XDEC vs XMAR

XDECCFT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - December

XMARBFT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - March

In short

XDEC Most buffered funds trade upside away for protection. This December-dated First Trust fund goes after both: roughly twice the price gain of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust up to a yearly cap, with the first 15% of losses absorbed.

XMAR Most accelerated ETFs double your upside and hand you the full downside. XMAR runs the accelerator with a net: about twice SPY's price gain up to a yearly cap, plus a 15% cushion against losses.

Stated mandate

XDEC The Fund seeks approximately twice the positive price return of the State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust, subject to a 10.06% upside cap and protection against the first 15% of losses during the stated outcome period.

XMAR The Fund seeks approximately twice the positive price return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, subject to a 12.22% upside cap, while buffering the first 15% of losses over the March 23, 2026–March 19, 2027 outcome period.

Why people hold it

• XDEC Accelerated and buffered in one wrapper: it aims for about 2x the reference ETF's positive price return up to a cap, while absorbing the first 15% of a decline over the outcome period.
• The reference is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust itself, not a custom index built for the product, so the exposure being doubled is plain US large-cap.
• One rung of a dated ladder. Siblings like XMAR, XJUN and XNOV run the same structure on different reset months, so entry isn't pinned to a single December date.
• Live since 2021, which puts several full December-to-December outcome periods behind the strategy rather than a single test run.

• XMAR The rare two-sided deal: roughly 2x any positive price move in SPY up to a cap, with the first 15% of SPY's losses absorbed, over a one-year outcome period.ftportfolios.com
• Innovator's accelerated funds (XDSQ, XTAP) give the 2x kicker with single exposure to the downside. XMAR keeps the kicker and adds the buffer.innovatoretfs.com
• No maturity date. The cap resets to prevailing market conditions when each March period rolls, so the position can be held across periods without re-buying.businesswire.com
• Among the stronger builds in a small field of accelerated SPY strategies, with a defined-risk profile that stands out in the group.

Worth knowing

• XDEC At 0.85% a year it runs above accelerated peers such as XTAP and XDSQ at 0.79%. Layered options structures carry a higher price tag than plain beta.
• The cap and buffer are engineered for a full outcome period, December to December, and the cap is reset at each new period. Buy mid-period and your own cap and remaining buffer differ from the headline terms.
• Thinly traded next to mainstream index funds, so limit orders earn their keep. The design targets price return, not an income stream.

• XMAR Cap and buffer are engineered for the full March-to-March period. Step in or out mid-period and you get different terms than the headline math.ftportfolios.com
• It references SPY's price return, so S&P 500 dividends sit outside the payoff. Below the buffer, losses track the index one for one.ftportfolios.com
• 0.85% a year, above the 0.79% typical of its accelerated peers, and it trades thinly, so the spread is part of your cost.

Full XDEC profile⁠

Full XMAR profile⁠