EALT vs XTR

EALTBInnovator U.S. Equity 5 to 15 Buffer ETF

XTRCGlobal X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF

In short

EALT Most buffer funds cushion your first dollar of loss. EALT skips that, absorbing the 5% to 15% slice of an S&P 500 ETF's decline instead, and resetting every three months. You wear the first 5%, and the upside is capped.

XTR Most downside-protection ETFs sell away your upside to pay for it. XTR pays cash instead: it owns the S&P 500 stocks and buys 10% out-of-the-money puts every quarter, leaving the upside uncapped.

Stated mandate

EALT The fund seeks to track the return of an S&P 500 ETF, subject to a cap, while providing downside protection within the 5% to 15% loss range during each three-month outcome period.

XTR The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Cboe S&P 500 Tail Risk Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• EALT A 10-point protected band placed over the 5% to 15% loss zone, the ordinary-pullback range, referenced to a plain S&P 500 ETF (VOO).
• Outcome periods run three months, so buffer and cap reset four times a year rather than once. Less waiting to get back to fresh terms.
• 0.69% a year undercuts the typical shallow-buffer fund at 0.79%, and matches Innovator's own quarterly first-dollar sibling ZALT.
• Live since 2023 and one of the stronger builds in a shallow-buffer field of 50-plus competing funds.

• XTR No cap on the gains. The hedge is bought with cash rather than funded by selling calls, so index rallies come through less the put premium and fees.sec.gov
• Costs 0.25%, well under half of what the defined-outcome funds it competes with typically charge for downside protection.
• Owns the roughly 500 S&P 500 stocks themselves, with the put position layered on top, rather than wrapping the index in a stack of options.sec.gov
• Rules-based and mechanical: puts are bought at 10% below the prevailing index level each quarter and held to expiration, with no manager guessing at timing.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• EALT The first 5% of a decline is yours, and so is anything below 15%. This is a band of protection, not a floor.
• Upside is capped, with a new cap set each three-month period. Buy mid-period and your buffer and cap differ from the stated terms.
• A smaller, thinly traded fund, so spreads can run wider than in the category's heavyweights. The structure targets price outcomes, not income.

• XTR Protection starts about 10% down and resets quarterly, so garden-variety dips are absorbed in full and the gap widens if the market rallies mid-quarter.sec.gov
• Insurance is not free. The quarterly premium is a steady cost against plain index exposure, and in calm markets the puts expire worthless.sec.gov
• A small fund that trades thinly, so limit orders matter and subscale products carry more risk of being closed than the category's giants.

Full EALT profile⁠

Full XTR profile⁠