Rebuffed: An Empirical Review of Buffer Funds

Published in August 2025, this research paper examines 401 buffer funds and other options-based strategies designed to provide equity-like returns with reduced downside risk.

The study finds that these complex products consistently deliver worse risk-adjusted returns than their reference assets and underperform simple combinations of passive equities and cash, while charging higher fees.

The paper argues that despite sophisticated marketing claims, buffer funds fail to deliver the promised benefits and represent another example in a long history of structured products that disappoint investors.