ETF Evaluator: FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF () Follow This ETF

FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF Overview

FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF (BUFQ) is an actively managed Nontraditional Equity Defined Outcome exchange-traded fund (ETF). First Trust launched the ETF in 2022.

The investment seeks to provide investors with capital appreciation. The fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by providing investors with large-cap equity market exposure while attempting to limit downside risk through a laddered portfolio of four FT Cboe Vest Nasdaq-100® Buffer ETFs. The Underlying ETFs invest substantially all of their assets in FLEX Options on QQQ. FLEX Options are customizable exchange-traded option contracts guaranteed for settlement by the Options Clearing Corporation. The fund is non-diversified.

About FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF (BUFQ)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 2.86 years: Karan Sood (2022) and Trevor Lack (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100% and NASDAQ 100 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF has 6 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 100.0% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Nontraditional Equity ETF group. FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF has 2.8% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 96.3% There is 2.8% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF has 0.9% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $1 billion in total assets, which is above the $183 million average for the Defined Outcome category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

BUFQ Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Defined Outcome category. FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF has an expense ratio of 1.00%, which is 40% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a F. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 1%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 1.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 3% for the Defined Outcome category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF returned -1.8%, which earned it a grade of F, as the Defined Outcome category had an average return of 0.2%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF has a trailing yield of 0.00%, which is below the 0.48% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 7.6%, 1.8 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of B. The fund has returned 14.4% over the past year (grade of B) and 14.8% over the past three years (grade of A).

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