iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF
$29.91−0.23 (−0.75%)
- Expense ratio
- 0.45%
- Fund size
- $12.7B
- 1Y return
- −1.0%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 5.45%
- Holdings
- 458
- Volume · 30D
- 2.9M sh
- NAV per share
- $30.19
- 52W range
The ETF.net PFF Grade
Score 70 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.AScore 75Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.AScore 81Category rankRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.DScore 31Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.AScore 83Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.CScore 52Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 97Category rank
Our read on PFF
BPreferred stock is a clumsy market to shop one issue at a time. PFF, running since 2007, bundles roughly 500 US dollar preferreds and hybrids into a single heavily traded ticker and pays out monthly.
The fund seeks to track an index of U.S. dollar-denominated preferred and hybrid securities, providing exposure to preferred stock and subordinated debt with an income-oriented mandate.
Why people hold it
- One ticker buys roughly 500 US dollar preferreds and hybrids tracking the ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index, a corner most investors can't assemble issue by issue.
- Distributions land monthly rather than quarterly, a steadier rhythm for anyone spending the income.
- A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so getting in and out is rarely the hard part.
- Live since 2007, through the financial crisis and several rate cycles, with the same income-oriented mandate from a large index shop.
Worth knowing
- 0.45% a year is the going rate in this niche (the peer median), but it's many times what broad stock index trackers like VT charge.
- Preferreds and subordinated debt are hybrids: they rank below an issuer's senior bonds, so this trades on credit and rate conditions more than on earnings growth.
- The mandate is US dollar issuers only, so there's no international preferred exposure here.
PFF Holdings
- Stocks
- 458
- 23%
- STRC
Sectors
- Financials51.2%
- Technology14.3%
- Real Estate11.0%
- Utilities9.4%
- Industrials5.3%
- Communication3.2%
- Health Care1.5%
- Consumer Discr.1.3%
- Cons. Staples1.2%
- Materials1.2%
- Energy0.5%
Geography
- United States96.73%
- Bermuda2.15%
- Canada1.00%
- United Kingdom0.06%
- Greece0.06%
PFF Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
PFF$9,903
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 | PFF |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +0.7% |
| 1 month | −0.6% |
| 3 months | −0.9% |
| 1 year | −1.0% |
| 3 years | +6.0% |
| 5 years | +0.5% |
| 10 years | +2.9% |
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 | PFF |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +0.7% | |
| 2025 | +4.9% | |
| 2024 | +7.2% | |
| 2023 | +9.2% | |
| 2022 | −18.2% | |
| 2021 | +7.1% | |
| 2020 | +7.9% |
PFF in the news
PFF Dividends
- 5.45%
- $1.64
- $0.15 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2026 | Sep 4, 2026 | $0.15 |
| Aug 3, 2026 | Aug 6, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Jul 1, 2026 | Jul 7, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Jun 1, 2026 | Jun 4, 2026 | $0.14 |
| May 1, 2026 | May 6, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Apr 1, 2026 | Apr 7, 2026 | $0.14 |
| Mar 2, 2026 | Mar 5, 2026 | $0.03 |
| Feb 2, 2026 | Feb 5, 2026 | $0.18 |
| Dec 19, 2025 | Dec 24, 2025 | $0.07 |
| Dec 1, 2025 | Dec 4, 2025 | $0.18 |
| Nov 3, 2025 | Nov 6, 2025 | $0.17 |
| Oct 1, 2025 | Oct 6, 2025 | $0.17 |
PFF Risk
- 8.7%
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.
- 0.18
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.
- −21.1%
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.
- 0.97
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
PFF Cost
0.45%
PFF0.45%
- The middle half of Preferred Securities funds
- Median 0.50%
5 of the 31 Preferred Securities funds charge less.