PJUL vs PSMJ

PJULCInnovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF

PSMJBPacer Swan SOS Moderate (July) ETF

In short

PJUL Rides the S&P 500, absorbs the first 15% of a 12-month drawdown, and gives up upside above a cap in exchange. Innovator's July-reset Power Buffer, running the same playbook since 2018.

PSMJ Pacer's July-dated stop on the Swan SOS ladder: FLEX options on SPY that buffer the first 15% of a fall over a roughly one-year period, with upside capped in return. At 0.49%, it undercuts most of the buffer aisle.

Stated mandate

PJUL The Fund seeks to track the return of SPY up to a predetermined cap while protecting investors from the first 15% of losses over the current outcome period.

PSMJ The Fund seeks to track 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

• PJUL The buffer is the whole product: built to absorb the first 15% of reference-index losses across each one-year outcome period, with upside capped in return.innovatoretfs.com
• Trades tightly for a defined-outcome fund, and at multi-billion-dollar size it is one of the more established names on the buffer shelf.
• A 2018 vintage that has carried its buffer through real market cycles, and among buffer funds we grade it sits near the top of the group.

• PSMJ Charges 0.49% a year against a 0.79% median for its buffered-SPY cohort, the same 0.79% Innovator's Power Buffer funds (PJUL, PJAN, POCT) charge for a similar job.
• The deal is legible: FLEX options on SPY absorb the first 15% of a decline over the outcome period, and match the ETF's gains up to a cap struck each July.paceretfs.compaceretfs.com 2
• Those FLEX options are customizable exchange-traded contracts settled through the Options Clearing Corporation, and Durango-based Swan Global Management sub-advises the strategy.paceretfs.com
• One of four Moderate-series funds with staggered start months (PSMD, PSMR, PSMJ, PSMO), so a July reset can be stacked against other entry points rather than standing alone.paceretfs.com

Worth knowing

• PJUL Cap and buffer are set at the July 1 reset and apply to full-period holders. Step in midstream and your effective cap and remaining buffer differ from the headline terms.innovatoretfs.com
• 0.79% is the category median, not the floor. The laddered sibling BUFF lists 0.10% and spreads the same Power Buffer approach across staggered start dates.
• Income is not part of the design. The options-based structure has not been throwing off distributions.

• PSMJ The 15% buffer and the cap belong to the full outcome period. Step in mid-period and you inherit whatever cap and buffer remain, not the starting terms.paceretfs.com
• Thinly traded next to the largest buffer funds, so spreads and limit orders deserve more of your attention at the point of entry.
• No regular income stream here: the options structure delivers its result through share price rather than distributions.paceretfs.com

Full PJUL profile⁠

Full PSMJ profile⁠