First Trust Preferred Securities and Income ETF
$17.39−0.13 (−0.71%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.83%
- Fund size
- $6.2B
- 1Y return
- +1.0%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 6.04%
- Holdings
- 260
- Volume · 30D
- 1M sh
- NAV per share
- $17.54
- 52W range
The ETF.net FPE Grade
Score 60 of 100 sits in the B band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.FScore 13Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 87Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.BScore 64Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.AScore 78Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.AScore 87Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 91Category rank
Our read on FPE
BA preferred-securities fund that doesn't stop at preferreds: the mandate also reaches into corporate bonds, high yield and convertibles. Running since 2013, big, actively traded, and it pays monthly.
The fund seeks total return and current income. It normally invests at least 80% of net assets in preferred securities and income-producing debt securities, including corporate bonds, high-yield securities, and convertible securities.
Why people hold it
- The 80% policy spans preferred securities and income-producing debt: corporate bonds, high-yield, convertibles. One ticker, several income markets instead of a single slice.
- Live since 2013 and grown into a multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, real staying power in a niche corner of the bond market.
- Monthly distributions from a portfolio of roughly 240 positions, and one of the stronger overall showings among the preferred funds we grade.
Worth knowing
- The fee is 0.83% a year, well above the typical preferred ETF, and cheaper shelf-mates exist (EVPF at 0.20%, PFFV at 0.25%).
- That wide mandate cuts both ways: high-yield and convertible holdings carry credit risk a plain investment-grade preferred sleeve would not.
FPE Holdings
- Bonds
- 260
- 15%
- BANK OF AMERICA CORP Variable rate
Sectors
- Financials67.4%
- Utilities18.9%
- Real Estate7.0%
- Consumer Discr.2.5%
- Communication2.3%
- Energy1.2%
- Cons. Staples0.9%
Geography
- United States57.58%
- Canada10.74%
- France7.29%
- United Kingdom6.75%
- Bermuda3.37%
- Spain3.28%
- Japan2.67%
- Netherlands2.00%
- 6.32%
Developed 85% · Emerging 15%
FPE Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | FPE |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −0.1% |
| 1 month | −0.8% |
| 3 months | −1.1% |
| 1 year | +1.0% |
| 3 years | +9.0% |
| 5 years | +2.3% |
| 10 years | +4.5% |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | FPE |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −0.1% | |
| 2025 | +9.2% | |
| 2024 | +11.2% | |
| 2023 | +6.8% | |
| 2022 | −12.8% | |
| 2021 | +5.3% | |
| 2020 | +6.0% |
FPE in the news
ETF.net Research hasn’t filed on FPE yet — coverage lands here as it’s written.
FPE Dividends
- 6.04%
- $1.06
- $0.09 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 2026 | Aug 31, 2026 | $0.09 |
| Jul 21, 2026 | Jul 31, 2026 | $0.08 |
| Jun 25, 2026 | Jun 30, 2026 | $0.10 |
| May 21, 2026 | May 29, 2026 | $0.09 |
| Apr 21, 2026 | Apr 30, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Mar 26, 2026 | Mar 31, 2026 | $0.09 |
| Feb 20, 2026 | Feb 27, 2026 | $0.09 |
| Jan 21, 2026 | Jan 30, 2026 | $0.07 |
| Dec 12, 2025 | Dec 31, 2025 | $0.12 |
| Nov 21, 2025 | Nov 28, 2025 | $0.10 |
| Oct 21, 2025 | Oct 31, 2025 | $0.07 |
| Sep 25, 2025 | Sep 30, 2025 | $0.08 |
FPE Risk
- 5.6%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 0.79
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −19.6%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.72
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
FPE Cost
- The middle half of Preferred Securities funds
- Median 0.50%
26 of the 31 Preferred Securities funds charge less.