GPRF vs PFFD

GPRFBGoldman Sachs Access U.S. Preferred Stock and Hybrid Securities ETF

PFFDAGlobal X U.S. Preferred ETF

In short

GPRF Goldman's 2024 entry into preferred stock: roughly 400 U.S. preferreds and hybrids, the slice of the market that sits between bonds and common shares, bundled at 0.45% a year and paid 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

GPRF Invests primarily in U.S. preferred stocks and hybrid securities.

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

• GPRF At 0.45% a year it sits at the cheap end of the preferred aisle, matching State Street's PSK and running well under actively run options like FPE at 0.83%.
• Roughly 400 positions spread the credit exposure across many issuers rather than a handful of big deals, and the portfolio build is a strength versus preferred-fund peers.
• Income lands monthly, not quarterly, which is the cadence most preferred-stock buyers are actually after.
• A rules-based index basket of U.S. preferreds and hybrids: one ticket instead of hunting individual bank and utility issues on a thin over-the-counter desk.gsam.com

• 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

• GPRF Still a small fund and lightly traded next to the category's giants, so spreads can be wider and limit orders matter more, especially around the open and close.
• Launched in 2024, so it carries a shorter live record than the decade-plus incumbents in preferreds.
• Preferreds are treated as fixed income here: prices move on interest rates and issuer credit, so this is an income sleeve rather than an equity growth holding.

• 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 GPRF profile⁠

Full PFFD profile⁠