AUGW vs PSFO

AUGWCAllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer20 Aug ETF

PSFOBPacer Swan SOS Flex (October) 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.

PSFO Pacer's October-dated buffer fund absorbs the first 20% of an S&P 500 drop over each 12-month period, in exchange for a ceiling on the upside. At 0.49%, it charges less than the typical fund in its buffer peer group.

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.

PSFO The fund seeks to match the pre-fee and pre-expense returns of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust.

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

• PSFO 0.49% a year, below the median fee in its S&P 500 buffer cohort and well under peers like PMAY (0.79%) and BUFZ (0.95%).
• Built to absorb the first 20% of a decline in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) over each outcome period before the fund itself starts taking losses.
• A 1940 Act ETF holding its own option package, not a bank-issued note, so no third-party credit sits between you and the payoff. Running since 2021.
• Rates in the upper tier of a two-dozen-fund group of S&P 500 buffer strategies, largely on price.

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

• PSFO The price of the cushion: gains stop at a cap fixed at the start of each period, and the fund hasn't been an income payer.
• Buffer and cap are engineered for the full October 1 to September 30 stretch. Buy mid-period and your real cushion and ceiling differ from the headline terms.
• Small asset base and light trading, which usually means wider spreads and more attention needed on how orders get entered.

Full AUGW profile⁠

Full PSFO profile⁠