XDEC vs XNOV

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

XNOVCFT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - November

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.

XNOV Most upside-boosted funds pay for the boost by dropping downside cover. XNOV runs both at once: roughly twice the price gain of the big S&P 500 ETF up to a cap, plus a 15% buffer, on a November-to-November clock that resets each year.

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.

XNOV The Fund seeks approximately twice the positive price return of the State Street® SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust, subject to an 11.06% upside cap, while protecting against the first 15% of losses during its November 2025–November 2026 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.

• XNOV Two-sided design: it aims for about twice the reference S&P 500 ETF's price gain up to a cap while absorbing the first 15% of losses across the outcome period.
• The payoff is written in FLEX options on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, so the terms are defined in the fund's documents up front, not left to a manager's judgment.ftportfolios.com
• One of a monthly series running the same recipe on different calendars (XMAR, XJUN, XDEC), so the 2x-plus-15%-buffer structure isn't tied to a single start date.
• Terms are mechanical and repeat: the doubled upside and 15% buffer carry into each new period, with a fresh cap struck every November since the 2023 launch.

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.

• XNOV The fee is 0.85%, above the 0.79% typical in its accelerated-buffer peer group. Structured payoffs cost more than plain index exposure.
• It's thinly traded, so spreads and order handling matter more here than with mainstream S&P 500 funds.
• Upside stops at the cap, income isn't part of the design, and the buffer math applies over the full period. Enter mid-period and your own cap and buffer differ from the stated terms.ftportfolios.com

Full XDEC profile⁠

Full XNOV profile⁠