AUGT vs XTR

AUGTCAllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer10 Aug ETF

XTRCGlobal X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF

In short

AUGT A one-year seatbelt on the S&P 500. It absorbs the first 10% of the decline in the big S&P 500 ETF it references and gives up gains above a cap that resets annually, all for 0.74% a year, below the shallow-buffer median.

XTR Most downside-protection ETFs sell away your upside to pay for it. XTR pays cash instead: it owns the S&P 500 stocks and buys 10% out-of-the-money puts every quarter, leaving the upside uncapped.

Stated mandate

AUGT The fund seeks to match SPY’s share-price return over a one-year outcome period, subject to an upside cap and protection against the first 10% of SPY losses.

XTR The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Cboe S&P 500 Tail Risk Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• AUGT At 0.74% it undercuts the 0.79% median for shallow-buffer funds, including August-dated peer BAUG. Fee drag comes straight out of the cap you get.
• The reference is the S&P 500 ETF itself, not an abstract index, and the buffer absorbs the first 10% of its share-price decline over the outcome period.
• AllianzIM runs the same 10% structure in other calendar months (JULT, SEPT, OCTT) at the same fee, and this one sits in the upper half of its peer group.

• XTR No cap on the gains. The hedge is bought with cash rather than funded by selling calls, so index rallies come through less the put premium and fees.sec.gov
• Costs 0.25%, well under half of what the defined-outcome funds it competes with typically charge for downside protection.
• Owns the roughly 500 S&P 500 stocks themselves, with the put position layered on top, rather than wrapping the index in a stack of options.sec.gov
• Rules-based and mechanical: puts are bought at 10% below the prevailing index level each quarter and held to expiration, with no manager guessing at timing.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• AUGT The cap is reset for each new outcome period off option prices at the time, so the ceiling shifts from year to year and is not known in advance.
• Buy mid-period and you inherit whatever buffer and cap remain, not the headline 10%. The stated terms describe a hold from one reset to the next.
• Thinly traded on a small asset base, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than in the giants of the buffer aisle.

• XTR Protection starts about 10% down and resets quarterly, so garden-variety dips are absorbed in full and the gap widens if the market rallies mid-quarter.sec.gov
• Insurance is not free. The quarterly premium is a steady cost against plain index exposure, and in calm markets the puts expire worthless.sec.gov
• A small fund that trades thinly, so limit orders matter and subscale products carry more risk of being closed than the category's giants.

Full AUGT profile⁠

Full XTR profile⁠