SQBA - First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII - FT Vest U.S. Equity Quarterly 15 Buffer ETF
SQBA actively manages FLEX options in efforts to participate in the price return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), up to a cap, and provide partial downside protection over a three-month outcome period. The fund foregoes some upside return as well as the S&P 500s dividend component, because the options are written on the price (not total) return version of the index. In exchange for preventing the first 15% of losses in value of SPY shares, investors forego upside participation above a certain threshold, which is reset quarterly.
- Sector
- Financial Services
- Industry
- Asset Management
- Market Cap
- $1.5M
- Beta
- 0.00
- 52-Week Range
- 25-31
- IPO Date
- Aug 20, 2026
- Exchange
- CBOE
SQBA Options Snapshot
Options pricing data for SQBA is refreshed daily after the close. When listed contracts exist, this page surfaces the latest at-the-money implied volatility, max pain strike, dealer gamma exposure (GEX), and 25-delta skew. Listed contracts and live snapshots appear once the options chain has been published by the exchange for the most recent session.
What This Page Covers
The SQBA overview links into per-metric analysis views: max pain, gamma exposure, volatility skew, expected move, options chain, open interest history, and aggregate Greeks. Microstructure data is available on short interest, short volume, fail-to-deliver, and market structure.
SQBA fund facts: expense ratio 0.85%, assets under management $3.1M, NAV $30.92 as of the data source's update on Oct 8, 2026, 5 holdings in its latest file, launched Aug 21, 2026, issued by First Trust. See the SQBA holdings.
Frequently asked SQBA overview questions
- What is SQBA?
- SQBA is the ticker symbol for First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII - FT Vest U.S. Equity Quarterly 15 Buffer ETF, an listed exchange-traded fund. SQBA actively manages FLEX options in efforts to participate in the price return of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), up to a cap, and provide partial downside protection over a three-month outcome period. The fund foregoes some upside return as well as the S&P 500s dividend component, because the options are written on the price (not total) return version of the index. Listed on CBOE. SQBA is the ETF ticker shown on this page; ETF traders use the fund for diversified exposure to its underlying basket, for sector and factor rotation, and for hedging or replication strategies via the listed options chain.
- What are SQBA's key statistics?
- First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII - FT Vest U.S. Equity Quarterly 15 Buffer ETF (SQBA) carries a market capitalization of $1.5M, 52-week range of 25-31. Full holdings disclosure, expense ratio, and tracking-error history live on the per-ticker fundamentals page or the sponsor's site; daily NAV and premium/discount-to-NAV are accessible from the same view. These structural inputs frame how the ETF options market prices implied volatility relative to its constituents.
- What sector or industry does SQBA belong to?
- First Trust Exchange-Traded Fund VIII - FT Vest U.S. Equity Quarterly 15 Buffer ETF operates in the Financial Services sector, in the Asset Management industry. Sector classification affects how the ticker correlates with sector ETFs, how it reacts to macro factors like rate moves and commodity prices, and how its options pricing compares to sector peers. Compare SQBA's implied volatility and skew against sector benchmarks to gauge whether the options market is pricing single-name or systemic risk relative to the broader peer group.
- How current is the SQBA data on this page?
- Options snapshots refresh after each trading session; if no snapshot is currently posted for SQBA, it usually reflects low options liquidity or a recently listed name. Fund-level fields (sponsor, expense ratio, holdings concentration where available) refresh from the vendor feed nightly. ETF-specific filings (N-CSR, N-PX, N-CEN) update on the SEC EDGAR cadence. FINRA microstructure data refreshes on the source's cadence; for ETFs the off-exchange volume signal is dominated by authorized-participant creation and redemption rather than directional flow.