AUGW vs BALT

AUGWCAllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer20 Aug ETF

BALTBInnovator Defined Wealth Shield ETF

In short

AUGW AUGW is the August rung of a twelve-fund ladder: a year of S&P 500 exposure up to a cap, with the first 20% of losses absorbed. Built by the in-house hedging desk behind Allianz Life's annuities, priced at the going rate for deep buffers.

BALT Most buffer ETFs hand you a cushion once a year. BALT rebuilds a 20% one every three months: four fresh starts against S&P 500 drawdowns. The trade-off is that the cap resets with it, and it starts low.

Stated mandate

AUGW The fund seeks to match the returns of the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust over an outcome period, subject to an upside cap, while buffering the first 20% of losses.

BALT The fund seeks to track the return of SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), subject to a cap, while buffering investors against losses. It targets a 20% buffer during each three-month outcome period and resets quarterly.

Why people hold it

• AUGW Deep end of the shelf: the first 20% of SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust losses over the one-year period are absorbed before fees, double the 10% tier AllianzIM sells alongside it.allianzim.com
• The hedging is in-house. AllianzIM is Allianz Life's own investment arm and runs these funds on the proprietary platform its affiliates use for hedged assets.allianzlife.com
• Resets each August 1 with a fresh 20% buffer and a newly struck cap, and it has monthly siblings across the calendar, so entry dates can be spread out.allianzim.com
• Plumbing is straightforward: FLEX options written on SPY itself, and the payoff has matched the buffer-and-cap shape its own documents describe.allianzim.com

• BALT Deep and short-dated: it targets a 20% buffer against losses in the S&P 500 ETF it references, over a three-month outcome period, then resets for the next quarter.innovatoretfs.com
• 0.69% a year, under the typical fee in its deep-buffer group, and it has been running the quarterly reset since launching in 2021.
• One of the larger funds doing 20% buffers on the S&P 500, and one of the strongest implementations in that peer group.

Worth knowing

• AUGW At 0.74% the fee sits right at the deep-buffer median, and cheaper 20% buffer options exist: PSFJ and PSFM at 0.49%, PBFR at 0.50%.
• Thinly traded next to the category's giants, so the bid-ask spread you cross is part of what the protection costs.
• Upside stops at the cap and the buffer is measured from the August 1 start, so mid-period buyers work with different math than the headline terms.allianzim.com

• BALT A deep buffer over a short window buys a low ceiling. The cap is set fresh each three-month period, and it is far tighter than what annual buffer funds start with.
• The 20% cushion is measured from the start of each outcome period. Buy mid-quarter and the buffer and cap you actually own differ from the headline terms.innovatoretfs.com
• Cheaper 20% buffer options exist: PBFR at 0.50%, Pacer's Swan SOS Flex funds (PSFJ, PSFM) at 0.49%.

Full AUGW profile⁠

Full BALT profile⁠