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FHDG

GradeCChicago Board Options Exchange

FT Vest U.S. Equity Quarterly Dynamic Buffer ETF

Buffered · First Trust · Inception 2024-11-15

$37.30−0.08 (−0.20%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 1:57 PM EDT

History starts Nov 18, 2024.
Intraday session: down, 8 prints from 37.38 to 37.30. Range 37.27 to 37.38. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$37.27$37.33$37.35$37.3810 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.85%
Fund size
$77M
1Y return
+13.4%
Yield · Last 12 months
—
Holdings
4
Volume · 30D
0.1M sh
NAV per share
$37.34
52W range
low $32.75high $37.41

The ETF.net FHDG Grade

C

40/ 100

Rank 57 of 77 in S&P 500 Buffer 9-12%⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for FHDG. Scores out of 100: Cost 11, Risk 74, Mission not scored, Tradability 59, Holdings 49, Durability 47. Strongest: Risk (74). Weakest: Cost (11). Based on 5 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 40 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.
    FScore 11
    Category rank67/77 · bottom quartile

  • 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.
    AScore 74
    Category rank6/73 · top 8%

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    BScore 59
    Category rank29/77 · top 38%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    CScore 49
    Category rank33/42 · bottom quartile

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    CScore 47
    Category rank44/77 · mid-pack

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

Our read on FHDG

ETF.net Research

CMost buffer funds lock in one cushion for a full year. FHDG resets every three months and lets the cushion itself flex between 5.0% and 7.5% of S&P 500 losses, with a fresh upside cap set each period.

Stated mandate

The Fund seeks to track the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust before fees and expenses, subject to an upside cap, while dynamically buffering either 5.0% or 7.5% of losses over approximately three months.

Why people hold it

  1. 01The buffer isn't fixed. Each roughly three-month period opens with either 5.0% or 7.5% of downside absorbed, sized to what the options market can fund at the time.ftportfolios.com
  2. 02Quarterly resets mean four fresh starts a year, so one awkward entry point doesn't set the terms for the next twelve months.
  3. 03The reference is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, before fees and expenses. No bespoke index to decode, just the benchmark most investors already track.
  4. 04Sits in the upper half of a crowded shallow-buffer peer group, helped by day-to-day tradability that holds up against bigger names.

Worth knowing

  1. 01At 0.85% a year it runs above the typical fund in its buffer cohort, and above shallow-buffer alternatives like ZALT (0.69%) and BUFB (0.10%).
  2. 02The cap is reset each period, losses past the 5.0% or 7.5% buffer pass through in full, and the reference is a price return, so dividends don't come along.ftportfolios.com
  3. 03Launched in late 2024, so the history is short, and the buffer math only lands as designed for holders who own it from one period start to the next.

FHDG Holdings

As of Sep 21, 2026, 5:47 PM
Asset class
Other
Holdings
4
Top-10 weight
101%
Largest holding
2026-11-20 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 7.6698.2%
The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—2026-11-20 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 7.6698.17%991$75M1
002—2026-11-20 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust P 765.722.07%991$2M1
003—US Dollar1.00%763,300$763K394

Showing 1–3 of 3 holdings

FHDG Performance

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

FHDG$11,344
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. FHDG $11,344. 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 FHDG. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodFHDG
Year to date+10.2%
1 month+0.9%
3 months+3.4%
1 year+13.4%
3 yearsFund is under 3 years old—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 FHDG
YearReturn barFHDG
2026 YTD+10.2%
2025+10.6%
2024+0.5%

History from Nov 18, 2024

FHDG in the news

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

FHDG Dividends

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

No distributions in the last 12 months.

FHDG Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
5.8%
Annualised · 21 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.
1.15
vs 3-month T-bills · 21 months 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.
−14.0%
22 months · trough Apr 2025
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.
0.44
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.

FHDG Cost

Expense ratio0.85%
  • The middle half of S&P 500 Buffer 9-12% funds
  • Median 0.79%

59 of the 77 S&P 500 Buffer 9-12% funds charge less.

FHDG costs $85.00 a year on $10,000. The median S&P 500 Buffer 9-12% fund costs $79.00.