BUFI vs IDEC

BUFIBAB International Buffer ETF

IDECCInnovator Intl Developed Power Buffer ETF

In short

BUFI —No data

IDEC Buffered international. IDEC follows the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF with the first 15% of losses absorbed and the upside capped over an approximately one-year outcome period that resets every December.

Stated mandate

BUFI —No data

IDEC The Fund seeks to track the return of the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF, subject to an upside cap, while protecting against the first 15% of losses during the approximately annual outcome period.

Why people hold it

BUFI —No data

• IDEC The 15% buffer is spelled out in the fund's own documents: it absorbs the first 15% of the reference ETF's losses over the outcome period, in exchange for an upside cap set at the start.innovatoretfs.com
• The reference is the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF, so the defined-outcome machinery sits on developed Europe, Japan and Australia instead of the usual S&P 500.innovatoretfs.com
• At 0.85% a year it matches the going rate across the international buffer group (IJUL, IMAR and IAPR all charge the same). No premium for the December calendar.
• One rung on a monthly ladder: siblings such as IJUL, IMAR and ISEP run the identical strategy on other reset months, so start dates can be staggered.

Worth knowing

BUFI —No data

• IDEC Small and thinly traded next to the big US-equity buffer funds, so bid-ask spreads can widen. Limit orders matter more here.
• Terms reset annually. Buy mid-period and you inherit whatever cap and buffer remain, not the headline numbers from the period's start.innovatoretfs.com
• The cap is what pays for the buffer: gains above it stay behind. There is no regular distribution schedule either, so price change is the whole story.

Full BUFI profile⁠

Full IDEC profile⁠