Vest

Vest (Vest Financial LLC, part of Vest Group Inc.) is an SEC-registered investment adviser based in McLean, Virginia that designs derivatives-based strategies it markets as Target Outcome Investments. The strategies define parameters such as upside caps, downside buffers and income levels in advance of an outcome period, and are packaged into registered fund wrappers. Its four featured strategy families are Target Buffer (participation in market gains with losses buffered to a defined level), Target Growth (accelerated upside above a deductible threshold without added downside), Target Income (selling call options on a partial position of an underlying asset to convert uncertain future growth into predefined upfront income) and Target Financing / Synthetic Borrow (accessing capital through the options market using an existing portfolio as collateral rather than liquidating assets).

Products are distributed across ETFs, unit investment trusts, mutual funds, collective investment trusts, closed-end funds, retirement funds and customizable managed accounts and sub-advisory mandates. Named mutual funds include the Vest U.S. Large Cap 10% Buffer Strategies Fund (BUIGX), the Vest U.S. Large Cap 20% Buffer Strategies Fund (ENGIX), the Vest S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Target Income Fund (KNGIX) and the Vest Bitcoin Strategy Managed Volatility Fund (BTCVX), which uses exchange-traded bitcoin futures rather than direct bitcoin exposure. Strategies use options including FLEX options cleared through the Options Clearing Corporation.

The company describes itself as the creator of the defined-outcome category, tracing its lineage from the credit risk exposed in structured notes during the 2008 crisis and the Lehman Brothers collapse to its 2016 launch of what it calls the first Buffer Fund, which brought derivatives-based outcome strategies into registered investment company form.

Founding story

Vest was founded in 2012 by Karan Sood and Jeff Chang and describes itself as born at the intersection of Silicon Valley and Wall Street. The founders' premise was that derivatives were an underused tool in wealth management, and that structured notes had been shown by the 2008 crisis and the Lehman Brothers failure to carry issuer credit risk that could wipe out supposedly principal-protected investors. Chang worked at ProShares and FBR & Co. before co-founding the firm [2][7].

Business model

Vest operates as an asset manager and sub-adviser, engineering derivatives strategies into registered investment products (ETFs, mutual funds, UITs, CITs, closed-end funds, retirement funds) and customizable managed accounts, and distributing them through partnerships with distribution firms and financial advisors [2][7].

The sources do not state fee schedules; as a registered investment adviser and sub-adviser Vest manages assets in funds and managed accounts, reporting $56.6B of assets under management alongside $13.8B of non-discretionary assets under supervision as of July 2026 [0][2].

Traction

As of July 6, 2026 the company reported approximately $70B in assets in Target Outcome Investments, comprising $56.6B in assets under management and $13.8B in non-discretionary assets under supervision, across more than 300 products; an about-page variant cites $13.9B non-discretionary. A year earlier, as of July 9, 2025, it reported $43.2B AUM and $7.9B non-discretionary assets, described as a $50B milestone across 300+ products. The firm cites $10B+ in ETF flows in 2024. Team size is listed as 65 [0][2][7].

Latest developments

The company website as of July 2026 reports roughly $70B in Target Outcome Investments across 300+ products and 13 years in the category, and markets a newer Target Financing / Synthetic Borrow offering that lets investors raise capital via the options market against an existing portfolio instead of selling assets. The YC profile dated to mid-2026 notes private equity backing and a strategic partnership with Cboe Global Markets [0][2][7].