PFFA vs PFFD

PFFADVirtus InfraCap U.S. Preferred Stock ETF

PFFDAGlobal X U.S. Preferred ETF

In short

PFFA Most preferred-stock funds just track an index. PFFA hand-picks its preferreds, borrows 20-30% to amplify the income stream, writes options on top, and pays 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

PFFA The fund seeks current income and, secondarily, capital appreciation through an actively managed portfolio of U.S. preferred stocks. It also uses options strategies and modest leverage to enhance income and total return.

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

• PFFA Genuinely active, not an index in disguise: managers select and weight preferreds on valuation and research, and layer options strategies over the book.virtus.com
• Modest leverage, typically 20-30%, amplifies both income and price swings. That mechanism is the line between this and a plain preferred tracker.virtus.com
• Pays monthly, spread across roughly 200 preferred positions rather than a handful of concentrated bets.
• A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively for a niche corner, which helps keep bid-ask friction manageable.

• 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

• PFFA The 2.11% expense ratio runs several times the typical fund in its income peer group. That is a real hurdle the strategy has to clear.
• Leverage cuts both ways: borrowed money deepens declines as well as gains, and preferreds are already sensitive to rates and credit stress.virtus.com
• It sits in a peer group of cheap dividend-growth funds (CGDV, TDVG, both well under 1%). Different asset class, different machinery, very different price tag.

• 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 PFFA profile⁠

Full PFFD profile⁠