BDEC vs ZALT

BDECCInnovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

In short

BDEC Innovator invented the buffer ETF, and BDEC is the December door into that lineup: SPY's price moves with the first 9% of losses absorbed, the upside capped, and the whole deal reset every December 1.

ZALT The defined-outcome trade on a three-month clock: ZALT follows SPY up to a cap and buffers the first 10% of a decline, then resets both every quarter. Four fresh caps a year, at a fee under the shallow-buffer median.

Stated mandate

BDEC The Fund uses a defined-outcome strategy intended to replicate its underlying ETF over an approximately one-year period, subject to a capped upside and protection against the first 9% of losses.

ZALT The fund seeks to follow SPY's return up to a predetermined cap while providing a 10% downside buffer over each three-month outcome period. It may be held indefinitely, with the defined outcomes resetting at the end of each period.

Why people hold it

• BDEC The terms are written down before you commit: 9% of the reference ETF's price losses absorbed (before the 0.79% fee) over a roughly one-year period, with the new cap published each December 1.sec.gov
• At 0.79% the fee sits at the category median, and it undercuts the dated buffer funds built on the same reference (FDEC, FJUL, FMAR and siblings at 0.85%).
• One rung in a twelve-month series from the shop that listed the first defined-outcome ETFs in 2018. BDEC has been running its December reset since 2019.globenewswire.com

• ZALT Resets on a quarterly clock: a new cap is set the first day of each calendar quarter and the 10% buffer starts over. Can be held indefinitely, no rolling into a new ticker.sec.govcboe.com
• At 0.69% it undercuts the going rate for 10% buffer funds on the S&P 500, where peers like SIXZ, JULT and BJUN charge 0.74% to 0.79%.
• The cushion is built from FLEX options on SPY itself, so the thing you are hedged against is the same fund most investors already watch.sec.gov
• Sits among the stronger implementations in its shallow-buffer peer group on cost and ease of trading.

Worth knowing

• BDEC Timing is the whole game. The buffer and cap are built for holders from the first day of the outcome period to the last; buy mid-period and your actual terms differ from the headline ones.sec.gov
• You get SPY's price return, not its dividends: the fund's options don't collect them, so income isn't part of the design.sec.gov
• Trading is thin for a fund of this size, so limit orders and a look at the spread earn their keep.

• ZALT Three months of upside buys a lower ceiling. Each quarter's cap is priced off three-month options, so it lands well below what a 12-month buffer fund can offer.sec.gov
• Buy mid-quarter and you inherit whatever cap and buffer are left, not the full 10%. The prospectus says so plainly.sec.gov
• The fee comes out of the cushion: with the 0.69% fee counted, the prospectus puts the net buffer at 9.82% per period. No distributions so far, so return shows up in price.sec.gov

Full BDEC profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠