DFEB vs DMAR

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

DMARCFT Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF - March

In short

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.

DMAR Deep buffer, March vintage: DMAR wears the first 5% of a drop in the S&P 500 ETF it references, then absorbs the next 25 points, in exchange for an upside cap that resets each March. The terms are written into the prospectus, not left to a manager's hunch.

Stated mandate

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.

DMAR The Fund seeks to match the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, before fees and expenses, up to a 13.07% cap while buffering the underlying ETF's losses in the 5%-to-30% band during the March 23, 2026–March 19, 2027 outcome period.

Why people hold it

• 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.

• DMAR Deep, not decorative: the options package targets losses in the 5% to 30% band on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust across each annual outcome period.ftportfolios.com
• One of twelve monthly vintages in First Trust's deep buffer lineup, running since 2021, so entry points and reset dates can be staggered across the calendar.
• The reference asset is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust itself: plain large-cap US equity, no factor tilt, no stock-picking discretion layered on top.
• Ranks among the stronger implementations in its 18-fund deep buffer cohort, with risk behavior and trading quality doing most of the lifting.

Worth knowing

• 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.

• DMAR 0.85% is the going rate for deep buffers, but Pacer's SOS Conservative funds (PSCX, PSCW) run a similar playbook for 0.49%.
• It follows price return only, so index dividends are not passed through and income is not part of the design.
• The first 5% of a decline is unbuffered, the upside is capped, and both the cap and the remaining buffer shift for anyone buying mid-period.

Full DFEB profile⁠

Full DMAR profile⁠