The boring sleeve, doing two jobs.
01
A buffer is not only a shock absorber. The fifth of your book sitting in Liquidcase does not get traded every fortnight, so it never pays the fortnightly bill. Lower cost is the second job, and no brochure puts it on the cover.
02
You pay for the calm in top line. 35.99 CAGR against the pure equity twin's 40.85. The sleeve that softens the fall also caps the sprint. Honest version, that is the trade, not a free lunch.
03
Read the cost line before the return line. Two cards, same 40 names, same manager, ran 13 points of five year cost apart. That gap was not stock picking. It was what sat in the buffer.
The loud card is the one with the biggest return. The one you keep more of can be the plain sibling in the middle, the buffer quietly working two jobs while you were busy reading the top line.