FEBT vs ZALT

FEBTBAllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer10 Feb ETF

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

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.

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

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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 FEBT profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠