First Trust Expands its Target Outcome ETFs® Lineup with December Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF Series

• December series offers exposure to twice any positive price returns of SPY up to a predetermined cap
• Provides a buffer against the first 15% of losses

First Trust Advisors L.P. (“First Trust”) a leading exchange-traded fund (“ETF”) provider and asset manager, announced today that it launched the December Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF Series of Target Outcome ETFs^®: the FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF–December (Cboe: XDEC) (the “fund”). The fund is the latest addition to First Trust’s suite of Target Outcome ETFs^® with Buffer Strategies, which has over $3.6 billion in total net assets as of 11/30/21 and is among the fastest growing in the outcome oriented ETFs space.

The fund seeks an outcome that provides investors with returns (before fees and expenses) of approximately twice any positive price return of the SPDR^® S&P 500^® ETF Trust (“SPY” or “underlying ETF”), up to a predetermined upside cap, while providing a buffer against the first 15% of potential SPY losses over a specific Target Outcome Period. The fund is managed and sub-advised by Cboe Vest Financial LLC (“Cboe Vest”) using a “target outcome strategy” or pre-determined target investment outcome. Cboe Vest is the creator of Target Outcome Investments^® and manager of the longest running buffer strategy fund.

Outcome period values:

*The upside caps shown are for the Target Outcome Period from 12/20/2021 – 12/16/2022. The gross cap is before fees, expenses and taxes. The net cap is after fees and expenses, excluding brokerage commissions, trading fees, taxes and extraordinary expenses not included in the funds’ management fee. The upside cap is set by a fund on inception date of the Target Outcome Period and is dependent upon market conditions at the time. The cap investors will experience may be different than what is illustrated herein.

**FT Cboe Vest U.S. Equity Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETFs seek to shield investors against losses from 0% to -15%, over the Target Outcome Period, before fees and expenses.

If an investor purchases shares after the first day of the Target Outcome Period, they will likely have a different return potential and buffer than an investor who purchased shares at the start of the Target Outcome Period and the buffer the fund seeks may not be available. At the end of the Target Outcome Period, the upside cap for the new Target Outcome Period is reset to prevailing market conditions. The fund has a perpetual structure and may be held indefinitely, providing investors a buy and hold investment opportunity.

First Trust believes a buffer against a level of losses can help investors stay invested during volatile times. XDEC offers a way to gain access to outcome-based investing—specifically to buffer against a level of downside risk while allowing enhanced growth to a maximum cap—eliminating bank credit risk in a convenient, flexible investment vehicle.

Karan Sood, CEO of Cboe Vest said, “For some investors, the ability to potentially enhance upside returns is as critical as their need to shield some downside losses. The Enhance & Moderate Buffer ETF Strategy is designed to strike the right balance of a downside buffer and enhanced capped upside in moderately volatile market regimes. We are pleased to work with First Trust to bring the December series to market.”

Karan Sood and Howard Rubin, of Cboe Vest, will serve as a portfolio managers for the funds. The portfolio managers are jointly and primarily responsible for the day-to-day management of the funds.

For more information about First Trust, please contact Ryan Issakainen at (630) 765-8689 or RIssakainen@FTAdvisors.com.

About First Trust

First Trust is a federally registered investment advisor and serves as the funds’ investment advisor. First Trust and its affiliate First Trust Portfolios L.P. (“FTP”), a FINRA registered broker-dealer, are privately held companies that provide a variety of investment services. First Trust has collective assets under management or supervision of approximately $216.5 billion as of November 30, 2021 through unit investment trusts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, mutual funds and separate managed accounts. First Trust is the supervisor of the First Trust unit investment trusts, while FTP is the sponsor. FTP is also a distributor of mutual fund shares and exchange-traded fund creation units. First Trust and FTP are based in Wheaton, Illinois. For more information, visit www.ftportfolios.com.

About Cboe Vest:

Cboe Vest is the creator of Target Outcome Investments^®, which strive to buffer losses, manage volatility, amplify gains or provide consistent income to a diverse spectrum of investors. Today, Cboe Vest’s Target Outcome Strategies^® are available in mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), unit investment trusts (UITs), collective investment trusts (CITs), and customizable managed accounts / sub-advisory services. For more information about Cboe Vest and the evolution of Target Outcome Investments, visit www.cboevest.com or contact Linda Werner at lwerner@cboevest.com or 703-864-5483.

You should consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before investing. Contact First Trust Portfolios L.P. at 1-800-621-1675 or visit www.ftportfolios.com to obtain a prospectus or summary prospectus which contains this and other information about the fund. The prospectus or summary prospectus should be read carefully before investing.

Risk Considerations

The fund has characteristics unlike many other traditional investment products and may not be suitable for all investors.

If the underlying ETF experiences gains during a target outcome period, the fund will not participate in those gains beyond the cap. Similarly, in the event an investor purchases fund shares after the first day of a target outcome period, the buffer the fund seeks to provide may not be available. The fund does not provide principal protection and an investor may experience significant losses on their investment, including loss of their entire investment.

Investors buying or selling fund shares on the secondary market may incur customary brokerage commissions. Market prices may differ to some degree from the net asset value of the shares. Investors who sell fund shares may receive less than the share’s net asset value.

A fund’s shares will change in value, and you could lose money by investing in a fund. There can be no assurance that a fund’s investment objective will be achieved. One of the principal risks of investing in a fund is market risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular security owned by a fund, fund shares or securities in general may fall in value.

The outbreak of the respiratory disease designated as COVID-19 in December 2019 has caused significant volatility and declines in global financial markets, which have caused losses for investors. While the development of vaccines has slowed the spread of the virus and allowed for the resumption of “reasonably” normal business activity in the United States, many countries continue to impose lockdown measures in an attempt to slow the spread. Additionally, there is no guarantee that vaccines will be effective against emerging variants of the disease.

In managing a fund’s investment portfolio, the advisor will apply investment techniques and risk analyses that may not have the desired result.

The use of options and other derivatives can lead to losses because of adverse movements in the price or value of the underlying asset, index or rate, which may be magnified by certain features of the derivatives.

A fund that effects all or a portion of its creations and redemptions for cash rather than in-kind may be less tax-efficient.

The fund is classified as “non-diversified” and may invest a relatively high percentage of their assets in a limited number of issuers. As a result, the fund may be more susceptible to a single adverse economic or regulatory occurrence affecting one or more of these issuers, experience increased volatility and be highly concentrated in certain issuers.

There can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained.

The fund’s investment strategy is designed to deliver returns that match the reference asset if a fund’s shares are bought on the day on which the fund enters into the FLEX Options (i.e., the first day of a target outcome period) and held until those FLEX Options expire at the end of the target outcome period. If an investor does not hold its fund shares for an entire target outcome period, the returns realized by that investor may not match those a fund seeks to achieve. In the event an investor purchases fund shares after the first day of a target outcome period or sells shares prior to the expiration of the target outcome period, the value of that investor’s investment in fund shares may not be buffered against a decline in the value of the reference asset and may not participate in a gain in the value of the reference asset up to the cap for the investor’s investment period.

A new cap is established at the beginning of each target outcome period and is dependent on prevailing market conditions. As a result, the cap may rise or fall from one target outcome period to the next and is unlikely to remain the same for consecutive target outcome periods.

A fund may be subject to the risk that a counterparty will not fulfill its obligations which may result in significant financial loss to a fund.

As the use of Internet technology has become more prevalent in the course of business, a fund has become more susceptible to potential operational risks through breaches in cyber security.

There can be no guarantee that the Fund will be successful in its strategy to provide enhanced returns of approximately twice the price return of the Underlying ETF over the Target Outcome Period subject to the predetermined upside return cap.

The fund may invest in FLEX Options that reference an ETF, which subjects the fund to certain of the risks of owning shares of an ETF as well as the types of instruments in which the reference ETF invests.

Because the fund may hold FLEX Options that reference the index and/or reference ETFs, the fund has exposure to the equity securities markets.

The FLEX Options held by the fund will be exercisable at the strike price only on their expiration date. Prior to the expiration date, the value of the FLEX Options will be determined based upon market quotations or other recognized pricing methods.

There can be no guarantee that a liquid secondary trading market will exist for the FLEX Options and FLEX options may be less liquid than exchange-traded options.

A fund may be a constituent of one or more indices which could greatly affect a fund’s trading activity, size and volatility.

A fund with significant exposure to a single asset class, country, region, industry or sector may be more affected by an adverse economic or political development than a broadly diversified fund.

Large capitalization companies may grow at a slower rate than the overall market.

Large inflows and outflows may impact a new fund’s market exposure for limited periods of time.

The fund intends to qualify as a “regulated investment company” (“RIC”), however, the federal income tax treatment of certain aspects of the proposed operations of the fund is not entirely clear. If, in any year, the fund fails to qualify as a RIC under the applicable tax laws, the fund would be taxed as an ordinary corporation.

First Trust Advisors L.P. (FTA) is the adviser to the fund. FTA is an affiliate of First Trust Portfolios L.P., the funds’ distributor.

Please be aware that the fund listed is subject to various risks depending on the fund’s investment objectives. For a complete description of relative risks for the fund, please obtain and carefully read the appropriate First Trust prospectus.

The information presented is not intended to constitute an investment recommendation for, or advice to, any specific person. By providing this information, First Trust is not undertaking to give advice in any fiduciary capacity within the meaning of ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code or any other regulatory framework. Financial professionals are responsible for evaluating investment risks independently and for exercising independent judgment in determining whether investments are appropriate for their clients.

Cboe^® is a registered trademark of Cboe Exchange, Inc., which has been licensed for use in the name of the fund. The fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or marketed by Cboe Exchange, Inc. or any of its affiliates (“Cboe”) or their respective third-party providers, and Cboe and its third-party providers make no representation regarding the advisability of investing in the fund and shall have no liability whatsoever in connection with the fund.

The fund is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by SPDR^® S&P 500^® ETF Trust, PDR, or Standard & Poor’s^® (together with their affiliates hereinafter referred to as the “Corporations”). The Corporations have not passed on the legality or suitability of, or the accuracy or adequacy of, descriptions and disclosures relating to the fund or the FLEX Options. The Corporations make no representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding the advisability of investing in the fund or the FLEX Options or results to be obtained by the fund or the FLEX Options, shareholders or any other person or entity from use of the SPDR^® S&P 500^® ETF Trust. The Corporations have no liability in connection with the management, administration, marketing or trading of the fund or the FLEX Options.

Target Outcome Investments and Target Outcome ETF are registered trademarks of Cboe Vest Financial.

Target Outcome Strategies is a trademark of Cboe Vest Financial.

Definitions

SPY – SPDR^® S&P 500^® ETF Trust is an ETF based on the S&P 500 Index, which is an unmanaged index of 500 stocks used to measure large-cap U.S. stock market performance.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211220005512/en/