BJUN vs XTR

BJUNCInnovator U.S. Equity Buffer ETF

XTRCGlobal X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF

In short

BJUN A one-year seatbelt on the S&P 500. BJUN absorbs the first 9% of SPY's losses and tracks it upward to a preset cap, then resets each June 1 with a fresh cap and a fresh buffer.

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

BJUN The fund seeks to match the return of SPY up to a predetermined cap while protecting investors from the first 9% of losses during the outcome period.

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

• BJUN Terms are defined up front: it aims to absorb the first 9% of an SPY decline over the 12-month outcome period, matching gains up to a cap set at the start.innovatoretfs.com
• It is a plain 1940 Act ETF built from options on SPY, not a bank-issued note, so no single issuer's credit sits between you and the payoff.innovatoretfs.com
• Running since June 2019, so the June series has cycled through many annual resets, and it stands in the upper half of a crowded shallow-buffer field.
• Trades with less friction than much of the dated-buffer group, which matters when you choose your own entry and exit rather than the fund's.

• 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

• BJUN The cap is what you hand over for the cushion, and it is struck fresh each June 1. You do not know the new ceiling until the period begins.innovatoretfs.com
• Buffer and cap are measured across the full outcome period. Step in midstream and you get whatever protection and upside are left, not the headline 9%.innovatoretfs.com
• 0.79% a year is the going rate in this group, not the floor: laddered BUFB runs 0.10% and quarterly-reset ZALT 0.69%. This line also pays no regular 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 BJUN profile⁠

Full XTR profile⁠