FMAR vs XTR

FMARCFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - March

XTRCGlobal X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF

In short

FMAR The March seat in First Trust's twelve-month buffer ladder. It holds SPY-linked options built to absorb the first 10% of a year's losses, in exchange for a ceiling on gains that resets every March.

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

FMAR The Fund seeks to track the price return of the State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust, subject to an upside cap and protection against an initial portion of losses during the stated 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

• FMAR The mechanism is legible: over each one-year outcome period it targets the first 10% of SPY's decline as a cushion, giving up gains above a cap struck at the March reset.
• Twelve monthly siblings run the same playbook (FJAN, FAPR, FSEP and the rest), so a start month is a choice, or you can ladder several and stop leaning on one reset date.
• Running since 2021 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, with the reference asset being the SPY trust itself rather than a bespoke index, inside a standard 1940 Act ETF wrapper.

• 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

• FMAR 0.85% a year sits at the pricier end of the buffer shelf. Laddered alternatives are cheaper, with BUFB listed at 0.10%.
• The 10% buffer and the cap belong to a full outcome period. Buy mid-period and you inherit whatever cushion and headroom remain, not the headline terms.
• It trades thinly and hasn't been paying distributions, so limit orders earn their keep and any return has to show up in the share price.

• 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 FMAR profile⁠

Full XTR profile⁠