ETF Evaluator: iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF () Follow This ETF

iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF Overview

iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF (PFF) is a passively managed Taxable Bond Preferred Stock exchange-traded fund (ETF). iShares launched the ETF in 2007.

The investment seeks to track the investment results of the ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index, which measures the performance of a select group of exchange-listed, U.S. dollar-denominated preferred securities, hybrid securities and convertible preferred securities listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ. The fund may invest at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of its underlying index and and may invest up to 20% of its assets in certain futures, options and swap contracts, cash and cash equivalents.

About iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF (PFF)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.50 years: Jennifer Hsui (2012), Peter Sietsema (2025), Matt Waldron (2025) and Steven White (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed ETFs than passive index ETFs.

The ETF has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI USA GR USD index with a weighting of 100% and ICE Ex Listed Preferred&HybridSec TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF has 464 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 23.4% of the ETF’s assets. The ETF meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The ETF is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF is part of the Hybrid Securities global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond ETF group. iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF has 0.0% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 5.3% There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 93.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.2% convertible bond). iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF has 1.1% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $13 billion in total assets, which is above the $1 billion average for the Preferred Stock category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

PFF Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF expense ratio is average compared to funds in the Preferred Stock category. iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF has an expense ratio of 0.45%, which is 23% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a A. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF has a portfolio turnover rate of 20%, which indicates that it holds its assets around / 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 38% for the Preferred Stock category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF returned 0.3%, which earned it a grade of A, as the Preferred Stock category had an average return of -0.0%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all ETFs in that category.

iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF has a trailing yield of 5.51%, which is below the 6.18% category average. The fund normally distributes its income monthly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF Grades

Year to date, the ETF has returned 0.7%, 0.6 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 2.9% over the past year (grade of F), 5.4% over the past three years (grade of D) and 0.7% per year over the past five years (grade of D) and 2.9% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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