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PSTP

GradeFNew York Stock Exchange Arca

Innovator Power Buffer Step-Up Strategy ETF

Buffered · Innovator · Inception 2022-03-08

$37.55−0.14 (−0.36%)

As of Sep 23, 2026, 2:17 PM EDT

History starts Mar 8, 2022.
Intraday session: down, 46 prints from 37.68 to 37.55. Range 37.48 to 37.64. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$37.50$37.60$37.6510 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.89%
Fund size
$133M
1Y return
+8.5%
Yield · Last 12 months
—
Holdings
5
Volume · 30D
0M sh
NAV per share
$37.38
52W range
low $33.12high $37.72

The ETF.net PSTP Grade

F

24/ 100

Rank 57 of 61 in S&P 500 Buffer 15%⁠

Confidence Low

Six-pillar profile for PSTP. Scores out of 100: Cost 0, Risk 36, Mission not scored, Tradability 52, Holdings not scored, Durability 61. Strongest: Durability (61). Weakest: Cost (0). Based on 4 of 6 pillars.
F< 25
D≥ 25
C≥ 40
B≥ 55
A≥ 70

Score 24 of 100 sits in the F 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 0
    Category rank61/61 · 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.
    DScore 36
    Category rank49/57 · bottom quartile

  • Tradability

    How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.
    CScore 52
    Category rank28/61 · top 46%

  • 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.
    BScore 61
    Category rank30/61 · top 49%

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

Our read on PSTP

ETF.net Research

FMost buffer ETFs hand you one reset date a year and wish you luck. PSTP is checked monthly and can step its protection up to a higher level after a rally, with one-year FLEX options doing the work behind a single ticker.

Stated mandate

PSTP seeks risk-managed exposure to SPY through an opportunistically managed, monthly evaluated buffer strategy. It uses one-year FLEX options and may also invest directly in SPY or its components, subject to an upside limit and downside-loss protection.

Why people hold it

  1. 01The step-up idea: the buffer is evaluated monthly rather than parked on one annual reset date, so a rally can lift the level the protection is measured from.innovatoretfs.com
  2. 02One ticker, no calendar homework. The reset timing is managed inside the fund instead of you laddering a shelf of dated January-through-December series.innovatoretfs.com
  3. 03The reference is SPY itself, and the fund can hold SPY or its components directly alongside the one-year FLEX options rather than tracking a synthetic proxy.innovatoretfs.com

Worth knowing

  1. 01Active management costs: 0.89% a year, above the 0.79% median for S&P 500 buffer funds and above Innovator's own dated Power Buffer series such as PMAY.
  2. 02The cushion is bought with your upside: gains are capped, and anyone buying mid-period inherits whatever cap and remaining buffer exist that day, not the headline terms.innovatoretfs.com
  3. 03Trading is light next to the category's household names, so spreads can widen, and the options package has not been throwing off distributions.

PSTP Holdings

As of Sep 22, 2026, 10:01 PM
Asset class
Stocks
Holdings
5
Top-10 weight
104%
Largest holding
SPY 08/31/2027 7.66 C99.6%

Sectors

The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 1.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueIn ETFs
001—SPY 08/31/2027 7.66 C99.57%3,496$266M1
002—SPY 08/31/2027 767.03 P4.59%3,496$12M1
003—US BANK MMDA - USBGFS 9 09/01/20370.07%196,303$196K161

Showing 1–3 of 3 holdings

PSTP Performance

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

PSTP$10,849
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. PSTP $10,849. 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 PSTP. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodPSTP
Year to date+6.6%
1 month+0.7%
3 months+2.7%
1 year+8.5%
3 years+12.1%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 PSTP
YearReturn barPSTP
2026 YTD+6.6%
2025+10.4%
2024+13.5%
2023+13.7%
2022−2.8%

Since listing, Mar 8, 2022

PSTP in the news

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

PSTP Dividends

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

No distributions in the last 12 months.

PSTP Risk

How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
6.3%
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.
0.97
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.
−12.5%
54 months · 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.
0.52
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.

PSTP Cost

Expense ratio0.89%
  • The middle half of S&P 500 Buffer 15% funds
  • Median 0.79%

Every other S&P 500 Buffer 15% fund charges less.

PSTP costs $89.00 a year on $10,000. The median S&P 500 Buffer 15% fund costs $79.00.