LOCT vs PSMO

LOCTCInnovator Premium Income 15 Buffer ETF

PSMOBPacer Swan SOS Moderate (October) ETF

In short

LOCT Most buffer funds trade your upside for a capped shot at growth. LOCT trades it for income: a defined distribution rate paid monthly, with the first 15% of SPY's losses absorbed over each 12-month outcome period.

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

LOCT The Fund seeks performance equal to its Defined Distribution Rate for each Outcome Period while protecting against the first 15% of SPY losses during each 12-month 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

• LOCT Income-first design. The fund seeks performance equal to its stated Defined Distribution Rate for each outcome period, and it pays monthly rather than hoarding returns for the reset.
• The first 15% of SPY losses in each 12-month outcome period is absorbed by the structure, and the terms reset every October like clockwork.
• The 0.79% fee sits right at the median for its buffer peer group and matches Innovator's Power Buffer siblings (POCT, PJUL) for the same wrapper work.
• Built as a 1940 Act fund, not a bank-issued note, so the defined outcome doesn't ride on a single issuer's balance sheet.

• 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

• LOCT Upside is defined, not open-ended. The target is the distribution rate, so a roaring year in SPY doesn't flow through as extra return.
• Small asset base and thin trading. Limit orders and a glance at the spread matter more here than with a mainstream index fund.
• The buffer is measured from the start of the October outcome period. Buy mid-period and you inherit whatever protection is left, not a fresh 15%.

• 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 LOCT profile⁠

Full PSMO profile⁠