FSEP vs ZALT

FSEPCFT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - September

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

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.

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

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.

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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.

• 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 FSEP profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠