First Trust vs VanEck: ETF issuers compared

Every dot is one buffered fund, placed at its 1-year return. Right of the line = made money. The ringed dot is the middle fund. Small sample: fewer than 3 funds on a side.

BOX SCORE · BUFFERED	First Trust	VanEck
Funds in the category	105	2
Made money (W–L)	94–0	0–0
Win %	100%	—
Money made	$4.9B	—
Typical return	+9.8%	—
Launches · 2026	10	2
Assets	$49.5B	$83M
Fee per $100	$0.60	$0.50

The biggest buffered funds on each side

First Trust

Fund	Name	Assets	1Y
BUFR	FT Vest Laddered Buffer ETF	$11.0B	+11.7% ✓
BUFD	FT Vest Laddered Deep Buffer ETF	$2.2B	+9.6% ✓
BUFQ	FT Vest Laddered Nasdaq Buffer ETF	$1.7B	+12.8% ✓
FJAN	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - January	$1.5B	+12.4% ✓
FMAY	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - May	$1.5B	+9.5% ✓
FAUG	FT Vest U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - August	$1.5B	+10.4% ✓

VanEck

Fund	Name	Assets	1Y
JULV	VanEck U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - July	$78M	—
OCT	VanEck U.S. Equity Buffer ETF - October	$5M	—

Twin funds: VanEck is cheaper in 18 of 20. First Trust returned more in 9.

Pairs that hold the same market. Fee = per $100 a year. Returns within 0.1 points are a tie; 5-year returns are per year.

CHEAPER1 – 181 tieBETTER 1Y9 – 20 tieBETTER 5Y4 – 10 tie