FOCT vs XTR

FOCTCFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - October

XTRCGlobal X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF

In short

FOCT One of twelve month-dated buffer funds from First Trust, FOCT absorbs the first 10% of a year's decline in the SPDR S&P 500 fund it tracks, in exchange for an upside cap fixed each October. Index exposure with the sharp edges sanded down.

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

FOCT The Fund seeks to match the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, subject to a 15.09% upside cap, while protecting the first 10% of losses during the October 20, 2025–October 16, 2026 target-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

• FOCT The trade is spelled out up front: the first 10% of the reference fund's price decline absorbed over the year, upside capped at a level set on the October reset day.ftportfolios.com
• Twelve siblings, one per calendar month (FSEP, FNOV and the rest), so the reset date is a choice rather than a constraint, and the terms reset on the same schedule every year.
• Running since 2020 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, so this October dial has already rolled through a stack of full outcome periods.

• 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

• FOCT Buy mid-period and you inherit whatever cap and buffer are left that day, not the headline terms. The full deal belongs to whoever holds from one October reset to the next.ftportfolios.com
• 0.85% a year sits on the higher side of its buffer-fund cohort, where the median is closer to 0.79%. Downside protection carries a sticker price.
• The target is price return, so dividends from the underlying S&P 500 fund don't come along for the ride. This one has not been paying distributions.

• 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 FOCT profile⁠

Full XTR profile⁠