFEB
YearReturn barDFEB
2026 YTD+8.6%
2025+11.8%
2024+13.9%
2023+12.5%
2022−5.4%
2021+8.8%
2020+6.8%

History from Feb 24, 2020

DFEB in the news

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

DFEB Dividends

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

No distributions in the last 12 months.

DFEB Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
6.6%
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.
1.19
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.
−10.0%
Trough Mar 2023
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.
0.50
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.

DFEB Cost

Expense ratio0.85%
  • The middle half of S&P 500 Deep Buffer 25-30% funds
  • Median 0.85%

7 of the 19 S&P 500 Deep Buffer 25-30% funds charge less.

DFEB costs $85.00 a year on $10,000. The median S&P 500 Deep Buffer 25-30% fund costs $85.00.