BAPR vs XTR

BAPRCInnovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF

XTRCGlobal X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF

In short

BAPR Buffered S&P 500 exposure on an April clock. FLEX options absorb the first 9% of a drawdown over each roughly one-year period, and the trade-off is a ceiling on the upside. Live since 2019, resetting every April 1.

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

BAPR The Fund seeks to replicate the performance of an ETF tracking the S&P 500 over the current approximately one-year Outcome Period, subject to a cap, while buffering the first 9% of losses. It uses FLEX Options referencing the Underlying ETF.

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

• BAPR The first 9% of an S&P 500 decline is absorbed over each roughly one-year outcome period, built from FLEX options on SPY inside a 1940 Act fund rather than a bank note.
• Clean annual reset: each April 1 starts a new twelve-month period with a fresh 9% buffer and a fresh cap, no rolling or rebalancing on your end.
• Trading since April 2019, so the April vintage has already run through multiple full outcome periods, including live market stress.

• 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

• BAPR The upside is capped. In a strong S&P 500 year the fund is designed to stop participating once the period's cap is reached.
• Buffer and cap are measured from the April 1 start. Buy mid-period and the protection left and the room above you differ from the headline terms.
• 0.79% a year, above cheaper buffered peers such as SWAN and DMAX. It is also one of the lighter-volume buffer funds and has not been paying distributions.

• 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 BAPR profile⁠

Full XTR profile⁠