Innovator U.S. Small Cap Managed Floor ETF

Innovator U.S. Small Cap Managed Floor ETF (RFLR) is an actively managed fund that holds hundreds of U.S. small-company stocks and pairs them with options meant to limit losses. It buys one-year put options tied to the Russell 2000 and sells short-dated call options to help pay for them. The goal is to limit losses to 10% over one-year periods, before fees. That protection costs 0.89% a year. Similar small-cap funds average 0.08%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, RFLR returned +11.9%, 9th of 9 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2025 (+11.8%); its best was 2025 (+11.8%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 15.5% (Dec 2, 2024 to Apr 8, 2025), recovered by Sep 4, 2025.

As of Jul 31, 2026, the fund held 830 securities; the ten largest made up 3.29% of assets, and 13.66% sat in cash and money-market holdings.

• Over the three months to Jul 31, 2026, investors added a net $9.5M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +2.39%, +6.22%, -1.43%.

RFLR is an actively managed ETF from Innovator. Parametric Portfolio Associates is the sub-adviser and runs the portfolio. At least 80% of net assets go into U.S. small-company stocks and options tied to them. The stock side is built to resemble the Solactive United States 2000 Index. That index covers the 1,001st through 3,000th largest U.S. companies, weights them by the value of their freely traded shares, and is reconstituted quarterly. Parametric uses representative sampling, which means it holds a subset of the index rather than every stock. As of July 31, 2026, the fund held 830 stocks, and the 10 largest made up just 3.29% of assets.

The protection comes from options on the Russell 2000. The fund buys put options, which gain value when prices fall. Each put lasts one year, and their expiration dates are staggered three months apart. This "ladder" starts a new floor each quarter. Each floor seeks to limit losses to 10% over its one-year period, before fees. To help pay for the puts, the fund sells call options that last about two weeks and expire every three to four days. Selling calls may mean giving up some gains in strong rallies. The floors are not guaranteed. Because each is measured over a full year, drops in between can be deeper.

• RFLR charges 0.89% a year, versus an average of 0.08% for the similar funds below (9th of 9, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $91 in the first year and $1,096 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It offers hedged small-cap stock exposure, but it has a short record, a high fee, and has not yet faced a major bear market.

RFLR could add small-cap stocks to a retirement portfolio with a hedge attached. Its beta, a measure of how much it moves with the market, was 0.66 over the year to October 27, 2026. It launched on September 17, 2024, so it has no record in the 2008, 2020 or 2022 downturns. Its only full calendar year, 2025, returned 11.83%. Its deepest drop was 15.5%, from December 2, 2024, to April 8, 2025. It recovered by September 4, 2025, about five months later. That drop was bigger than the 10% floor, so someone who has to sell during a slump may not get the full cushion. Income is small: the yield was 0.66% as of October 27, 2026, paid quarterly. At 0.89% a year, costs reach $1,096 over 10 years in the SEC's $10,000 example. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.