PQJA vs QTR

PQJABPGIM Nasdaq-100 Buffer 12 ETF - January

QTRBGlobal X Nasdaq 100 Tail Risk ETF

In short

PQJA A one-year seatbelt on the Nasdaq-100: PQJA absorbs the first 12% of price losses on the index's flagship ETF and gives up gains above a cap in exchange. A deeper cushion than most of its buffer peers, at 0.50% a year.

QTR QTR owns the Nasdaq-100 and buys puts 10% below the index, so it wears the first leg of a selloff and passes the deep-drop risk to the options market. Insurance you pay for, not a capped buffer.

Stated mandate

PQJA The Fund seeks to match QQQ’s price return up to a predetermined cap while buffering the first 12% of QQQ losses over a one-year target outcome period.

QTR QTR seeks to buffer market selloffs through a protective-put strategy that owns Nasdaq-100 stocks and buys 10% out-of-the-money puts on the Nasdaq-100 Index. It aims to generally track the Nasdaq-100 Quarterly Protective Put 90 Index's price and yield performance before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

• PQJA Cushions the first 12% of the tracked Nasdaq-100 ETF's price losses over each one-year outcome period, deeper than the 10-point buffer on Innovator's QBUF.pgim.com
• Charges 0.50% a year against a 0.79% median for its Nasdaq-100 buffer cohort, where QBUF sits at 0.79%.
• January is one of four PGIM Nasdaq-100 buffer funds on a quarterly calendar (PQAP, PQJL, PQOC), so outcome periods aren't tied to a single start month.
• Launched in 2024 and rated in the upper half of its shallow-buffer Nasdaq-100 group on our review.

• QTR Protection is bought outright rather than funded by selling upside calls, so the trade-off is the running cost of the puts instead of a ceiling on gains.globalxetfs.com
• 0.25% a year, a fraction of the going rate in its Nasdaq-100 downside-protection peer group, where 0.50% (PGIM's Buffer 12 series) to 0.79% (QBUF) is typical.
• The puts roll on the quarterly schedule set by its index, so there is no defined outcome period to time an entry around.
• Holds the Nasdaq-100 stocks directly, roughly 100 names, and sits among the stronger implementations in its peer group.

Worth knowing

• PQJA Upside stops at a cap that resets with each new one-year period, and the mandate follows price return, so index dividends aren't part of the payoff.
• The 12% buffer and the cap are measured across a full outcome period. Buy partway through and your effective cushion and ceiling differ from the headline terms.pgim.com
• A small, thinly traded fund next to the largest buffer products, which can show up as wider bid-ask spreads.

• QTR The puts sit 10% out of the money. The first 10% of an index drop is fully yours; the hedge only engages past that.
• You pay put premiums whether or not markets fall, a standing cost that weighs on results in calm and rising markets.
• A small fund that trades thinly next to the big buffer franchises, so spreads can run wider. Limit orders help.

Full PQJA profile⁠

Full QTR profile⁠