MARM vs PMDE

MARMBFT Vest U.S. Equity Max Buffer ETF - March

PMDEBPGIM S&P 500 Max Buffer ETF - December

In short

MARM The far end of the buffer spectrum: MARM aims for the biggest downside buffer the options market will fund on the S&P 500 ETF it references, and pays for it with a small cap on gains. Fresh terms every March.

PMDE PGIM's December-dated buffer fund aims to offset the entire one-year drop in SPY's price, not just the first slice, and gives up the upside above a cap reset each period. Heavy armor, low ceiling, 0.50% a year.

Stated mandate

MARM The fund seeks to track the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF up to a cap while seeking the maximum available downside buffer over approximately one year. For March 23, 2026 through March 19, 2027, it targets a 77.82% loss buffer and a 7.00% gain cap.

PMDE The Fund seeks to track SPY’s price return up to a predetermined cap while seeking to maximize protection from SPY losses over a one-year Target Outcome Period.

Why people hold it

• MARM Protection is the headline. The mandate is the maximum available downside buffer over roughly a year, not the modest slice most buffer funds carve out.ftportfolios.com
• The calendar does the work. A new cap and buffer are struck each March and run about twelve months, so the terms are set before the period begins.ftportfolios.com
• At 0.85% a year it charges the same as the other funds built on the same SPDR S&P 500 reference, DHDG and SQMX, and less than BUFD at 0.95%.
• The ride has been at the gentle end of its buffer peer group since the 2024 launch, which is exactly what a buffer this size is engineered to produce.

• PMDE Full-armor design: it seeks to offset SPY's whole price decline across a one-year outcome period, where most buffer funds absorb only an initial slice of the fall.pgim.com
• Costs 0.50% a year against a 0.79% median for S&P 500 buffer funds, undercutting December-dated rivals like PDEC (0.79%).
• The reference is SPY itself, so the payoff keys off a price you can watch all day, and the outcome period resets on a set annual schedule with nothing for you to roll.pgim.com

Worth knowing

• MARM The cap is what pays for the buffer, so big index years get left largely behind. It also follows price return only, so index dividends do not flow through.
• That 0.85% sits above the median fee in its buffer cohort, and laddered options like PSFF (0.10%) and BUFP (0.50%) deliver risk-managed equity exposure for far less.
• Thinly traded, and the stated cap and buffer run from the March reset. Buy mid-period and your own numbers differ from the headline terms, so limit orders earn their keep.

• PMDE Maximum protection is paid for with a low ceiling: gains stop at a cap set when each period starts, and buying mid-period leaves you with a different cap and buffer than the headline terms.
• It tracks SPY's price return, so S&P 500 dividends don't flow through and the fund isn't built as an income payer.
• Launched in late 2025 and still a small, lightly traded fund, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the veterans of the buffer aisle.

Full MARM profile⁠

Full PMDE profile⁠