FPFD vs PFFD

FPFDCFidelity Preferred Securities & Income ETF

PFFDAGlobal X U.S. Preferred ETF

In short

FPFD Most funds in this dividend crowd buy common stock. FPFD climbs a rung up the capital stack, actively picking preferred securities, heavily bank and insurer paper, and paying out monthly.

PFFD Preferred stock is a corner where fund fees usually run rich. PFFD turned up in 2017 charging 0.23% for a broad basket of U.S. preferreds, and it has paid monthly ever since. Cheap, plain-vanilla exposure to an income niche.

Stated mandate

FPFD The ETF seeks high total return through current income and capital appreciation.

PFFD PFFD seeks to track the performance of the ICE BofA Diversified Core U.S. Preferred Securities Index before fees and expenses. It provides broad exposure to U.S. preferred stocks.

Why people hold it

• FPFD Owns preferred securities rather than common shares, aiming for high total return from current income plus capital appreciation, with distributions paid monthly.fidelity.com
• Actively managed by Fidelity with no index to shadow, so the team can shift between issues and issuers as the preferred market moves.
• Spread across roughly 200 preferred issues, so no single security carries the fund.
• Trading since 2021 and sitting in the upper half of its income-focused peer group on our review.

• PFFD Charges 0.23% a year, which Global X notes is less than half the average fee among competing preferred funds.globalxetfs.com
• Holds roughly 220 U.S. preferreds tracking the ICE BofA Diversified Core index. Benchmark-like exposure, not a manager's shortlist.globalxetfs.com
• Pays distributions monthly, and has done so every year since its 2017 launch.globalxetfs.com
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, so entering and exiting is rarely the hard part.

Worth knowing

• FPFD The 0.59% expense ratio runs above the middle of its peer group, where plain dividend-equity funds such as CGDV (0.33%) charge less.
• Preferreds concentrate in financials and act like long-dated bonds, so bank sector stress and interest-rate swings both land here.
• Shares trade lightly, so bid-ask spreads can be wider than on the largest preferred funds.

• PFFD Preferreds come mostly from banks and insurers, and the index has been concentrated in banking, so the ride tracks financial-sector health.globalxetfs.com
• These securities behave more like long bonds than stocks: interest rate moves push prices around, as the fund's risk disclosures describe.globalxetfs.com
• Monthly does not mean fixed. The payout size floats with what the portfolio collects.globalxetfs.com

Full FPFD profile⁠

Full PFFD profile⁠