First Trust's new ETF buffers the contracts, not the shares
First Trust, Oakmark, Direxion, Synera and Advisors Asset Management announced five funds on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, including an autocallable ETF with a 0.75% fee that buffers the contracts, not the shares.
Key takeaways
First Trust's new autocallable fund buffers each contract, not the shares you buy, and four other funds are trading beside it as of Thursday, October 8.
First Trust's fund, ACYB, began on Tuesday, October 6, and it charges a 0.75% fee. It holds a ladder of contracts built to copy autocallable notes, which pay a set coupon and can end early. The result follows the weakest of three indexes, the S&P 500, the Nasdaq-100 and the Russell 2000, or funds that track them.
The contracts typically absorb the first 10% to 15% of that weakest index's loss, and only when a contract matures. First Trust's page, as of that Tuesday, showed 17.57 months left on the contracts, weighted by size. The fund held 24 of them, staggered month by month.
"Income investors have had to choose between yield and protection for a long time," Ryan Issakainen, a First Trust strategist, said on Wednesday.
First Trust says the fund has no stated buffer of its own, and that shareholders could lose their entire investment. If the weakest index finishes below the buffer at maturity, the holder takes the loss the buffer does not cover.
Each contract's coupon is fixed when the contract is written, and it is paid on schedule even if the indexes fall. If the weakest index is at or above its starting value on a set check date, the contract ends and is replaced at the terms available then. First Trust plans to pay shareholders monthly from those coupons.
Three funds that hold the same kind of contracts were already in First Trust's lineup: ACYN, ACYS and ACYQ. Together they hold $2.95 billion. The one listed in February 2026, ACYN, holds $2.34 billion of that, and all three charge the same 0.75% fee.
On ACYN, the summary prospectus sets a maturity barrier, typically 60% to 70% of the starting level. If the weakest index finishes at or above that line, the contract returns its starting value. If it finishes below, the holder takes the full loss from the start, and a coupon can be skipped when a separate barrier is missed.
ACYB pays the coupon either way, and at maturity it absorbs only the first 10% to 15% before the holder takes the rest.
Same fee, fewer stocks
Oakmark's new fund, OAKL, began on Monday, October 5. It is a short list of large U.S. value stocks, typically 15 to 25 companies. It charges the same fee as OAKM, the fund that holds a wider list of large U.S. stocks: 0.64% before a fee cut, and 0.59% after it. The cut runs through January 27, 2027, on both.
Oakmark's latest list showed Salesforce at 8.3% of OAKL and the ten largest stocks at 56%, against 4.1% and 34.7% in OAKM, which holds 41 stocks and about $1.12 billion. Oakmark calls OAKL non-diversified, meaning one stock can move the total more than it would in a wider fund.
OAKL holds about $280 million, against about $20 million in Direxion's new fund, about $2 million in Synera's and about $1 million in Advisors Asset Management's.
Direxion's SPXP began on Wednesday, October 7. It tracks an index of S&P 500 futures and a managed-futures strategy. Managed futures is a rules-based book that can buy or sell futures on commodities, currencies and bonds, and Direxion's fact sheet puts the expense ratio at 0.92%.
That pairing is already listed. RSST, a fund that pairs U.S. large-cap stocks with managed futures, began on September 5, 2023, holds about $601 million and charges 0.99%.
Both funds target a dollar of U.S. stock exposure and a dollar of managed futures for each dollar invested, and both use futures to build that exposure. SPXP follows an index. RSST does not.
Synera's SMTJ began on Wednesday, October 7. It holds Japanese stocks and a futures sleeve that can go long or short in currencies, interest rates, stock indexes, metals, energy and crops. Its latest list included Mitsubishi UFJ, Hitachi and Sony.
EWJ, the fund that holds Japanese stocks, charges 0.49% and holds $24.2 billion. It does not have the futures sleeve. RSST has a futures sleeve and holds U.S. stocks.
The full fee on SMTJ is 2.01%. Millburn Ridgefield, its adviser, has agreed to waive its management fee or cover expenses so the net fee is 0.86% at least through December 31, 2027.
Advisors Asset Management's UBIQ began on Monday, October 5. It tracks an index that Pence Capital Management built in 2023. The index sorts companies into devices, networks, platforms, digital ads, payments and delivery: the businesses behind U.S. online shopping, not only the shops. Its latest list held 24 stocks.
EBIZ, a fund that holds companies tied to online shopping, has been listed since 2018. It charges 0.5%, holds $25.2 million, and its largest stock is Shopify, at 5.6%. UBIQ charges 0.49%, Amazon is 11.8% of it, and with Microsoft and Apple the three largest stocks are about 29%.
ETFs in this story
Frequently asked questions
What gets the buffer, the contracts or my shares?
The contracts typically absorb the first 10% to 15% of the weakest index's loss, and only when a contract matures.
Does the fund itself have a buffer?
First Trust says the fund has no stated buffer of its own, and that shareholders could lose their entire investment.
Do I still get the coupon if the indexes fall?
Each contract's coupon is fixed when the contract is written, and it is paid on schedule even if the indexes fall.
Which market does the fund follow?
The result follows the weakest of the S&P 500, the Nasdaq-100 and the Russell 2000, or funds that track them.
