Skip to content
etf.net

FMAY

GradeCChicago Board Options Exchange

FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - May

Buffered · First Trust · Inception 2020-05-15 · SEC filings

$57.59−0.20 (−0.35%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 3:08 PM EDT

Intraday session: down, 68 prints from 57.79 to 57.59. Range 57.52 to 57.97. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$57.80$58.0010 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.85%
Fund size
$1.5B
1Y return
+10.8%
Yield · Last 12 months
—
Holdings
4
Volume · 30D
0.1M sh
NAV per share
$57.81
52W range
low $51.65high $57.88

The ETF.net FMAY Grade

C

47/ 100

Rank 41 of 77 in S&P 500 Buffer 9-12%⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for FMAY. Scores out of 100: Cost 11, Risk 53, Mission not scored, Tradability 88, Holdings 67, Durability 86. Strongest: Tradability (88). Weakest: Cost (11). 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.
    FScore 11
    Category rank72/77 · 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.
    CScore 53
    Category rank36/73 · top 49%

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    AScore 88
    Category rank3/77 · top 4%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    BScore 67
    Category rank8/42 · top 19%

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    AScore 86
    Category rank5/77 · top 6%

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

Our read on FMAY

ETF.net Research

CFirst Trust's May rung on a twelve-month buffer ladder: it absorbs the first 10% of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust's price losses over a one-year stretch, trades that cushion for an upside cap, then resets every May.

Stated mandate

The Fund seeks pre-fee, pre-expense returns linked to the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, subject to a 17.09% upside cap and protection against the first 10% of losses during the current May outcome period.

Why people hold it

  1. 01Mechanically simple: across each one-year period it seeks to absorb the first 10% of the reference ETF's price decline, in exchange for an upside cap set at the May reset.ftportfolios.com
  2. 02Twelve monthly siblings (FJAN through FDEC) run the same 10% buffer on the same reference ETF, so entries can be laddered or rolled into a fresh period in any month.ftportfolios.com
  3. 03Built from exchange-listed FLEX options inside an ETF wrapper: daily liquidity, no surrender schedule, no minimum holding term.sec.govftportfolios.com
  4. 04Seasoned by buffer-fund standards: running since 2020 and carrying over a billion dollars, which puts it among the larger, longer-lived funds in this niche.

Worth knowing

  1. 01At 0.85% a year it costs more than the typical fund in its buffer peer group, and laddered alternatives such as BUFB charge a fraction of that.
  2. 02It follows price return only, so the reference ETF's dividends are left out, and the stated cap and buffer are quoted before fees and expenses.sec.gov
  3. 03Cap and buffer are designed for holders across the full outcome period; buy mid-period and your own numbers differ. Each May's new cap depends on market rates at the reset.ftportfolios.comsec.gov

FMAY Holdings

As of Sep 21, 2026, 5:41 PM
Asset class
Other
Holdings
4
Top-10 weight
103%
Largest holding
2027-05-21 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 7.3998.5%

Sectors

The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—2027-05-21 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 7.3998.55%19,262$1.4B1
002—2027-05-21 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust P 739.173.16%19,262$46M1
003—US Dollar0.86%12,569,676$13M394

Showing 1–3 of 3 holdings

FMAY Performance

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

FMAY$11,084
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. FMAY $11,084. 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 FMAY. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodFMAY
Year to date+8.1%
1 month+0.9%
3 months+3.1%
1 year+10.8%
3 years+14.6%per year
5 years+9.5%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 FMAY
YearReturn barFMAY
2026 YTD+8.1%
2025+12.7%
2024+14.5%
2023+17.8%
2022−8.1%
2021+11.0%
2020+11.7%

History from May 19, 2020

FMAY in the news

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

FMAY Dividends

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

No distributions in the last 12 months.

FMAY Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
7.5%
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.
1.10
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.
−13.6%
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.
0.54
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.

FMAY 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.

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