PJAN vs PSMO

PJANCInnovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF

PSMOBPacer Swan SOS Moderate (October) ETF

In short

PJAN The January edition of Innovator's 15% Power Buffer series: it absorbs the first 15% of an S&P 500 price drop over the year in exchange for a capped upside, then resets every January 1. One of the originals, running since 2019.

PSMO A 15% cushion against SPY's first losses, reset every October, for 0.49% a year. Most defined-outcome funds charge more, and the trade is a cap on the upside that gets set fresh at the start of each period.

Stated mandate

PJAN The fund uses a defined-outcome strategy tied to SPY, seeking to track its return up to a cap while protecting the first 15% of losses during the annual outcome period.

PSMO The fund seeks to track the returns of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up to a stated cap while buffering the first 15% of losses during an approximately one-year outcome period.

Why people hold it

• PJAN Launched January 2019, one of the first calendar-year buffer ETFs, and now among the larger funds in the buffer space with many reset cycles behind it.innovatoretfs.com
• The mechanic is simple: the first 15% of SPY's price decline over the outcome period is absorbed, upside runs to a cap set at the start of each January, then it all resets.sec.gov
• The 0.79% fee sits right at the median for buffer funds, and this is one of the stronger implementations in a crowded 15%-buffer peer group.
• Moderately traded with a full twelve-month sibling lineup behind it, so the January vintage is a deliberate pick rather than the only door in.

• PSMO Charges 0.49% a year versus a 0.79% median across its 15%-buffer peer group, one of the lower-cost ways to own this structure.
• Pacer's moderate SOS funds (PSMD, PSMR, PSMJ) all price at 0.49%, while the Innovator power-buffer lineup (POCT, PJUL, PJAN) runs 0.79%.
• The reference asset is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust itself, not an abstract index, so what's being buffered is a fund you can watch tick by tick.paceretfs.com

Worth knowing

• PJAN The buffer and cap are designed for investors who hold from the start of the outcome period to its end. Buy mid-period and your effective cushion and remaining upside differ.sec.gov
• It follows SPY's price return only. The fund does not receive the underlying ETF's dividends, and it is not built as an income vehicle.sec.gov
• One start date, one calendar. Siblings like PAPR, PJUL and POCT run the same 15% buffer off other months, and BUFF ladders across the year.

• PSMO Buffer and cap are engineered for the full one-year outcome period running October through September. Buy or sell mid-period and you may get neither in full.paceretfs.com
• Upside stops at a cap reset each October. A runaway rally in the S&P 500 is the scenario this structure hands back in exchange for the 15% cushion.paceretfs.com
• One of the quieter tickers in the buffer aisle, so spreads and order type matter more here than with the category's household names.

Full PJAN profile⁠

Full PSMO profile⁠