IAPR vs IAUG

IAPRCInnovator Intl Developed Power Buffer ETF

IAUGBInnovator Intl Developed Power Buffer ETF

In short

IAPR Buffer ETFs are overwhelmingly an S&P 500 game. IAPR runs the same playbook on developed international stocks: EAFE-linked upside to a preset cap, the first 15% of losses absorbed, and a fresh reset every April.

IAUG Downside padding for foreign stocks instead of the usual S&P 500 target. IAUG shadows the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF, absorbs the first 15% of a year's losses, and trades away upside above a cap reset every August 1.

Stated mandate

IAPR The Fund seeks to track the performance of the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF over an approximately one-year outcome period, subject to a capped upside and protection against the first 15% of losses.

IAUG The Fund seeks to match the return of its underlying ETF up to a predetermined upside cap while protecting against the first 15% of underlying ETF losses during the outcome period.

Why people hold it

• IAPR Buffer mechanics aimed at developed international stocks, not the S&P 500: FLEX options on the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF, absorbing the first 15% of losses each outcome period.innovatoretfs.com
• Built to be held indefinitely. The cap and buffer reset at the start of each April outcome period, so there is no forced roll into a different product every year.innovatoretfs.com
• 0.85% a year, dead on the median for its buffer peer group. Defined-outcome funds cost more than plain index trackers, and this one sits at the middle of that shelf, not the pricey end.
• A standard 1940 Act ETF, with the FLEX options settled through the Options Clearing Corporation rather than resting on one bank's balance sheet the way a structured note does.innovatoretfs.com

• IAUG The deal is written down in advance: match the reference ETF's return up to a preset cap, with the first 15% of its losses absorbed over an outcome period running August 1 to July 31.innovatoretfs.com
• One rung in a 12-month ladder on the same EAFE exposure (IJUL, ISEP, IOCT and the rest), so entry points can be staggered rather than pinned to a single reset date.innovatoretfs.com
• At 0.85% a year, it charges the same as the median fund in its buffered-international peer group. No premium for the international twist.

Worth knowing

• IAPR The 15% buffer and the cap are measured from the first day of the outcome period. Buy mid-period and you inherit whatever cushion and upside remain, not the headline terms.innovatoretfs.com
• Upside stops at the cap, and the fund owns options rather than the underlying shares, so overseas dividends do not reach you as income.innovatoretfs.com
• Trades thinly next to the biggest buffer funds, so the bid-ask spread is a larger slice of what it costs to get in and back out.

• IAUG Thinly traded with a small asset base, which usually means wider bid-ask spreads than the big buffer funds carry.
• The 15% buffer and the cap are engineered for investors who hold the full outcome period. Buy mid-period and your actual cushion and ceiling differ from the headline terms.innovatoretfs.com
• An options-built structure aimed at price outcomes, not cash flow. Distributions have not been part of the picture.

Full IAPR profile⁠

Full IAUG profile⁠