Pacer lists two autocallable ETFs, and the coupon is not a yield

Pacer reports an 18.02% coupon for the Pacer Metaurus High Income Autocallable ETF, —ACBH, a fund that gets its exposure from a swap on calculated autocallables. Pacer calls the figure a weighted-average coupon, the average across contracts in an index, and says that index is not a stand-in for the fund.

Pacer says —ACBH and the Pacer Metaurus Enhanced Core Income Autocallable ETF, —ACBE, which holds the same kind of swap, began trading on Nasdaq on Thursday, September 10. Its pages date inception to Wednesday, September 9. Both are actively managed, and each charges 0.60%.

Holdings dated Thursday, September 24 list a swap for each fund, a money-market deposit, and a negative cash line about the size of that deposit.

An autocallable pays a coupon while a reference stays above a set line. The reference is the Metaurus US Large Cap VolPath Index. Pacer describes it as S&P 500 futures exposure adjusted to a 40% realized-volatility target, with 4% a year subtracted inside the index, separate from the fund fee.

The prospectus caps that futures exposure at 400%. When the market is calm, the index can raise exposure toward the cap so its own volatility stays near 40%.

Pacer sets —ACBH's line at a fall of more than 30% in that index. That is a different test from a 30% fall in the S&P 500.

If the reference finishes below the line at maturity, the loss equals its full drop from the start. Pacer's prospectus uses a 45% decline as the example, and says that contract then loses 45% of its value. On —ACBH that line is 70% of each contract's starting level, so a 45% decline finishes 15 percentage points past it.

For the first six months a contract cannot be called. After that, if the reference is back at its starting level, the contract can be cashed out, which ends further gains and can put the money into a new contract at a lower coupon.

A skipped coupon is stored and paid later only if the reference recovers above the line. Pacer says a monthly payout can include a return of the investor's own money and can reduce the fund's value. Neither fund has a distribution on record.

—ACBE uses a 50% line on the same reference. The reference must fall by more than half before a coupon is skipped and before what Pacer calls principal protection fails.

Pacer's fact sheet for —ACBH ties the 18.02% to the high-income index. The fact sheet for —ACBE prints 13.49%, and the footnote on that sheet names the high-income index too.

What already trades

The barriers below are not the same depth of protection. Each is a percentage fall in a different index.

The Calamos Autocallable Income ETF, CCAIE, holds swaps on a ladder of the same kind of synthetic notes and has traded since June 2025. Its index targets 35% implied volatility, a different measure from Pacer's 40% realized target, and Calamos describes a 6% yearly subtraction.

The ProShares S&P 500 Autocallable Income ETF, —ACSP, listed on Thursday, August 13, tracks a ladder linked to S&P 500 futures with a 35% volatility target and a 6% yearly subtraction. ProShares says its leverage can reach 500% of the S&P 500 when volatility is low. Pacer's cap is 400%.

Pacer's contracts are as of Wednesday, September 9, and its assets are as of Tuesday, September 22. Calamos assets are as of Monday, September 28, and its contracts are as of Friday, September 25, with a 0.74% fee after a waiver. ProShares contracts are as of Friday, September 25, and its assets are about $27.3 million.

Pacer's high-income index is built to hold up to 52 contracts. On Wednesday, September 9 each fund showed eight live, and all eight were paying coupons in the index. —ACBH has averaged 49 shares a day, and —ACBE 927.

The 18.02% is an index calculation, not a yield the funds have paid, and a finish below the line costs the reference's full drop.