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GAUG

GradeCChicago Board Options Exchange

FT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - August

Buffered · First Trust · Inception 2023-08-18 · SEC filings

$42.22−0.12 (−0.28%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 2:18 PM EDT

History starts Aug 21, 2023.
Intraday session: down, 16 prints from 42.34 to 42.22. Range 42.16 to 42.27. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$42.15$42.20$42.2510 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.85%
Fund size
$419M
1Y return
+9.8%
Yield · Last 12 months
—
Holdings
4
Volume · 30D
0.1M sh
NAV per share
$42.32
52W range
low $37.99high $42.39

The ETF.net GAUG Grade

C

41/ 100

Rank 36 of 61 in S&P 500 Buffer 15%⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for GAUG. Scores out of 100: Cost 13, Risk 48, Mission not scored, Tradability 77, Holdings 52, Durability 72. Strongest: Tradability (77). Weakest: Cost (13). Based on 5 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 41 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 13
    Category rank48/61 · 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 48
    Category rank30/57 · mid-pack

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    AScore 77
    Category rank6/61 · top 10%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    CScore 52
    Category rank21/32 · mid-pack

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    AScore 72
    Category rank20/61 · top 33%

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

Our read on GAUG

ETF.net Research

CThe August rung of First Trust's buffer ladder: it absorbs the first 15% of an S&P 500 drop over a one-year stretch, in exchange for a ceiling on the gains, reset every August. A deeper cushion than plain index exposure, with a lid as the price.

Stated mandate

The fund seeks to track the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF up to an 11.89% upside cap while buffering the first 15% of losses during the August 18, 2025–August 21, 2026 outcome period.

Why people hold it

  1. 01Absorbs the first 15% of a decline in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust over each one-year outcome period, in exchange for a cap on gains that resets every August.
  2. 02Twelve monthly siblings run the same 15% buffer playbook, so entry points can be staggered across the calendar instead of hinging on one start date.
  3. 03The reference is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust itself, not a bespoke index nobody can look up.

Worth knowing

  1. 01At 0.85% a year, it prices above much of its buffer cohort; Innovator's laddered BUFF lists 0.10%.
  2. 02Buy mid-period and your effective cap and cushion differ from the headline terms, which apply to shares held from one August reset to the next.
  3. 03Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so limit orders matter, and the options structure passes through no dividend income.

GAUG Holdings

As of Sep 21, 2026, 5:45 PM
Asset class
Other
Holdings
4
Top-10 weight
104%
Largest holding
2027-08-20 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 7.6897.8%

Sectors

The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—2027-08-20 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust C 7.6897.82%5,431$407M1
002—2027-08-20 State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust P 765.744.80%5,431$20M1
003—US Dollar1.09%4,523,899$5M394

Showing 1–3 of 3 holdings

GAUG Performance

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

GAUG$10,983
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. GAUG $10,983. 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 GAUG. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodGAUG
Year to date+7.8%
1 month+0.7%
3 months+2.5%
1 year+9.8%
3 years+12.7%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 GAUG
YearReturn barGAUG
2026 YTD+7.8%
2025+11.3%
2024+11.8%
2023+5.8%

History from Aug 21, 2023

GAUG in the news

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

GAUG Dividends

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

No distributions in the last 12 months.

GAUG Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
6.2%
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.
1.09
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.
−10.1%
37 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.
0.46
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.

GAUG Cost

Expense ratio0.85%
  • The middle half of S&P 500 Buffer 15% funds
  • Median 0.79%

35 of the 50 S&P 500 Buffer 15% funds charge less.

GAUG costs $85.00 a year on $10,000. The median S&P 500 Buffer 15% fund costs $79.00.