PMAR vs PSMO

PMARCInnovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - March

PSMOBPacer Swan SOS Moderate (October) ETF

In short

PMAR The March-start link in Innovator's twelve-month buffer chain: it follows the big S&P 500 ETF up to a cap and is built to absorb the first 15% of losses over each March-to-February outcome period.

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

PMAR The Fund seeks to track the return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up to a predetermined cap while protecting against the first 15% of losses during the 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

• PMAR The deal is written into the fund's terms: absorb SPY's first 15% of losses over an outcome period, give up gains above a cap in exchange.innovatoretfs.com
• Fixed calendar. The outcome period runs March 1 to the end of February, then the cap resets under the same rules, so you always know when the terms change.innovatoretfs.com
• A registered 1940 Act fund, not a bank-issued note, at a 0.79% expense ratio that lands right on the buffer-fund median.
• Sits in the upper half of its buffer-fund peer group, one of the more solid takes on the defined-outcome playbook.

• 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

• PMAR Buy mid-period and you get whatever buffer and upside are left, not the headline 15% and the full cap. The stated terms describe a complete March-to-February run.
• 0.79% is the going rate in this cohort and well above plain S&P 500 exposure. The options sleeve that builds the buffer is what you're paying for.
• Trades lightly, so spreads can widen; limit orders are the usual workaround. It also makes no regular distributions, so any return shows up in the share price.

• 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 PMAR profile⁠

Full PSMO profile⁠