KBFR vs RSMR

KBFRBInnovator U.S. Small Cap Managed 10 Buffer ETF

RSMRCFT Vest U.S. Equity Equal Weight Buffer ETF - March

In short

KBFR Small caps with a seatbelt. Innovator's actively managed fund owns roughly 800 U.S. small caps and layers options on top, built around the 10% buffer in its name, and it undercuts the typical buffer fund on fee.

RSMR Most buffer ETFs wrap their cushion around the cap-weighted S&P 500. This one wraps it around the equal-weight version, where the smallest name counts about as much as the biggest, and resets every March.

Stated mandate

KBFR The Fund seeks long-term capital gains while mitigating overall market risk. It is actively managed and uses equity and option positions to provide risk-managed U.S. small-cap exposure.

RSMR The Fund seeks to match the price return of the Invesco S&P 500® Equal Weight ETF Trust, before fees and expenses, up to a 17.80% cap while buffering the first 10% of losses during the stated outcome period.

Why people hold it

• KBFR Costs 0.79% a year, below the 0.89% typical of buffer funds in its group.
• Actively managed and holds about 800 small caps outright, with the option positions layered on top rather than standing in for the stocks.
• Buffered small-cap exposure is a thin shelf. Its nearest cohort peers cushion international stocks (IBUF), equal-weight U.S. (RSJN) or long Treasuries (TBJL).
• Adds up to one of the stronger overall packages among the buffer funds we grade.

• RSMR The uncommon buffer build: outcomes are tied to the price of an equal-weight S&P 500 basket, so a handful of mega caps don't steer the result the way they do in cap-weighted buffer funds.
• Downside terms are written down in advance: the first 10% of a decline in the reference basket is absorbed across each one-year outcome period, with a fresh period starting each March.
• Charges 0.85%, the same as its June-dated sibling RSJN, and roughly in line with what defined-outcome funds typically cost.
• Plain-vanilla plumbing: a registered 1940 Act ETF with no structural flags, and it stands in the upper half of the buffer group on our review.

Worth knowing

• KBFR Launched in 2026, so there is little live history behind any read on how it handles a real drawdown.
• Small and thinly traded, so bid-ask spreads and premiums can run wider than in the big buffer names.
• The buffer absorbs a slice of losses, not all of them, and the option overlay means results can part ways with the small-cap market in both directions.

• RSMR Upside is capped each period, and both cap and buffer run from the March start date, so buying mid-period leaves you with different numbers than the headline terms.
• It targets price return only, so dividends from the underlying stocks aren't passed through to shareholders.
• Launched in 2025 and one of the smaller, less-traded names in the buffer group, which makes limit orders worth the extra click.

Full KBFR profile⁠

Full RSMR profile⁠