PSMJ vs PSMO

PSMJBPacer Swan SOS Moderate (July) ETF

PSMOBPacer Swan SOS Moderate (October) ETF

In short

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.

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

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.

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

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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 PSMJ profile⁠

Full PSMO profile⁠