DGJA vs ZALT

DGJADFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer & Digital Return ETF - January

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

In short

DGJA Most buffer ETFs hand you whatever the market gives, up to a cap. This one pays a flat, predetermined return if the S&P 500 ETF is up, unchanged, or down as much as 10%, with the first 10% of price losses buffered over a one-year outcome period.

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

DGJA The Fund seeks to protect the first 10% of price losses in the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust while offering an approximately 8.52% predetermined digital return when the ETF appreciates, is unchanged, or declines by no more than 10% during the current outcome period.

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

• DGJA A sideways year pays the same as an up year: the digital return is fixed at the start of the period and applies whether the S&P 500 ETF rises, sits flat, or slips up to 10%.ftportfolios.com
• The first 10% of the reference ETF's price decline is absorbed by the structure before your capital takes the hit.ftportfolios.com
• Terms are written down before you buy and reset each January, and First Trust runs same-index siblings with other start months for staggered entry points.

• 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

• DGJA The upside is a flat number, not participation. A roaring market pays the same digital return, and the math follows price only, so the reference ETF's dividends sit outside it.
• Buffer and digital return are engineered for a holder who owns the fund from one January reset to the next. Buy mid-period and your effective terms shift.ftportfolios.com
• At 0.85% it sits at the pricier end of the buffer shelf (ZALT 0.69%, SIXJ 0.74%), and as a small, lightly traded 2026 launch, spreads add to the sticker fee.

• 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 DGJA profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠