FOCT vs ZALT

FOCTCFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - October

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

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.

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

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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 FOCT profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠