QMAR vs QTR

QMARCFT Vest Nasdaq-100 Buffer ETF - March

QTRBGlobal X Nasdaq 100 Tail Risk ETF

In short

QMAR A one-year seatbelt on the Nasdaq-100. QMAR absorbs the first 10% of losses in the Nasdaq-100 tracker it references and hands back the upside above a cap reset every March, one of four quarterly entry points in First Trust's buffer lineup.

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

QMAR The Fund seeks to match the price return of the Invesco QQQ Trust, Series 1 before fees and expenses, subject to a 20.86% upside cap, while buffering the first 10% of losses during the March 23, 2026–March 19, 2027 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

• QMAR The buffer is the whole product: the first 10% of the reference fund's decline is absorbed, before fees, across a defined one-year outcome period that resets each March.ftportfolios.com
• It references the Invesco QQQ Trust itself rather than a paper index, so the payoff is pinned to the same Nasdaq-100 vehicle most investors already hold.sec.gov
• Running since 2021, it has now cycled through several complete outcome periods, and its March, June, September and December siblings let you stagger start dates instead of betting on one.

• 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

• QMAR At 0.90% a year it sits at the expensive end of the Nasdaq-100 buffer shelf: QBUF charges 0.79%, PQAP and PQJA 0.50%, QTR 0.25%.
• The stated cap and buffer apply to buyers who hold a full outcome period. Come in mid-period and you inherit whatever cushion and upside room are left, not the headline terms.sec.gov
• Volume is light next to the biggest buffer funds, which can mean wider spreads, and the options structure isn't built to throw off income.

• 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 QMAR profile⁠

Full QTR profile⁠