OCTZ vs ZALT

OCTZCTrueShares Structured Outcome (October) ETF

ZALTAInnovator U.S. Equity 10 Buffer ETF - Quarterly

In short

OCTZ Most buffer ETFs trade away your upside for downside protection. OCTZ skips the hard cap: it targets a 10% cushion against S&P 500 price losses over a 12-month October-to-October period, and leaves the upside open.

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

OCTZ The fund seeks to track the S&P 500 Price Return Index before fees and expenses while protecting the first 8% to 12% of index losses over a 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

• OCTZ No hard cap. It buffers the first 8% to 12% of S&P 500 price index losses per period (10% target) while leaving upside open, the design TrueShares built its lineup on.true-shares.com
• Fixed calendar: each outcome period runs October 1 to September 30, then resets, so the buffer's start and end dates are known up front.true-shares.com
• October is one of several monthly-dated siblings on the same index (JANZ, MAYZ, NOVZ, DECZ), so the entry month can be picked or laddered across the year.
• Trading since 2020, one of the longer-running uncapped buffer funds on the S&P 500 price index.true-shares.com

• 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

• OCTZ The buffer is a full-period outcome: buy mid-period and your cushion and starting level differ. Past the buffer, losses follow the index one for one.sec.gov
• The options reference the S&P 500 price index, so shareholders forgo the index's dividends.sec.gov
• Small and thinly traded, so spreads can run wider than at the largest buffer funds; 0.79% is the peer median but above laddered options like PSFF (0.10%).

• 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 OCTZ profile⁠

Full ZALT profile⁠