DHDG vs ZALT

DHDGCFT Vest U.S. Equity Quarterly 2.5 to 15 Buffer ETF

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

In short

DHDG Most buffer ETFs lock in one cap for a full year. DHDG re-strikes every quarter against the S&P 500 ETF's price return, and it asks for a deductible: you take the first 2.5% of a drop, the fund absorbs the next 12.5 points.

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

DHDG The Fund seeks to match the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust before fees and expenses, subject to a 4.30% upside cap, while buffering losses in the -2.5% to -15% range during the stated 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

• DHDG The buffer skips the first 2.5% of losses and runs down to -15%, spending its protection on a real drawdown rather than the first wobble.ftportfolios.com
• Quarterly outcome periods reset the terms four times a year, so the cap is struck against current market conditions instead of one date twelve months back.
• A plain 1940 Act ETF, not a structured note from a bank, and it lands in the upper half of a crowded field of S&P 500 buffer funds.

• 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

• DHDG The 0.85% expense ratio sits above cheaper laddered buffer options such as BUFP (0.50%) and IVVM (0.53%).
• Upside is capped each quarter and the cap is fixed at the period's start. Buy mid-period and your effective cap and remaining buffer differ from the stated terms.
• The reference is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust's price return, so index dividends sit outside the outcome and this hasn't been an income payer.

• 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 DHDG profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠