Skip to content
etf.net

PAUG

GradeCChicago Board Options Exchange

Innovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - August

Buffered · Innovator · Inception 2019-08-01

$46.80−0.10 (−0.20%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 3:10 PM EDT

Intraday session: down, 67 prints from 46.90 to 46.80. Range 46.77 to 46.93. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$46.75$46.85$46.9010 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.79%
Fund size
$1.0B
1Y return
+10.4%
Yield · Last 12 months
0.00%
Holdings
6
Volume · 30D
0.1M sh
NAV per share
$46.62
52W range
low $41.92high $47.02

The ETF.net PAUG Grade

C

50/ 100

Rank 17 of 61 in S&P 500 Buffer 15%⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for PAUG. Scores out of 100: Cost 35, Risk 50, Mission not scored, Tradability 70, Holdings not scored, Durability 80. Strongest: Durability (80). Weakest: Cost (35). Based on 4 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 50 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 35
    Category rank36/61 · 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.
    CScore 50
    Category rank27/57 · top 47%

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    AScore 70
    Category rank10/61 · top 16%

  • Holdings

    What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.
    Not scored
    —

  • Durability

    Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.
    AScore 80
    Category rank9/61 · top 15%

Graded as of Sep 22, 2026 · Based on 4 of 6 pillars

Our read on PAUG

ETF.net Research

CA shock absorber with a calendar. PAUG soaks up the first 15% of losses on an S&P 500 ETF over each roughly one-year stretch, trades away some upside via a cap, then resets every August 1.

Stated mandate

PAUG seeks to track SPY up to a predetermined upside cap while protecting the first 15% of losses over an approximately annual outcome period, resetting at the end of each period.

Why people hold it

  1. 01The first 15 percentage points of reference-fund losses over the outcome period are absorbed before you feel anything. That buffer is written into the fund's documents, not left to a manager's judgment.innovatoretfs.com
  2. 02What's being shaped is plain vanilla US large cap: the reference asset is SPY, the S&P 500 tracker, not a bespoke smart-beta index built for the brochure.
  3. 03Live since August 2019, so the annual reset has run through several very different markets. It also has eleven monthly siblings, so the choice is a start date, not a strategy.
  4. 04Among the stronger implementations in a crowded buffer field, where a lot of look-alike funds charge similar money for similar mechanics.

Worth knowing

  1. 01Upside is capped, and the cap is set fresh each period. Buy mid-period and you inherit whatever cap and buffer remain, which can look nothing like the headline terms.
  2. 020.79% a year is the price of the options engineering. It sits right at the median for buffer funds and well above plain index exposure.
  3. 03One of the quieter tickers in a busy category, so limit orders and a look at the spread matter more here than with a mega-fund.

PAUG Holdings

As of Sep 22, 2026, 10:01 PM
Asset class
Stocks
Holdings
6
Top-10 weight
104%
Largest holding
SPY 07/30/2027 7.47 C100.5%

Sectors

The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—SPY 07/30/2027 7.47 C100.53%13,846$1.1B1
002—SPY 07/30/2027 747.03 P3.67%13,846$38M1
003—US BANK MMDA - USBGFS 9 09/01/20370.28%2,907,192$3M161

Showing 1–3 of 3 holdings

PAUG Performance

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

PAUG$11,036
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. PAUG $11,036. 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 PAUG. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodPAUG
Year to date+8.4%
1 month+0.6%
3 months+3.1%
1 year+10.4%
3 years+14.6%per year
5 years+9.7%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 PAUG
YearReturn barPAUG
2026 YTD+8.4%
2025+12.3%
2024+15.4%
2023+17.7%
2022−6.9%
2021+7.6%
2020+9.8%

PAUG in the news

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

PAUG Dividends

Adds up every distribution paid per share over the last 12 months, divided by the last completed close. Distributions are counted by ex-date. Data through Sep 22, 2026.
0.00%Last 12 months
Payout per share
NoneLast 12 months

No distributions in the last 12 months.

Distribution history

Payments through 2019

One bar per payment. 1 payment in 2019. Nov 19, 2019 $0.34. Use the arrow keys to read each point.2019
Ex-datePay dateAmount per share
Nov 19, 2019Nov 21, 2019$0.34

PAUG Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
6.7%
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.
1.26
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.
−11.8%
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.
0.49
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.

PAUG Cost

Expense ratio0.79%
  • The middle half of S&P 500 Buffer 15% funds
  • Median 0.79%

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

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