FSEP vs SIXJ

FSEPCFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - September

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

In short

FSEP The September rung of First Trust's twelve-month buffer ladder. It follows the price return of State Street's S&P 500 ETF, absorbs the first 10% of losses, and trades away upside above a cap that resets every September.

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

FSEP The fund seeks to track the price return of the State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust before fees and expenses, subject to a 14.00% upside cap and protection against the first 10% of losses during the stated outcome period.

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

• FSEP The cushion is written into the mandate, not left to a manager's judgment: across each one-year period the options package absorbs the first 10% of a decline in the reference S&P 500 ETF, before fees.
• Twelve sibling funds, one per calendar month, all at the same 0.85% fee. Pick a start month or stack several so your protection isn't tied to a single September date.
• Running since 2020 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund with moderate trading activity, so the September vintage is a well-used rung rather than a thin experiment.

• 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

• FSEP At 0.85% a year it prices above the typical buffer fund, and cheaper paths to a 10% buffer exist (BUFB at 0.10%, ZALT at 0.69%).
• Built to be held from one September reset to the next. Buy mid-period and your effective cap and leftover cushion differ from the stated terms.
• No distributions, so the payoff arrives in the share price. And the cushion stops at 10%; declines past that land on you alongside the reference ETF.

• 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 FSEP profile⁠

Full SIXJ profile⁠