EALT vs ZALT

EALTBInnovator U.S. Equity 5 to 15 Buffer ETF

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

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.

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

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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 EALT profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠