NBFR vs QTR

NBFRDInnovator Nasdaq-100 Managed 10 Buffer ETF

QTRBGlobal X Nasdaq 100 Tail Risk ETF

In short

NBFR Innovator's Nasdaq-100 buffer, minus the calendar. NBFR spreads its options across a laddered set of periods with a manager steering them, aiming to absorb roughly the first 10% to 14% of index losses.

QTR QTR owns the Nasdaq-100 and buys puts 10% below the index, so it wears the first leg of a selloff and passes the deep-drop risk to the options market. Insurance you pay for, not a capped buffer.

Stated mandate

NBFR The Fund seeks capital appreciation through Nasdaq-100 equity exposure while using an actively managed, laddered options strategy to reduce volatility and protect approximately 10% to 14% of reference-asset losses.

QTR QTR seeks to buffer market selloffs through a protective-put strategy that owns Nasdaq-100 stocks and buys 10% out-of-the-money puts on the Nasdaq-100 Index. It aims to generally track the Nasdaq-100 Quarterly Protective Put 90 Index's price and yield performance before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• NBFR Laddered by design: protection is staggered across overlapping option periods instead of hinging on one annual reset date, so entry timing matters less.
• Actively managed, not rules-on-rails: a manager runs the option ladder with a stated goal of damping volatility on Nasdaq-100 exposure.
• Fee sits at the middle of its Nasdaq-100 buffer peer group at 0.79%, the same sticker as Innovator's date-locked sibling QBUF.

• QTR Protection is bought outright rather than funded by selling upside calls, so the trade-off is the running cost of the puts instead of a ceiling on gains.globalxetfs.com
• 0.25% a year, a fraction of the going rate in its Nasdaq-100 downside-protection peer group, where 0.50% (PGIM's Buffer 12 series) to 0.79% (QBUF) is typical.
• The puts roll on the quarterly schedule set by its index, so there is no defined outcome period to time an entry around.
• Holds the Nasdaq-100 stocks directly, roughly 100 names, and sits among the stronger implementations in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• NBFR Cheaper routes to Nasdaq-100 buffering exist in the same cohort: PGIM's dated buffer funds charge 0.50% and Global X's QTR 0.25%.
• Launched in 2026, so the record is short, and it trades lightly next to the category's household names, which can mean wider spreads.
• The buffer is a slice, not a floor: roughly 10% to 14% of index declines. Losses past that pass through to shareholders.

• QTR The puts sit 10% out of the money. The first 10% of an index drop is fully yours; the hedge only engages past that.
• You pay put premiums whether or not markets fall, a standing cost that weighs on results in calm and rising markets.
• A small fund that trades thinly next to the big buffer franchises, so spreads can run wider. Limit orders help.

Full NBFR profile⁠

Full QTR profile⁠