NPFI vs PFFV: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Nuveen Preferred and Income

NPFICNasdaq

Global X Variable Rate Preferred ETF

PFFVBNYSE Arca

Overlap

No data

Expense ratio

PFFV −0.31pt a year

NPFI0.56%PFFV0.25%

Avg volume · 30D

PFFV 5.3×the volume

NPFI25.2KPFFV135K

NPFI vs PFFV Performance

Nov 7, 2025 – Nov 9, 2026

+3.2%NPFI0.0%PFFV

Expense ratio: NPFI 0.56%; PFFV 0.25%, better
Fund size: NPFI $164M; PFFV $338M
1Y total return: NPFI +3.2%, better; PFFV 0.0%
Yield (12M): NPFI 6.72%; PFFV 8.38%, better
Holdings: NPFI 159; PFFV 58
Avg volume (30D): NPFI 25.2K sh; PFFV 135K sh, better
NAV per share: NPFI $25.20; PFFV $21.04
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for NPFI, PFFV, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	NPFI	PFFV
Cost30% weight	C40	A97Higher
Mission25% weight	B66Higher	B60
Risk15% weight	A72Higher	B55
Tradability15% weight	C46	B68Higher
Holdings10% weight	B69Higher	D34
Durability5% weight	D37	B63Higher

Rank among Preferred Securities funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. NPFI and PFFV are both graded against the same 31 Preferred Securities funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Preferred Securities⁠

Category · 31 funds

See all 31 ›

PFFV ranks 3rd and NPFI 14th of 31 funds in the Preferred Securities Category.

Rank 1APFFDGlobal X U.S. Preferred ETFScore 74
Rank 2APFFiShares Preferred and Income Securities ETFScore 70
Rank 3BPFFVGlobal X Variable Rate Preferred ETFScore 69
Rank 4BEVPFEaton Vance Preferred Securities and Income ETFScore 67
Rank 13BHBRDInvesco U.S. Hybrid Bond ETFScore 56
Rank 14CNPFINuveen Preferred and IncomeScore 55
Rank 14BPFLDAAM Low Duration Preferred and Income Securities ETFScore 55

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

NPFICNuveen Preferred and Income

PFFVBGlobal X Variable Rate Preferred ETF

In short

NPFI A preferred-securities income fund wearing a financials jersey. Nuveen's ETF seeks high current income plus total return from roughly 160 preferreds and other income payers, and pays monthly.

PFFV Most preferred funds hand you a fixed coupon and a lot of rate sensitivity. PFFV screens for variable-rate preferreds only, so coupons reset off short-term benchmarks instead of standing still, at 0.25% a year with monthly payouts.

Stated mandate

NPFI The Fund seeks a high level of current income together with total return.

PFFV The fund seeks to provide investment results generally corresponding to the price and yield performance of the ICE U.S. Variable Rate Preferred Securities Index before fees and expenses.

Why people hold it

NPFI Income-first mandate: a high level of current income together with total return, paid out monthly rather than quarterly.
Owns preferred securities, not bank common stock like XLF or VFH, so it acts as an income sleeve rather than a sector-earnings bet.
Spread across roughly 160 income-producing positions, so no single issuer's coupon runs the show.

PFFV Costs 0.25% a year, about half the typical preferred ETF fee and a fraction of what an actively run peer like FPE charges (0.83%).
The whole point: an index of variable-rate preferreds, whose coupons reset off short-term benchmarks rather than locking in for the life of the security.
Passive and plain-vanilla. Roughly 60 US preferred issues picked by published index rules, with income paid out monthly.
Stacks up as one of the stronger builds in a crowded preferred-ETF field, mostly on cost and a clean, rules-based mandate.

Worth knowing

NPFI At 0.56% a year it costs more than the typical fund in its financials cohort, and many times index peers like XLF (0.08%) or VFH (0.09%).
A small fund that trades lightly, so bid-ask spreads can run wider than on the cohort's giants.
Launched in 2024, so the track record is short, and it sits in the lower tier of its financials cohort on cost and trading friction.

PFFV Preferred issuance skews to banks and insurers, so this is concentrated financials credit in bond clothing, spread across only about 60 positions.
Resets cut both ways. The same floating mechanism that lifts coupons when short-term rates climb also drags them down when rates fall.
Moderately traded and mid-sized rather than a heavyweight, so bid-ask spreads matter more here than in the largest preferred funds.

Full NPFI profile⁠

Full PFFV profile⁠

NPFI vs PFFV Holdings

How NPFI and PFFV differ

No overlap figure

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues.

Level by level

Countryby domicile47.2%
Asset classBonds100%

Sector

No Sector split for NPFI and PFFV.

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in NPFI and PFFV, widest gap first
Country	Gap	NPFI	PFFV
United States	PFFV +52.8 points	45.3%	98.1%
United Kingdom	NPFI +13.3 points	13.3%	0.0%
Canada	NPFI +11.7 points	13.6%	1.9%
France	NPFI +9.1 points	9.1%	0.0%
Spain	NPFI +5.4 points	5.4%	0.0%
Switzerland	NPFI +4.5 points	4.5%	0.0%
Bermuda	NPFI +2.3 points	2.3%	0.0%
Netherlands	NPFI +1.9 points	1.9%	0.0%
Other countries (4)	NPFI +4.6 points	4.6%	0.0%

Outside the US: NPFI 96% developed, 4% emerging.

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

NPFI14.2%
PFFV31.2%

Securities held

NPFI120
PFFV58

Asset class

NPFI: Bonds
PFFV: Bonds

Holdings

Two bond funds rarely hold the same issues, so this page lists no shared Holdings. NPFI holds 120 securities, PFFV 58.

All 160 NPFI holdings⁠All 57 PFFV holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

NPFI vs PFFV Cost

Overpaying NPFI vs PFFV

$5,929

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

NPFI 0.56%
$11,088
PFFV 0.25%
$5,159

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

NPFI 0.56%
PFFV 0.25%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	NPFI	PFFV	Overpaying
10	$1,006	$455	$551
20	$3,855	$1,769	$2,086
30	$11,088	$5,159	$5,929

Expense ratio

0.56%NPFI
0.25%PFFV, cheaper

PFFV0.25%NPFI0.56%

0.23%2.11%

Middle half of Preferred Securities funds
Median 0.50%

PFFV 2nd cheapest of 31 funds

NPFI 19th cheapest of 31 funds

NPFI vs PFFV Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 9, 2026

Yield (12M): NPFI 6.72%; PFFV 8.38%, better
Payout (12M): NPFI $1.70; PFFV $1.77
Last payment: NPFI $0.15; PFFV $0.13
Ex-dividend: NPFI Nov 2, 2026; PFFV Nov 2, 2026
Paid on: NPFI Nov 3, 2026; PFFV Nov 5, 2026
Frequency: NPFI Monthly; PFFV Monthly

Distribution history

Per share, 2023 to 2026, same scale for both

NPFIMonthly · 32 paymentsAll NPFI payments⁠

PFFVMonthly · 46 paymentsAll PFFV payments⁠

NPFI vs PFFV Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: NPFI 3.7%since Apr 2024PFFV 5.5%
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: NPFI 0.39since Apr 2024PFFV 0.35
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: NPFI −3.2%since Mar 2024PFFV −18.8%
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: NPFI 0.24PFFV 0.42; Market = 1

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