FEBT vs SIXJ

FEBTBAllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer10 Feb ETF

SIXJBAllianzIM U.S. Equity 6 Month Buffer10 Jan/Jul ETF

In short

FEBT Allianz Life's hedging desk, packaged as an ETF. FEBT absorbs the first 10% of its S&P 500 ETF benchmark's price decline over each February-to-January stretch, trading away gains above a cap, at a fee under the buffer-fund norm.

SIXJ Most buffer ETFs lock you into a 12-month cycle. SIXJ runs a six-month one, resetting each January and July: it tracks SPY's share-price move, absorbs the first 10% of losses, and takes a fresh upside cap twice a year.

Stated mandate

FEBT The Fund seeks to match the share-price return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust over a specified one-year outcome period, subject to an upside cap and protection against the first 10% of losses.

SIXJ The Fund seeks to match the share-price return of SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust over a six-month outcome period, subject to an upside cap and protection against the first 10% of losses.

Why people hold it

• FEBT Charges 0.74% a year, under the buffer-fund median and below same-benchmark rival BAPR (0.79%) and laddered BUFR (0.95%).
• The options work is run in-house by AllianzIM, the Allianz Life arm that hedges the insurer's own annuity book, rather than farmed out.allianzlife.com
• Plain, repeatable terms: a 10% downside buffer against the S&P 500 ETF's price return, capped upside, reset for a fresh one-year period every February 1.sec.gov
• Sits in the upper half of its buffer-ETF peer group, helped by pricing below the cohort median.

• SIXJ The 10% buffer and the cap reset every January 1 and July 1, so terms refresh twice a year instead of on the usual annual clock.
• 0.74% expense ratio, on the lean side for a defined-outcome fund and below the typical fee among its shallow-buffer peers.
• The reference asset is SPY itself, the original S&P 500 ETF, so the payoff is keyed to a plain vanilla benchmark rather than a bespoke index.
• Rates among the stronger implementations in a crowded shallow-buffer field, alongside AllianzIM's other six-month siblings like SIXZ and SIXD.

Worth knowing

• FEBT Buffer and cap are set before fees (the prospectus puts the net buffer at 9.26%), and the payoff tracks share price only, so index dividends sit out.sec.gov
• Buy mid-period and you get whatever cap and buffer remain, not the headline terms. The clean slate arrives each February 1.sec.gov
• One of the smaller, thinner-traded funds in the buffer aisle, so the spread between bid and ask deserves a look before trading.

• SIXJ Buffer and cap are designed to work over the full six-month period. Buy mid-period and you get whatever cushion and upside room remain at that moment.
• It tracks SPY's share-price return, so dividends aren't passed through and the fund isn't structured to pay income.
• Volume is light next to the largest buffer funds, so bid-ask spreads can run wider, especially in fast-moving markets.

Full FEBT profile⁠

Full SIXJ profile⁠