NVBT vs XTR

NVBTCAllianzIM U.S. Equity Buffer10 Nov ETF

XTRCGlobal X S&P 500 Tail Risk ETF

In short

NVBT A one-year hedge that starts its clock on November 1. NVBT absorbs the first 10% of an S&P 500 price decline over each outcome period, and in exchange your upside stops at a cap reset every November.

XTR Most downside-protection ETFs sell away your upside to pay for it. XTR pays cash instead: it owns the S&P 500 stocks and buys 10% out-of-the-money puts every quarter, leaving the upside uncapped.

Stated mandate

NVBT The actively managed ETF is designed to provide S&P 500-linked returns over a defined Outcome Period, subject to an upside cap and protection against the first 10% of index losses.

XTR The Fund seeks to track the performance of the Cboe S&P 500 Tail Risk Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• NVBT The deal is written down before you take it: the first 10% of S&P 500 price losses in each outcome period are absorbed by the fund's options, with a cap set the same day.
• At 0.74%, it runs below the median fee for shallow-buffer S&P 500 funds, and matches AllianzIM's own November-, January- and April-start siblings JANT and APRT.
• AllianzIM runs the calendar, not just one month: twelve-month starts plus six-month Buffer10 pairs like SIXZ, so November is one rung on a ladder rather than a lone bet.
• Actively managed and self-rolling since its 2022 launch: the options book is rebuilt each November instead of leaving you to reset a collar yourself.

• XTR No cap on the gains. The hedge is bought with cash rather than funded by selling calls, so index rallies come through less the put premium and fees.sec.gov
• Costs 0.25%, well under half of what the defined-outcome funds it competes with typically charge for downside protection.
• Owns the roughly 500 S&P 500 stocks themselves, with the put position layered on top, rather than wrapping the index in a stack of options.sec.gov
• Rules-based and mechanical: puts are bought at 10% below the prevailing index level each quarter and held to expiration, with no manager guessing at timing.sec.gov

Worth knowing

• NVBT The reference is the S&P 500 Price Index, so dividends sit outside the buffer-and-cap math entirely. The fund has paid no distributions.
• Buffer and cap describe a full outcome period, November 1 to October 31. Buy midstream and your own protection and headroom differ from the headline terms.
• One of the smaller, more thinly traded funds in a crowded buffer field, so spreads can run wider than at the giants. Limit orders do more work here.

• XTR Protection starts about 10% down and resets quarterly, so garden-variety dips are absorbed in full and the gap widens if the market rallies mid-quarter.sec.gov
• Insurance is not free. The quarterly premium is a steady cost against plain index exposure, and in calm markets the puts expire worthless.sec.gov
• A small fund that trades thinly, so limit orders matter and subscale products carry more risk of being closed than the category's giants.

Full NVBT profile⁠

Full XTR profile⁠