CSPF vs PFF

CSPFCCohen & Steers Preferred and Income Opportunities Active ETF

PFFAiShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF

In short

CSPF An active preferred-securities fund from a specialist shop, free to roam US and overseas issues instead of tracking an index, and cutting a distribution check every month.

PFF Preferred 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.

Stated mandate

CSPF The Fund seeks total return through high current income and capital appreciation.

PFF 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

• CSPF No index to follow. The managers pick roughly 220 preferred and income securities across US and non-US issuers, chasing total return from both current income and price gains.
• Pays monthly, so the income shows up on a paycheck-like rhythm rather than in quarterly lumps.
• Despite arriving in 2025, it already grades in the upper half of the preferred ETF group we cover, helped by how smoothly it trades and what sits inside the portfolio.

• PFF 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

• CSPF Active management costs money: 0.59% a year, above the middle of the preferred ETF pack and well above index-based rivals like EVPF and PFFV.
• Launched February 2025, so there is only a short record to judge the stock-picking against. Our risk read rests on roughly a year of data.
• Preferreds live between bonds and stocks: long-dated, rate-sensitive, and reliant on the issuer staying healthy. Expect bond-like swings, not cash-like calm.

• PFF 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.

Full CSPF profile⁠

Full PFF profile⁠