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FSEP

GradeCChicago Board Options Exchange

FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - September

Buffered · First Trust · Inception 2020-09-18

$57.34−0.21 (−0.37%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 3:09 PM EDT

Intraday session: down, 65 prints from 57.56 to 57.34. Range 57.24 to 57.52. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$57.30$57.40$57.5010 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.85%
Fund size
$1.3B
1Y return
+13.9%
Yield · Last 12 months
—
Holdings
4
Volume · 30D
0M sh
NAV per share
$57.49
52W range
low $49.14high $57.62

The ETF.net FSEP Grade

C

45/ 100

Rank 45 of 77 in S&P 500 Buffer 9-12%⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for FSEP. Scores out of 100: Cost 11, Risk 52, Mission not scored, Tradability 86, Holdings 56, Durability 86. Strongest: Tradability (86). Weakest: Cost (11). Based on 5 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 45 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 rank75/77 · 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 52
    Category rank39/73 · mid-pack

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    AScore 86
    Category rank5/77 · top 6%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    BScore 56
    Category rank24/42 · mid-pack

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    AScore 86
    Category rank6/77 · top 8%

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

Our read on FSEP

ETF.net Research

CThe September rung of First Trust's twelve-month buffer ladder. It follows the price return of State Street's S&P 500 ETF, absorbs the first 10% of losses, and trades away upside above a cap that resets every September.

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 a 14.00% upside cap and protection against the first 10% of losses during the stated outcome period.

Why people hold it

  1. 01The cushion is written into the mandate, not left to a manager's judgment: across each one-year period the options package absorbs the first 10% of a decline in the reference S&P 500 ETF, before fees.
  2. 02Twelve sibling funds, one per calendar month, all at the same 0.85% fee. Pick a start month or stack several so your protection isn't tied to a single September date.
  3. 03Running since 2020 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund with moderate trading activity, so the September vintage is a well-used rung rather than a thin experiment.

Worth knowing

  1. 01At 0.85% a year it prices above the typical buffer fund, and cheaper paths to a 10% buffer exist (BUFB at 0.10%, ZALT at 0.69%).
  2. 02Built to be held from one September reset to the next. Buy mid-period and your effective cap and leftover cushion differ from the stated terms.
  3. 03No distributions, so the payoff arrives in the share price. And the cushion stops at 10%; declines past that land on you alongside the reference ETF.

FSEP Holdings

As of Sep 21, 2026, 5:41 PM
Asset class
Other
Holdings
4
Top-10 weight
104%
Largest holding
2027-09-17 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 7.6297.9%

Sectors

The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—2027-09-17 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 7.6297.88%16,691$1.2B1
002—2027-09-17 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust P 761.695.05%16,691$64M1
003—US Dollar1.16%14,702,278$15M394

Showing 1–3 of 3 holdings

FSEP Performance

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

FSEP$11,389
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. FSEP $11,389. 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 FSEP. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodFSEP
Year to date+11.6%
1 month+2.0%
3 months+4.7%
1 year+13.9%
3 years+15.6%per year
5 years+10.9%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 FSEP
YearReturn barFSEP
2026 YTD+11.6%
2025+12.8%
2024+13.6%
2023+20.2%
2022−7.1%
2021+11.6%
2020+9.4%

History from Sep 21, 2020

FSEP in the news

FSEP Dividends

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

No distributions in the last 12 months.

FSEP Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
8.1%
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.
1.07
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.
−13.8%
Trough Jun 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.
0.62
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.

FSEP 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.

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