AUGW vs PSFJ

AUGWCAllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer20 Aug ETF

PSFJBPacer Swan SOS Flex (July) 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.

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

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.

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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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 AUGW profile⁠

Full PSFJ profile⁠