PMDE vs SQMX

PMDEBPGIM S&P 500 Max Buffer ETF - December

SQMXCFT Vest U.S. Equity Quarterly Max Buffer ETF

In short

PMDE PGIM's December-dated buffer fund aims to offset the entire one-year drop in SPY's price, not just the first slice, and gives up the upside above a cap reset each period. Heavy armor, low ceiling, 0.50% a year.

SQMX Most buffer ETFs fix the cushion and let the cap float. SQMX flips it: each quarter it buys the deepest cushion the options market will sell against S&P 500 declines, then takes whatever upside is left, with a 3% cap floor by design.

Stated mandate

PMDE The Fund seeks to track SPY’s price return up to a predetermined cap while seeking to maximize protection from SPY losses over a one-year Target Outcome Period.

SQMX The Fund seeks returns matching the price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up to a preset cap while protecting the first 12.62% of losses over an approximately three-month target period.

Why people hold it

• PMDE Full-armor design: it seeks to offset SPY's whole price decline across a one-year outcome period, where most buffer funds absorb only an initial slice of the fall.pgim.com
• Costs 0.50% a year against a 0.79% median for S&P 500 buffer funds, undercutting December-dated rivals like PDEC (0.79%).
• The reference is SPY itself, so the payoff keys off a price you can watch all day, and the outcome period resets on a set annual schedule with nothing for you to roll.pgim.com

• SQMX Buffer first, upside second. Each roughly three-month period targets the maximum available cushion against declines, and the design sets a minimum 3% upside cap.businesswire.com
• Resets four times a year, so a fresh cushion and cap get struck every quarter rather than once every twelve months.businesswire.com
• The reference is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust itself, built with FLEX options, and the payoff keys off its price return: plain large-cap America, dividends excluded.businesswire.com
• Sits inside First Trust's Target Outcome range, one of the largest defined-outcome ETF families, with Vest Financial running the options sleeve as sub-advisor.businesswire.com

Worth knowing

• PMDE Maximum protection is paid for with a low ceiling: gains stop at a cap set when each period starts, and buying mid-period leaves you with a different cap and buffer than the headline terms.
• It tracks SPY's price return, so S&P 500 dividends don't flow through and the fund isn't built as an income payer.
• Launched in late 2025 and still a small, lightly traded fund, which can mean wider bid-ask spreads than the veterans of the buffer aisle.

• SQMX Runs 0.85% a year against a roughly 0.79% median for S&P 500 buffer funds, and the buffer is quoted before fees, so expenses come out of the cushioned result. DHDG and MARM charge the same.businesswire.com
• Buy after day one of a period and your cushion and cap differ from the posted terms; the full stated buffer may not be available at that entry point.businesswire.com
• A 2024 launch that trades thinly next to the biggest buffer names, so the bid-ask spread can matter as much as the fee, and it has not been paying distributions.

Full PMDE profile⁠

Full SQMX profile⁠