GOCT vs PSMO

GOCTCFT Vest U.S. Equity Moderate Buffer ETF - October

PSMOBPacer Swan SOS Moderate (October) ETF

In short

GOCT The October link in First Trust's moderate-buffer ladder: it follows the price moves of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust and absorbs the first 15% of losses over a one-year stretch, in exchange for a cap on gains that resets every October.

PSMO A 15% cushion against SPY's first losses, reset every October, for 0.49% a year. Most defined-outcome funds charge more, and the trade is a cap on the upside that gets set fresh at the start of each period.

Stated mandate

GOCT The Fund seeks to match the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, before fees and expenses, up to a 12.14% upside cap, while protecting the first 15% of losses during the October 20, 2025–October 16, 2026 outcome period.

PSMO The fund seeks to track the returns of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up to a stated cap while buffering the first 15% of losses during an approximately one-year outcome period.

Why people hold it

• GOCT The cushion is contractual, not a hope: the first 15% of the reference ETF's losses across the outcome period, paid for with a ceiling on upside.ftportfolios.com
• Twelve monthly siblings (GJAN through GDEC) run the same playbook on the same reference fund, so entry dates can be staggered instead of hinging on one October reset.
• Buffer depth and cap are written into the fund's documents ahead of each yearly period, so the payoff shape is defined by rules rather than a manager's judgment call.ftportfolios.com

• PSMO Charges 0.49% a year versus a 0.79% median across its 15%-buffer peer group, one of the lower-cost ways to own this structure.
• Pacer's moderate SOS funds (PSMD, PSMR, PSMJ) all price at 0.49%, while the Innovator power-buffer lineup (POCT, PJUL, PJAN) runs 0.79%.
• The reference asset is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust itself, not an abstract index, so what's being buffered is a fund you can watch tick by tick.paceretfs.com

Worth knowing

• GOCT At 0.85% a year it runs above several buffer peers, including POCT and PJUL at 0.79% and the laddered BUFF at 0.10%.
• It matches price return only, so the index's dividends sit outside the payoff, and the fund isn't built as an income payer.
• Shares trade thinly, and the buffer and cap apply in full only across a complete outcome period; buying partway through changes the math.

• PSMO Buffer and cap are engineered for the full one-year outcome period running October through September. Buy or sell mid-period and you may get neither in full.paceretfs.com
• Upside stops at a cap reset each October. A runaway rally in the S&P 500 is the scenario this structure hands back in exchange for the 15% cushion.paceretfs.com
• One of the quieter tickers in the buffer aisle, so spreads and order type matter more here than with the category's household names.

Full GOCT profile⁠

Full PSMO profile⁠