KAPR vs KOCT

KAPRCInnovator U.S. Small Cap Power Buffer ETF - April

KOCTBInnovator U.S. Small Cap Power Buffer ETF

In short

KAPR Small caps are the bumpiest ride in US equities. KAPR straps a cushion to them: it tracks the Russell 2000 ETF across an April-to-March outcome period, absorbing the first 15% of losses in exchange for a ceiling on the upside.

KOCT Small-cap exposure with a seatbelt. KOCT tracks IWM up to a yearly cap while absorbing the first 15% of losses, resetting each October 1. A 2019 original in a corner where most buffer funds are built on the S&P 500.

Stated mandate

KAPR The fund seeks to follow the return of IWM up to a predetermined cap while protecting investors from the first 15% of losses during the outcome period, before fees and expenses.

KOCT The Fund seeks to track the return of the iShares Russell 2000 ETF, subject to a predetermined upside cap, while protecting against the first 15% of losses during the outcome period.

Why people hold it

• KAPR The buffer is the whole point: over each outcome period the fund aims to absorb the first 15% of the Russell 2000 ETF's decline, before fees and expenses.innovatoretfs.com
• Costs 0.79% a year, level with Innovator's other small-cap buffer months and below the 0.90% charged by FT Vest's small-cap buffer funds (SMAY, SNOV).
• April is your anchor: the period runs April 1 to March 31 with a fresh cap each spring, and sibling funds on other months (KJAN, KJUL, KOCT) let you stagger start dates.
• Running since 2020 inside a plain 1940 Act ETF wrapper holding options, not a bank-issued note, so the payoff shape doesn't ride on one issuer's credit.innovatoretfs.com

• KOCT The contract is plain: track the iShares Russell 2000 ETF up to a preset cap, with the first 15% of losses over the one-year outcome period absorbed first.innovatoretfs.com
• Rare air: it listed October 1, 2019 in Innovator's first small-cap buffer wave. Most defined-outcome ETFs wrap the S&P 500, not the Russell 2000.accessnewswire.com
• Fee lands at 0.79%, the middle of its small-cap buffer group, and the fund rates in the upper half of that group on our review.
• You pick your calendar. This is the October reset; siblings KJAN, KAPR and KJUL run the same 15% buffer off other quarters.

Worth knowing

• KAPR Thinly traded next to the heavyweights of the buffer world, so spreads deserve a look, and the stated buffer and cap apply to holders who own it start to finish of a period.innovatoretfs.com
• Upside stops at the cap struck each April, and the 15% cushion is measured before the 0.79% fee. Buy mid-period and you inherit whatever cap and remaining buffer exist that day.innovatoretfs.com
• Options do the work instead of shares, so Russell 2000 dividends don't flow through and the fund has not been making regular distributions.innovatoretfs.com

• KOCT The cap is the price of the cushion. A blistering small-cap year gets trimmed, and the cap is reset for each new outcome period starting October 1.
• Timing matters: Innovator notes the stated outcomes apply to holders from the first day of the outcome period through the last. Buy mid-period and your own cap and buffer differ.innovatoretfs.com
• Trading is light versus mainstream small-cap funds, and the options-based structure isn't built to throw off income.

Full KAPR profile⁠

Full KOCT profile⁠