APRW vs PSFJ

APRWCAllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer20 Apr ETF

PSFJBPacer Swan SOS Flex (July) ETF

In short

APRW The April door in AllianzIM's buffer lineup: one year of the big S&P 500 tracker ETF's price move, cushioned against the first 20% of losses and capped on the upside, with the clock resetting every April 1.

PSFJ A 20% cushion against the S&P 500's first losses, paid for with a ceiling on the upside, reset every July 1. Pacer runs the trade for less than most of the deep-buffer crowd charges.

Stated mandate

APRW The Fund seeks to match the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust’s share-price return over the current one-year Outcome Period, subject to an upside Cap, while buffering the first 20% of losses.

PSFJ The Fund seeks to match, before fees and expenses, the returns of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up to a predetermined cap while buffering the first 20% of downside losses over an approximate one-year period.

Why people hold it

• APRW Absorbs the first 20% of the reference S&P 500 ETF's share-price decline over each one-year outcome period, running April 1 to March 31, then resetting.
• Actively managed, but the contract is mechanical: a stated 20% buffer against one well-known reference ETF, not a manager's stock picks.
• One month in AllianzIM's rolling series (MAYW runs the May cycle), so start dates can be laddered instead of pinned to a single entry point.
• Running since 2020, and it lands in the upper half of a crowded field of deep 20% buffer funds on our review.

• PSFJ Costs 0.49% a year against a 0.74% median for 20% S&P 500 buffer funds, and undercuts the 0.74% AllianzIM month-series funds (JUNW, AUGW, DECW) built on the same reference.
• Deep cushion by design: it aims to absorb the first 20% of a decline in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust over each roughly one-year period, before fees and expenses.paceretfs.com
• Live since 2021, with several annual reset cycles behind it and sibling funds (PSFM, PSFD) covering other start months. One of the stronger builds in a crowded 20% buffer field.

Worth knowing

• APRW Upside is capped, and the cap is reset each April at whatever options cost then. Buffer and cap apply to the full period, so mid-period exits get neither intact.
• 0.74% is the going rate here, not a discount: PSFM and PSFJ charge 0.49% and PBFR 0.50% for 20% buffers.
• Modest assets and light trading versus the category's biggest names, so limit orders matter. The structure targets price outcomes, not income.

• PSFJ The price of the cushion is a ceiling. Upside is capped at a level set when each July outcome period begins, so a roaring market leaves gains on the table.paceretfs.com
• Buffer and cap are designed to work over the full outcome period. Buy mid-period and the cushion remaining and the room left to run differ from the stated terms.paceretfs.com
• A smaller, thinly traded fund, so spreads can run wider than in the biggest names in the group. Income is not part of the design either.

Full APRW profile⁠

Full PSFJ profile⁠