NOVZ vs ZALT

NOVZDTrueShares Structured Outcome (November) ETF

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

In short

NOVZ Most buffer funds make you hand over an upside cap in exchange for downside protection. NOVZ states no cap: its objective is tracking the S&P 500 price index before fees while buffering the first 8% to 12% of losses over each twelve-month period.

ZALT The defined-outcome trade on a three-month clock: ZALT follows SPY up to a cap and buffers the first 10% of a decline, then resets both every quarter. Four fresh caps a year, at a fee under the shallow-buffer median.

Stated mandate

NOVZ The Fund seeks to track the S&P 500 Price Return Index before fees and expenses while using an options-based strategy intended to buffer the first 8% to 12% of index losses over each twelve-month period.

ZALT The fund seeks to follow SPY's return up to a predetermined cap while providing a 10% downside buffer over each three-month outcome period. It may be held indefinitely, with the defined outcomes resetting at the end of each period.

Why people hold it

• NOVZ Written without a stated upside cap: track the S&P 500 Price Return Index before fees and expenses, with the first 8% to 12% of index losses buffered each twelve-month period.
• The outcome period resets every November 1 and runs to the end of October, and sibling funds start in other months (JANZ, MAYZ, JUNZ, OCTZ, DECZ) on the same index.
• Trading since 2020, so the November series has a multi-year live record instead of a backtest, inside a standard 1940 Act fund wrapper.

• ZALT Resets on a quarterly clock: a new cap is set the first day of each calendar quarter and the 10% buffer starts over. Can be held indefinitely, no rolling into a new ticker.sec.govcboe.com
• At 0.69% it undercuts the going rate for 10% buffer funds on the S&P 500, where peers like SIXZ, JULT and BJUN charge 0.74% to 0.79%.
• The cushion is built from FLEX options on SPY itself, so the thing you are hedged against is the same fund most investors already watch.sec.gov
• Sits among the stronger implementations in its shallow-buffer peer group on cost and ease of trading.

Worth knowing

• NOVZ The 0.79% fee sits right at the middle of the S&P 500 buffer group, and cheaper routes to the same index exist, such as BUFP at 0.50%.
• A small fund that trades thinly, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than the category's largest names.
• The buffer is a targeted 8% to 12% range measured across the full November-to-October period. Buying mid-period changes your starting point and the protection left.

• ZALT Three months of upside buys a lower ceiling. Each quarter's cap is priced off three-month options, so it lands well below what a 12-month buffer fund can offer.sec.gov
• Buy mid-quarter and you inherit whatever cap and buffer are left, not the full 10%. The prospectus says so plainly.sec.gov
• The fee comes out of the cushion: with the 0.69% fee counted, the prospectus puts the net buffer at 9.82% per period. No distributions so far, so return shows up in price.sec.gov

Full NOVZ profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠