BUFP vs IVVB

BUFPBPGIM Laddered S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETF

IVVBBiShares Large Cap Deep Quarterly Laddered ETF

In short

BUFP Most buffer funds make you pick a start month and live with it. BUFP skips the choice: it owns twelve PGIM S&P 500 Buffer 12 ETFs, one per calendar month, so part of the ladder resets on a rolling basis.

IVVB A deep-buffer ladder on BlackRock's own S&P 500 ETF: overlapping quarterly option layers target roughly the 5% to 20% slice of a drawdown, so no single start date defines the outcome. 0.50% net of a waiver through June 30, 2028.

Stated mandate

BUFP The Fund seeks capital appreciation through U.S. large-cap equity exposure obtained via a laddered portfolio of twelve PGIM US Large-Cap Buffer 12 ETFs. The underlying ETFs seek limited downside protection and capped upside over a specified period, while the Fund itself has no stated buffer.

IVVB The Fund seeks to track the share-price return of the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF up to an approximate upside limit while seeking downside protection. It uses staggered, overlapping roughly three-month options to ladder protection against underlying losses of approximately 5% to 20%.

Why people hold it

• BUFP Twelve underlying buffer ETFs, one for each month, spread the entry point instead of locking everything to a single outcome period and a single cap.pgim.com
• Each underlying ETF targets a buffer against the first 12% (before fees) of SPY's price-return losses over a one-year period, paired with an upside cap.pgim.com
• A 0.50% fee sits well under the 0.79% typical of buffer peers, and the package ranks among the stronger implementations in that group.

• IVVB The ladder is the point: staggered, overlapping roughly three-month option layers, so you are not pinned to one outcome period's cap and buffer.ishares.com
• 0.50% net of a waiver through June 30, 2028 (0.53% gross), below the typical fee in the laddered buffer group.
• Deep, not shallow: the protection zone starts after about a 5% decline and runs to about 20%, aimed at the ugly part of a selloff rather than the first wobble.
• One of the stronger implementations in a crowded laddered buffer group, run by the same shop as the S&P 500 ETF it references.

Worth knowing

• BUFP The wrapper itself has no stated buffer. PGIM notes it likely won't get the full benefit of the underlying buffers, and their caps limit its upside.pgim.com
• Small and thinly traded, so spreads can run wider than at the category's giants. Matters most on larger orders.
• Live since 2024, so the record is short. PSFF, the other fund-of-buffer-ETFs in the group, carries a lower fee.

• IVVB Not insurance: roughly the first 5% of a decline stays with you, as does anything past about 20%, and the cushion comes from options over each layer's term.
• Upside runs into an approximate limit, and because the exposure follows share-price return, the reference ETF's dividends do not come along.
• Trading is light next to the biggest buffer funds, and a cheaper laddered deep-buffer rival exists (Aptus ALDB at 0.30%).

Full BUFP profile⁠

Full IVVB profile⁠