XDEC vs XSEP

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

XSEPCFT Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF - September

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.

XSEP Most buffer ETFs trade away upside for protection. XSEP doubles it: about 2x the price move of the S&P 500 ETF it references, up to a yearly cap, with the first 15% of losses absorbed.

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.

XSEP The Fund seeks about twice the positive price return of the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, subject to a 9.58% upside cap, while protecting the first 15% of losses during the September 22, 2025–September 18, 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.

• XSEP The "enhance" is literal: the fund aims for roughly 2x any positive price move in the S&P 500 ETF it references, up to a cap set when each September period starts.ftportfolios.com
• Downside first: it absorbs the reference ETF's first 15% of losses, before fees, across the one-year outcome period.sec.gov
• A 1940 Act ETF built on FLEX options rather than a bank-issued note, so no issuer credit risk, and you can trade it any market day.sec.gov
• One of twelve monthly-dated siblings in First Trust's Enhance & Moderate lineup, so a fresh cap and a reset 15% buffer arrive every September.ftportfolios.com

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.

• XSEP The doubled upside is paid for with a ceiling: above the cap you stop participating. Cap and buffer are calibrated for holders of the full September-to-September period.sec.gov
• It follows price return only, so the S&P 500's dividends sit outside the math.sec.gov
• The 0.85% expense ratio prices above the median of its buffer-ETF peer group, and the fund is thinly traded, so limit orders earn their keep.

Full XDEC profile⁠

Full XSEP profile⁠