PMAY vs PSMO

PMAYCInnovator U.S. Equity Power Buffer ETF - May

PSMOBPacer Swan SOS Moderate (October) ETF

In short

PMAY A 15% cushion on the S&P 500, rebooted every May. PMAY gives up part of the upside (a cap reset each period) in exchange for absorbing the index's first 15 points of losses, and it can be held through reset after reset.

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

PMAY The fund seeks to participate in SPY's gains up to a preset cap while protecting the first 15% of SPY losses during each roughly annual outcome period. It resets for a new outcome period and may be held indefinitely.

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

• PMAY The buffer is the whole point: the first 15% of S&P 500 losses over each roughly one-year period are absorbed before fees, then the structure resets for a new period.
• You know the calendar in advance. Each outcome period runs from May 1 to the end of the following April, so the reset date is never a surprise.
• Easy to get in and out of by buffer-fund standards: trading costs and market quality rate near the top of the S&P 500 buffer group.
• Running since 2020 and one of the stronger implementations in a crowded field of S&P 500 buffer funds.

• 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

• PMAY The cap is the price of the cushion. Upside is limited each period, and a fresh cap is set at every reset, so it can land above or below the previous one.
• Timing matters: buy mid-period and your effective cap and remaining buffer differ from the stated terms, which are designed to work over a full outcome period.
• At 0.79%, it sits at the typical price for single-month buffer funds, while laddered alternatives like BUFP (0.50%) and PSFF (0.10%) charge less.

• 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 PMAY profile⁠

Full PSMO profile⁠