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PQJA

GradeBNASDAQ Global Select

PGIM Nasdaq-100 Buffer 12 ETF - January

Buffered · PGIM · Inception 2024-12-27

$32.72−0.07 (−0.21%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 1:58 PM EDT

History starts Jan 2, 2025.
Intraday session: down, 19 prints from 32.79 to 32.72. Range 32.70 to 32.78. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$32.70$32.74$32.76$32.7810 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.50%
Fund size
$34M
1Y return
+16.9%
Yield · Last 12 months
Data unavailable
Volume · 30D
0M sh
NAV per share
$32.72
52W range
low $27.66high $32.78

The ETF.net PQJA Grade

B

55/ 100

Rank 4 of 12 in Nasdaq-100 Buffer 9-12%⁠

Confidence Medium

Six-pillar profile for PQJA. Scores out of 100: Cost 76, Risk 53, Mission not scored, Tradability 19, Holdings not scored, Durability 51. Strongest: Cost (76). Weakest: Tradability (19). Based on 4 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 55 of 100 sits in the B 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.
    AScore 76
    Category rank3/12 · top 25%

  • 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 rank4/12 · top 33%

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    FScore 19
    Category rank12/12 · bottom quartile

  • 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.
    CScore 51
    Category rank7/12 · mid-pack

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

Our read on PQJA

ETF.net Research

BA one-year seatbelt on the Nasdaq-100: PQJA absorbs the first 12% of price losses on the index's flagship ETF and gives up gains above a cap in exchange. A deeper cushion than most of its buffer peers, at 0.50% a year.

Stated mandate

The Fund seeks to match QQQ’s price return up to a predetermined cap while buffering the first 12% of QQQ losses over a one-year target outcome period.

Why people hold it

  1. 01Cushions the first 12% of the tracked Nasdaq-100 ETF's price losses over each one-year outcome period, deeper than the 10-point buffer on Innovator's QBUF.pgim.com
  2. 02Charges 0.50% a year against a 0.79% median for its Nasdaq-100 buffer cohort, where QBUF sits at 0.79%.
  3. 03January is one of four PGIM Nasdaq-100 buffer funds on a quarterly calendar (PQAP, PQJL, PQOC), so outcome periods aren't tied to a single start month.
  4. 04Launched in 2024 and rated in the upper half of its shallow-buffer Nasdaq-100 group on our review.

Worth knowing

  1. 01Upside stops at a cap that resets with each new one-year period, and the mandate follows price return, so index dividends aren't part of the payoff.
  2. 02The 12% buffer and the cap are measured across a full outcome period. Buy partway through and your effective cushion and ceiling differ from the headline terms.pgim.com
  3. 03A small, thinly traded fund next to the largest buffer products, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads.

PQJA Holdings

As of Sep 20, 2026, 6:49 AM
Asset class
Other
Holdings
—
Top-10 weight
105%
Largest holding
4QQQ US 12/31/26 C6.14103.9%
The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—4QQQ US 12/31/26 C6.14103.95%489$35M1
002—4QQQ US 12/31/26 P614.310.93%489$311K1
003—(PIPA070) PGIM Core Government Money Market Fund0.52%173,359$173K60
004—Net Current Assets<0.01%359$359132

Showing 1–4 of 4 holdings

PQJA Performance

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

PQJA$11,689
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. PQJA $11,689. 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 PQJA. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodPQJA
Year to date+12.4%
1 month+2.2%
3 months+3.6%
1 year+16.9%
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 PQJA
YearReturn barPQJA
2026 YTD+12.4%
2025+16.9%

History from Jan 2, 2025

PQJA in the news

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

PQJA 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.
Data unavailableLast 12 months
Payout per share
Data unavailableLast 12 months
Last payment
$0.0015 per share
Paid on
Shares bought on or after this date do not qualify for this distribution.
Frequency
Irregular

Distribution data unavailable.

Distribution history

2025–2026

One bar per payment. 1 payment from 2025 to 2026 YTD. Dec 30, 2025 $0.0015. Use the arrow keys to read each point.20252026YTD
Ex-datePay dateAmount per share
Dec 30, 2025Jan 2, 2026$0.0015

PQJA Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
10.2%
Annualised · 19 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.
1.14
vs 3-month T-bills · 19 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.
−14.7%
20 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.
0.75
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.

PQJA Cost

Expense ratio0.50%
  • The middle half of Nasdaq-100 Buffer 9-12% funds
  • Median 0.79%

1 of the 12 Nasdaq-100 Buffer 9-12% funds charge less.

PQJA costs $50.00 a year on $10,000. The median Nasdaq-100 Buffer 9-12% fund costs $79.00.