PAPR vs PSMR

PAPRCInnovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF

PSMRBPacer Swan SOS Moderate (April) ETF

In short

PAPR Innovator's April door. PAPR takes the first 15% of losses on the S&P 500 fund it references and caps your upside in exchange. The buffer resets every April 1, so the deal is rewritten once a year. Running since 2019.

PSMR A 15-point cushion on SPY, reset every April, for 0.49% a year while the typical buffer fund charges more. Pacer and Swan's moderate tier trades away some upside (a cap set each period) for a floor you know going in.

Stated mandate

PAPR The Fund uses a defined-outcome strategy tied to SPY over the April 1, 2026–March 31, 2027 Outcome Period, seeking to limit upside at a cap while protecting the first 15% of underlying losses before fees and expenses.

PSMR The Fund seeks to match the returns of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up to a predetermined cap while providing a downside buffer over an approximately one-year period.

Why people hold it

• PAPR Buffers the first 15% of the reference fund's losses over each April-to-March outcome period, before fees and expenses. Downside cushion without leaving equities.innovatoretfs.com
• One of twelve monthly Power Buffer siblings, so you can enter in April or ladder across start months instead of hanging everything on one reset date.
• Live since April 2019, it has reset through real drawdowns rather than backtests, and it grades out in the upper tier of a crowded buffer peer group.

• PSMR Charges 0.49% a year against a 0.79% median in its buffered-SPY cohort, and undercuts Pacer's own single-month siblings like PJUL and POCT at 0.79%.
• The contract is spelled out: a 15-point buffer against SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust losses over roughly a one-year period, with upside capped at a level set when the period begins.paceretfs.com
• Terms reset on April 1 each year, so the new buffer and cap arrive on a known calendar date instead of whenever you happened to buy in.paceretfs.com
• Running since 2021, so this April series has cycled through several complete outcome periods rather than being a fresh launch with a paper track record.

Worth knowing

• PAPR The cap is what pays for the buffer. Upside for each period is limited, and the 15% cushion is measured before the 0.79% fee, so a hot market year leaves gains on the table.
• Buy mid-period and you inherit whatever cap and remaining buffer are left, not the headline terms. The full stated deal belongs to holders from the April 1 start.
• At 0.79% it is priced like its Power Buffer siblings, while the laddered BUFF spreads the same style of outcomes across all twelve months for 0.10%.

• PSMR Thinly traded next to the biggest names in buffer land, so spreads and order size are worth a look before you place a trade.
• The cap cuts both ways: big SPY years get trimmed, and the stated buffer and cap only line up in full for a holder who rides one April reset to the next.
• Not an income vehicle. It has not been paying a regular distribution, so whatever the strategy delivers shows up in the share price.

Full PAPR profile⁠

Full PSMR profile⁠