Deep Dive
Financials drop 2.4% after the Fed's first hike since 2023 and a Bank of America fee warning
VanEck Preferred Securities ex Financials ETF
$17.55+0.05 (+0.29%)
- 0.40%
- $2.3B
- +5.0%
- 6.06%
- 0.8M sh
- $17.51
- low $17.03high $19.07
The ETF.net PFXF Grade
B
Score 66 out of 100
- 7 of 31
Score 66 of 100 falls in the B band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.
Cost
The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.A88 out of 100Rank 4 of 31Mission
Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.B61 out of 100Rank 14 of 26Risk
How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.D38 out of 100Rank 21 of 31Tradability
How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.A87 out of 100Rank 4 of 31Holdings
How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.F18 out of 100Rank 29 of 29Durability
Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.A85 out of 100Rank 5 of 31
Our read on PFXF
BMost preferred funds are a bank bet in disguise, since financials dominate the preferred market. PFXF screens them out and tracks a non-financial preferred index instead, a niche it has held since 2012.
The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of its named ICE preferred-securities index.
Why people hold it
- The whole idea in one line: no bank or insurer preferreds. The index keeps utilities, REITs and industrial issuers instead.vaneck.com
- Costs 0.40% a year, under the median for its index-tracking peer group, and distributions come monthly.
- Trading since 2012, over a billion dollars in assets and actively traded. A settled option, not a fresh launch chasing a theme.
- Straightforward plumbing: passive index tracking, roughly 120 preferreds, at least 80% of assets in benchmark securities. Upper half of its index-wrapper peer group.
Worth knowing
- Cutting financials shifts the concentration rather than removing it: utilities, REITs and industrial issuers carry the weight.vaneck.com
- 0.40% is normal for preferreds, steep beside plain stock index wrappers like SCHK (0.03%) or VOOV (0.07%).
- Preferreds are rate-sensitive and sit below bonds in the capital stack, and VanEck discloses that payouts can include return of capital.
PFXF Holdings
- Other
- 118
- 48%
- Boeing Co/The
Sectors
- Technology27.0%
- Communication23.2%
- Utilities18.1%
- Real Estate16.6%
- Health Care4.5%
- Consumer Staples3.5%
- Consumer Discretionary2.5%
- Financials2.4%
- Industrials1.4%
- Energy1.0%
Geography
- United States98.02%
- Canada1.29%
- Bermuda0.69%
PFXF Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
PFXF$10,496
Returns run to the Oct 12, 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 | PFXF |
|---|---|
| Year to date | +3.0% |
| 1 month | −1.8% |
| 3 months | −0.6% |
| 1 year | +5.0% |
| 3 years | +10.3% |
| 5 years | +3.1% |
| 10 years | +4.9% |
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 | PFXF |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | +3.0% | |
| 2025 | +9.6% | |
| 2024 | +8.4% | |
| 2023 | +11.2% | |
| 2022 | −18.8% | |
| 2021 | +11.6% | |
| 2020 | +7.6% |
PFXF in the news
PFXF Dividends
- 6.06%
- $1.06
- $0.06 per share
- Monthly
Distribution history
PFXF Risk
- 10.0%
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.
- 0.44
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.
- −21.8%
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.
PFXF Cost
0.40%
PFXF0.40%
- The middle half of Preferred Securities funds
- Median 0.50%
3 of the 31 Preferred Securities funds charge less.
Other funds in Preferred Securities
- BPSKState Street SPDR ICE Preferred Securities ETFExpense ratio 0.45%1 year return −8.4%
- BVRPInvesco Variable Rate Preferred ETFExpense ratio 0.50%1 year return +2.1%
- BPGXInvesco Preferred ETFExpense ratio 0.50%1 year return −7.9%
- BJHPIJohn Hancock Investments - Preferred Income ETFExpense ratio 0.54%1 year return −0.4%
- BFPEFirst Trust Preferred Securities and Income ETFExpense ratio 0.83%1 year return −0.5%