DECT vs ZALT

DECTBAllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer10 Dec ETF

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

In short

DECT A December-dated buffer fund built on SPY's own share price, not the index behind it. It absorbs the first 10% of a year's decline in exchange for a cap on the upside, then resets every December 1.

ZALT The defined-outcome trade on a three-month clock: ZALT follows SPY up to a cap and buffers the first 10% of a decline, then resets both every quarter. Four fresh caps a year, at a fee under the shallow-buffer median.

Stated mandate

DECT The Fund seeks to match the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust’s share-price return at the end of each annual outcome period, subject to an upside cap, while buffering the first 10% of losses. It uses FLEX Options referencing that ETF.

ZALT The fund seeks to follow SPY's return up to a predetermined cap while providing a 10% downside buffer over each three-month outcome period. It may be held indefinitely, with the defined outcomes resetting at the end of each period.

Why people hold it

• DECT The deal is written into the prospectus, not left to a manager's judgment: buffer the first 10% of the reference ETF's price loss over a one-year outcome period, capped on the upside, reset each December 1.
• A registered 1940 Act ETF holding FLEX options on SPY, so the payoff shape comes in an exchange-traded wrapper rather than a bank-issued note.
• At 0.74% a year it runs slightly under the typical shallow-buffer fund, and cost is one of its stronger suits in a crowded field where fees are the main separator.
• Part of AllianzIM's dated ladder, which lets the December series be paired with other start months. Its six-month siblings (SIXD, SIXJ, SIXZ) carry the same fee but reset twice a year.

• ZALT Resets on a quarterly clock: a new cap is set the first day of each calendar quarter and the 10% buffer starts over. Can be held indefinitely, no rolling into a new ticker.sec.govcboe.com
• At 0.69% it undercuts the going rate for 10% buffer funds on the S&P 500, where peers like SIXZ, JULT and BJUN charge 0.74% to 0.79%.
• The cushion is built from FLEX options on SPY itself, so the thing you are hedged against is the same fund most investors already watch.sec.gov
• Sits among the stronger implementations in its shallow-buffer peer group on cost and ease of trading.

Worth knowing

• DECT Thinly traded compared with the giants of the buffer world, so bid-ask spread and order size matter more here than with the category's household names.
• The stated 10% buffer and the cap apply to a full outcome period. Buy partway through and you inherit whatever protection and upside room are left, which can be more or less.
• The target is SPY's share-price return, so dividends from the underlying stocks are not part of the payoff, and the fund itself has not been making distributions.

• ZALT Three months of upside buys a lower ceiling. Each quarter's cap is priced off three-month options, so it lands well below what a 12-month buffer fund can offer.sec.gov
• Buy mid-quarter and you inherit whatever cap and buffer are left, not the full 10%. The prospectus says so plainly.sec.gov
• The fee comes out of the cushion: with the 0.69% fee counted, the prospectus puts the net buffer at 9.82% per period. No distributions so far, so return shows up in price.sec.gov

Full DECT profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠