ETF Evaluator: FT Vest U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan () Follow This ETF

FT Vest U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan Overview

FT Vest U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan (GJAN) is an actively managed Nontraditional Equity Defined Outcome exchange-traded fund (ETF). First Trust launched the ETF in 2023.

The investment seeks to provide investors with returns (before fees and expenses) that match the price return of the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust. Under normal market conditions, the fund will invest substantially all of its assets in FLexible EXchange® Options that reference the price performance of the SPDR® S&P 500® ETF Trust. The underlying ETF is an exchange-traded unit investment trust that uses a replication strategy, meaning it invests in as many of the stocks in the S&P 500® Index as is practicable. The fund is non-diversified.

About FT Vest U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan (GJAN)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 2.56 years: Karan Sood (2023) and Trevor Lack (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 1 primary benchmark: S&P 500 (TR) (1970) index with a weighting of 100%. FT Vest U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan has 6 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 106.5% 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 U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the Nontraditional Equity ETF group. FT Vest U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan has 0.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 98.5% There is 0.5% 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 U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan has 1.0% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $433 million 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.

GJAN 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 U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Defined Outcome category. FT Vest U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan has an expense ratio of 0.85%, which is 19% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. 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 U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan has a portfolio turnover rate of 0%, which indicates that it holds its assets around /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 U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan returned 0.6%, which earned it a grade of B, 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 U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan 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 U.S. Eq Mod Buffr ETF - Jan Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 5.7%, 0.1 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 11.7% over the past year (grade of C) and 11.1% over the past three years (grade of D).

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