First Trust Debuts 4 ‘Target Outcome’ ETFs

Today, First Trust rolled out a quartet of defined outcome ETFs tracking different major indexes. The new funds and their expense ratios are as follows:

• FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Deep Buffer ETF – March (DMAR), 0.85%
• FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF – March (FMAR), 0.85%
• FT Cboe Vest Growth-100 Buffer ETF – March (QMAR), 0.90%
• FT Cboe Vest International Equity Buffer ETF – March (YMAR), 0.90%

The funds all list on Cboe Global Markets.

DMAR and FMAR both look to deliver the price return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) within certain parameters. DMAR has a cap on upside performance before expenses of 9.30% and protects against any losses of more than 5% but less than 30%. Meanwhile, FMAR has an upside cap before expenses of 14.20% and protects against losses up to 10%.

QMAR and YMAR arrive on the tail of the First Trust Cboe Vest Growth-100 Buffer ETF – December (QDEC) and FT Cboe Vest International Equity Buffer ETF - December (YDEC), which both launched in mid-December 2020. QMAR looks to provide the price return of the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) up to a cap of 15.51%, before expenses, while protecting against losses up to 10%. YMAR looks to provide the price return of the iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) up to a cap of 14.18%, before expenses, while also protecting against losses of up to 10%, according to the funds’ prospectuses.

All four of the new ETFs are actively managed and use flexible exchange (FLEX) options tied to their respective referenced ETFs to achieve their performance objectives.

With this latest set of launches, First Trust’s two series tied to the price performance of SPY are almost complete, with only the month of April lacking representation.

Contact Heather Bell at [email protected]