BSTP vs PSFF

BSTPDInnovator Buffer Step-Up Strategy ETF

PSFFBPacer Swan SOS Fund of Funds ETF

In short

BSTP Most buffer ETFs freeze your cap and buffer for a full year. BSTP is the active version: FLEX options on SPY that the manager can reset monthly, so the terms follow the market rather than a calendar.

PSFF Most buffer ETFs hand you one reset date and one cap. PSFF is the fund-of-funds take: an actively steered basket of Pacer Swan SOS buffer funds with staggered one-year periods, for 0.66%.

Stated mandate

BSTP BSTP seeks risk-managed exposure to SPY through FLEX options and may invest directly in SPY or its components. It actively monitors and may reset the options portfolio monthly, seeking participation in SPY returns with an upside limit and protection against a measure of downside loss.

PSFF The Fund seeks capital appreciation with downside protection. It primarily uses Pacer Swan SOS ETFs, while retaining discretion to hold other Pacer ETFs.

Why people hold it

• BSTP No 12-month lock. The manager monitors the options book and can reset it monthly, seeking SPY participation with a limit on the upside and protection against a measure of downside loss.
• The step-up design lets the options be re-struck as SPY moves, instead of leaving the fund anchored to a reference level set at the start of a long outcome period.
• One ticker, no calendar to babysit: the resetting happens inside the fund, which can also hold SPY or its underlying stocks directly alongside the options.
• Live since 2022, so the strategy has run through real market stress rather than a backtest.

• PSFF One ticker, many reset dates. It holds Pacer Swan SOS funds whose roughly one-year investment periods begin in January, April, July and October, so you are not pinned to a single start date.paceretfs.com
• Discretion is the product. The sub-advisor blends Conservative, Moderate and Flex sleeves and may hold other Pacer ETFs, including trend-following ones, rather than locking to one risk setting.paceretfs.com
• Cost sits near the middle of a small buffer-on-S&P-500 group at 0.66%, with no fee waiver in play. SWAN, the group's other top scorer, runs 0.49%.
• Live since 2020 and rated in the upper half of its buffer peer group, with trading that is reasonably active for a niche structured-outcome wrapper.

Worth knowing

• BSTP The 0.89% expense ratio sits at the pricier end of SPY buffer funds. Innovator's dated series on the same reference, such as PMAY, lists 0.79%.
• Thinly traded, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than in the largest buffer names.
• Flexibility cuts both ways: with terms able to change at each reset, the cap and buffer in force aren't readable off a calendar and need checking against the fund's posted terms.

• PSFF PSFF states no buffer or cap of its own. Those come from the underlying funds, and when it buys them mid-period it may not capture the full buffer or upside they advertise.paceretfs.comsec.gov
• A buffer is a cushion, not a floor. Underlying funds absorb a first slice of losses, then take further declines one-for-one with the S&P 500 fund they reference.sec.gov
• It is a wrapper around other Pacer funds, so their indirect costs ride along with the fund's own. Income is not the design here; payouts have not been part of the story.sec.gov

Full BSTP profile⁠

Full PSFF profile⁠