BFRZ: Innovator Equity Managed 100 Buffer ETF
What this ETF is trying to do
The Innovator Equity Managed 100 Buffer ETF (BFRZ) is designed to provide exposure to the stock market while using a "buffer" strategy. This typically means the fund aims to protect investors from some losses up to a certain percentage. It holds a variety of stocks and options to manage this balance.
What the numbers show
As of October 6, 2026, the share price is $27.41.
When looking at performance, it is important to distinguish between price return and total return:
• Price Return: This measures only the change in the share price. The one-year price return is 3.05%, and the year-to-date (YTD) price return is 2.14%.
• Total Return: This reflects the overall return, including distributions. The one-year total return is 3.30%, and the YTD total return is 2.31%.
For a simple example, if you had invested $10,000 based on the estimated price from roughly one year ago ($26.60), the price-only growth would have resulted in a value of approximately $10,304.51.
Income and Distribution Explanation
This ETF pays out cash to investors, known as distributions. It usually pays these quarterly and has made 4 payouts in the last 12 months. The distribution yield is 0.24%.
It is important for beginners to remember that a distribution yield is not the same as a total return. While distributions provide cash income, they do not guarantee that the original investment (the principal) will stay the same or grow.
NAV Erosion Explanation
"NAV erosion" happens when the net asset value of a fund declines over time, which can lead to a falling share price. StockValueFinder uses an erosion-risk score to measure this.
BFRZ has an erosion score of 94, which is labeled as "Stable / sideways" with "good" severity. Additionally, the severe erosion-risk flag is false, meaning the fund's price trend and score did not trigger a severe warning.
Top Holdings
The fund holds 186 different assets. As of October 7, 2026, the top holdings (which are a partial list) include:
• NVIDIA CORP: 7.62%
• APPLE INC: 7.04%
• MICROSOFT CORP: 5.35%
• AMAZON.COM INC: 4.06%
• ALPHABET INC CLASS A: 3.13%
Pros
• The erosion-risk score is labeled as "good" and "stable."
• The fund has shown positive price and total returns over the last year and year-to-date.
Cons
• The distribution yield is very low (0.24%).
• The income rating grade is a "C."
Beginner Takeaway
BFRZ is a fund that seeks to balance market growth with a buffer against losses. While it has seen modest growth recently and has a stable erosion-risk score, it provides very little cash income. Always remember that a high yield in any fund can be misleading if the share price is falling.
Top Holdings
Structured portfolio holdings supplied by the ETF data provider. These figures are not generated by the AI article.
| # | Holding | Ticker | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NVIDIA CORP | NVDA | 7.62% |
| 2 | APPLE INC | AAPL | 7.04% |
| 3 | MICROSOFT CORP | MSFT | 5.35% |
| 4 | AMAZON.COM INC | AMZN | 4.06% |
| 5 | ALPHABET INC CLASS A | GOOGL | 3.13% |
| 6 | BROADCOM INC | AVGO | 2.68% |
| 7 | ALPHABET INC CLASS C | GOOG | 2.61% |
| 8 | OPTION ON S&P 500 INDEX | n/a | 2.49% |
| 9 | META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A | META | 1.85% |
| 10 | MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC | MU | 1.79% |