QBUF vs QTR

QBUFCInnovator Nasdaq-100 10 Buffer ETF

QTRBGlobal X Nasdaq 100 Tail Risk ETF

In short

QBUF Buffer funds usually run on a 12-month clock. QBUF resets every quarter: a 10% downside buffer on the Nasdaq-100 and a fresh upside cap, four times 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

QBUF The Fund seeks to replicate the performance of an ETF tracking the Nasdaq-100 Index over quarterly outcome periods, subject to a predefined upside cap and a 10% downside buffer.

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

• QBUF Quarterly outcome periods. The 10% buffer and a new cap reset four times a year, so a fresh starting line is never more than three months out.
• The reference asset is the Invesco QQQ Trust itself, not a custom index, so the outcome is keyed to a Nasdaq-100 vehicle you can watch in real time.
• The 0.79% fee is the median for shallow-buffer Nasdaq-100 funds, and this one sits in the upper half of that peer group overall.

• 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

• QBUF Downside protection is paid for with upside. The cap is reset at the start of each quarter from option pricing, so the next period's ceiling isn't known in advance.
• The 10% buffer runs from the period's start and sits before fees. Buy mid-quarter and your actual cushion and cap differ from the headline terms.
• Pricier than some cousins: the PGIM Nasdaq-100 buffer series runs 0.50%, QTR 0.25%. It also trades thinly, so limit orders earn their keep.

• 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 QBUF profile⁠

Full QTR profile⁠