DAUG vs DFEB

DAUGCFT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - August

DFEBCFT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - February

In short

DAUG Insurance with a deductible. DAUG bears the first 5% of an S&P 500 slide, then absorbs the next 25 points of losses, and in exchange your upside is capped at a level reset every August. Running since 2019.

DFEB A buffer with a deductible. DFEB lets the first 5% of a drop in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust land on you, then covers the next 25 points, in exchange for an upside cap that resets every February.

Stated mandate

DAUG The Fund seeks to match the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust before fees and expenses, subject to an 11.98% upside cap and protection for losses in the -5% to -30% range during the current outcome period.

DFEB The Fund seeks to match the price return of the State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust before fees and expenses, subject to an 11.87% upside cap, while protecting against Underlying ETF losses from -5% through -30% during the February 23, 2026–February 19, 2027 outcome period.

Why people hold it

• DAUG The cushion sits where drawdowns bite: SPY losses between -5% and -30% are absorbed, a 25-point buffer, before losses pass through one-for-one again.sec.gov
• Twelve siblings run the same deep-buffer recipe on a monthly cycle (DJAN through DDEC), so you can pick a reset month or spread money across several start dates.
• Terms are knowable up front: the new cap is set at each August reset, disclosed in a filing and posted to the fund's site before the period begins.sec.gov
• Live since 2019, so this August reset has been rolled through real market stress rather than a backtest.

• DFEB Deep coverage where it hurts: the fund targets protection against reference-ETF losses from -5% through -30%, a 25-point band, over each one-year outcome period.
• One of twelve monthly vintages on the same reference ETF (DMAR, DJUN, DDEC and the rest), so entries can be laddered across the calendar instead of hinging on one start date.
• Running since 2020, it has rolled through several full outcome periods, and it sits in the upper half of its deep-buffer peer group.
• At 0.85%, the fee sits right at the median for deep-buffer funds tracking this kind of strategy.

Worth knowing

• DAUG The reference is SPY's price return, so S&P 500 dividends are not part of what you capture. That is part of what the buffer costs.sec.gov
• Buffer and cap are designed for the full outcome period. Buy midstream and your own remaining cushion and upside differ from the headline terms.sec.gov
• 0.85% matches the deep-buffer cohort median, while Pacer's SOS conservative funds (PSCX, PSCW) charge 0.49%. Volume is light here, so spreads can run wider.

• DFEB The trade for depth: you absorb the first 5% of losses yourself, and gains stop at a cap that is reset each February from option pricing at the time.
• It tracks price return only, so the reference ETF's dividends are not passed along, and the fund has not been paying distributions.
• Cheaper deep-buffer options exist (PSCX and PSCW run 0.49%), and DFEB trades lightly, so limit orders are the sane way in and out.

Full DAUG profile⁠

Full DFEB profile⁠