FT Vest Laddered Deep Buffer ETF
Actively managed U.S. stock ETF
As of its 2026 Q2 report, FT Vest Laddered Deep Buffer ETF held 13 positions with $1.88B in net assets. Its ten largest holdings made up 83.3% of the fund. The BUFD share class costs 0.95% a year. Over the 12 months to May 2026, BUFD returned 15.2%, with dividends reinvested. In 2026 Q3 it added no new positions and exited none.
The investment objective of the FT Vest Laddered Deep Buffer ETF (the Fund ) is to seek to provide investors with capital appreciation.
The fund invests in a laddered portfolio of twelve underlying ETFs, each of which uses flexible exchange options on the S&P 500 ETF (SPY) to target specific outcomes over rolling one-year periods: upside capped at a predetermined level and downside protection (a deep buffer) against losses between −5% and −30%, with these protections applying only within each defined outcome period. Because the fund holds multiple underlying ETFs with staggered expiration dates rather than a single underlying ETF, it aims to refresh its cap and buffer annually as each underlying ETF resets, potentially allowing continued participation in SPY gains while maintaining some downside protection at any given time. The fund is sub-advised by Vest Financial LLC. The fund may experience returns very different from SPY because it typically does not acquire underlying ETF shares at the start of their outcome periods and may dispose of them before expiration, and because gains above an underlying ETF's cap are forfeited when that ETF resets annually.
What you own
| Company | Weight | Value | Shares | Reported price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.36% | $156.89M | 3.3M | $47.33 |
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.34% | $156.46M | 3.3M | $47.32 |
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.33% | $156.42M | 3.4M | $46.58 |
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.33% | $156.41M | 3.1M | $51.24 |
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.33% | $156.38M | 3.1M | $50.52 |
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.33% | $156.37M | 3.3M | $47.34 |
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.33% | $156.32M | 3.4M | $46.64 |
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.32% | $156.26M | 3.8M | $40.94 |
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.32% | $156.22M | 3.4M | $45.53 |
First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII | 8.31% | $156.03M | 3.5M | $44.69 |
Reported price is the fund's own reported value divided by its own reported shares at 2026-05-31 — not a live quote, and not what the fund paid.
All 13 holdings, with the share counts as filed, open with a free account.
What the fund is made of
Percentages are of fund net assets. Rounding, liabilities and short positions can make totals differ from 100%.
| Derivatives | 99.32% |
| Cash & short-term | 0.75% |
Look-through blends 12 underlying funds; 0.0% of NAV was not looked through and stays direct-classified. The blend is as of 2025Q4, one or more quarters before the direct holdings (2026Q2).
How it has done
BUFD share class · total returns with dividends reinvested
Volatility over the last 12 months: 5.16%. Past returns are a record, not a forecast.
Jun 2026 and Jul 2026 and Aug 2026 have been filed since the trailing figures were struck, so they are not in the table above or the curve — every figure here shares one cut-off, which is what makes them comparable with other funds.
Fees & fund details
FT Vest Laddered Deep Buffer ETF is an actively managed U.S. equity ETF.
- Asset class
- Equity
- Region
- United States
- Management
- Actively managed
- Fund type
- ETF
- Features
- Defined outcome · Fund of funds
- Expense ratio, by class
- 0.95%· BUFD 0.95%
- Portfolio turnover
- 1.00% a year · as of 2025 Q4
Turnover is how much of the portfolio was replaced in a year.
Classified from what the fund holds, not from its name · 2026 Q2. The summary is a paraphrase of the prospectus; the objective is verbatim.
What changed this quarter
Positions that entered or left the fund since its previous filing. Positions that were only resized are not listed.
0 new
0 exited
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