Preferred stocks typically aren't top of mind when investors are deciding what to include in their portfolios. But if you're an income investor and you don't already have them on your radar, you'll want to give them a look.
That's because preferred stock ETFs provide efficient access to stable income and insulation against higher volatility in a period defined by uncertainty around tariffs, geopolitical risks and inflation.
You'll frequently hear preferred stocks referred to as "hybrid" securities. That's because they carry some elements of common stock (what you typically mean when you say "stock") and bonds.
For instance, preferred stocks represent ownership in a company and trade on exchanges – just like common stock. However, they typically don't include any voting rights – just like bonds.
Most people who are interested in preferreds are attracted by their dividends.
Preferred dividends are also like bond coupon payments in that they're typically set at a fixed rate. But they're high – often sky-high, sometimes in the 5% to 7% range!
Another element preferreds share with bonds is that they trade around par value, or their original price. That means they're a great source of fixed income and they tend to move calmly, never really swinging drastically higher or lower in any given year.
We witnessed an exception to that general rule in 2022, when the main preferred benchmark shed more than 18% – its worst year since the depths of the Great Recession.
Why, you ask?
In 2022, the Federal Reserve started a rate-hiking campaign that jolted its target federal funds rate from 0% to 0.25% to 5.25% to 5.50% by July 2023, sending high-rate-risk assets, including bonds and preferreds, into the toilet.
"Since preferred securities have long maturities, or no maturities at all, they tend to have high interest-rate risk, or the risk that prices will fall when yields rise," says Charles Schwab.
The Fed started cutting rates again in September 2024 and has now reduced the federal funds rate by 1.75 percentage points since its recent peak. And the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index is up nearly 12% from its late-2023 lows.
Although you can easily purchase individual preferred stocks in most standard brokerage accounts and IRAs, we recommend exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that invest in baskets of preferreds.
This risk-management strategy prevents any single preferred-stock disaster from undermining your portfolio.
If you're looking for the best ETFs to buy in the preferred stock space, here are five to consider.
Data is as of March 4. SEC yield reflects the interest earned for the most recent 30-day period after deducting fund expenses. SEC yield is a standard measure for preferred stock funds.
- Assets under management: $14.2 billion
- SEC yield: 6.2%
- Expenses: 0.45%, or $45 annually on a $10,000 investment
The best preferred stock ETFs don't get any bigger than the iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (PFF), one of the oldest such funds on the market.
With assets of more than $14 billion, PFF dwarfs its second-largest competitor, the First Trust Preferred Securities & Income ETF (FPE), by more than double. Price helps: PFF is 40 basis points cheaper than FPE. (A basis point equals 0.01%.)
PFF is also the prototypical preferred-stock fund, with many (not all, but many) competitors built similarly. This ETF invests in roughly 450 preferred stocks, almost entirely from U.S.-based companies.
The lion's share of PFF's preferreds (64%) comes from financial-sector firms such as Wells Fargo (WFC) and Citigroup (C). Another 24% comes from industrial stocks, and 11% comes from utilities. The remainder is held in cash and agency bonds.
The iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF yields a healthy 6.2% right now – much better than Treasuries and corporate bonds as well as the stock market.
Learn more about PFF at the iShares provider site.
- Assets under management: $127.6 million
- SEC yield: 6.4%
- Expenses: 0.48%
There's nothing subtle about the Global X SuperIncome Preferred ETF (SPFF) whose primary goal – super income – is right there in the name.
SPFF invests in 50 of the highest-yielding preferred stocks listed in the U.S. and Canada, producing one of the best preferred stock ETFs for yield at an impressive 64%.
Of course, by focusing on yield, SPFF can sometimes sacrifice quality. Still, it has a healthy exposure (30%) to investment-grade preferreds. Its exposure to junk-rated bonds is 26%, while the remainder of its holdings are unrated.
Sector exposure isn't anything novel, though. Financials are tops at 68% of assets, followed by tech stocks at 12% and single-digit exposure in utilities, materials stocks, health care, consumer discretionary and communication services stocks.
SPFF has been an underperformer for most of its life since inception in July 2012. However, it held up better than most preferred stock ETFs in the dregs of 2022, thanks in part to its superior yield – a yield that's paid monthly – and its outperformance in 2025 is continuing in 2026.
Learn more about SPFF at the Global X provider site.
- Assets under management: $2.2 billion
- SEC yield: 6.3%
- Expenses: 0.40%
The VanEck Vectors Preferred Securities ex Financials ETF (PFXF) stands apart from most other preferred stock ETFs. All you need to do is look at its name to see why.
PFXF, which was introduced in 2012, was one of several "ex-financials" ETFs that popped up in the years following the 2007-09 bear market and financial crisis.
While most stocks took a beating then, banks and other financial stocks were at the epicenter of the crisis. Trust was eroded, so much so that ETF providers knew they could attract assets by offering products that ignored the sector altogether.
The VanEck Vectors Preferred Securities ex Financials ETF instead has healthy helpings of electric utilities and independent power producers at 26% of assets.
That's followed by residential and commercial REITs at 17%, telecom stocks at 10% and aerospace and defense at 9.5%. It has exposure to more than a dozen other industries, including health care and semiconductors as well as office equipment, food and tobacco, and diversified retail.
PFXF's ex-financials nature isn't as important as it used to be. Banks are far better capitalized and regulated now than they were in 2007, so the risk of another near-collapse doesn't seem as dire.
That said, VanEck's ETF and its portfolio of roughly 100 stocks is still one of the best preferred stock ETFs you can buy thanks to a combination of higher-than-average yield and one of the lowest fees in the space.
Learn more about PFXF at the VanEck provider site.
- Assets under management: $112.4 million
- SEC yield: 7.5%
- Expenses: 0.45%
Virtus Investment Partners' InfraCap REIT Preferred ETF (PFFR) is, like PFXF, among the few preferred stock ETFs that come with a twist.
Also like PFXF, that twist is evident in the name.
PFFR invests in a group of about 100 preferreds exclusively within the real estate space. Some of those preferreds come from traditional REITs such as data center operator Digital Realty (DLR) and open-air shopping center owner Kimco Realty (KIM).
Others come from mortgage REITs (mREITs) such as AGNC Investment (AGNC) that own "paper" – mortgages and mortgage-backed securities – rather than physical real estate.
Why REIT preferreds?
InfraCap says "these securities are also typically exposed to less leverage with generally more predictable revenue streams than those issued by banks and insurance companies."
While that's an attractive proposition, just understand the potential risk involved with putting all your eggs in one sector basket – especially if America enters another real estate crisis like the housing bubble burst of the late aughts.
The recent bear market in real estate is an excellent example, dragging PFFR several percentage points lower than many of its traditionally built preferred-stock brethren.
If there's an upside, it's that the InfraCap REIT Preferred ETF is rewarding new money with one of the best yields among preferred stock funds.
Learn more about PFFR at the Virtus provider site.
- Assets under management: $1.5 billion
- SEC yield: 4.9%
- Expenses: 0.55%
If you, ahem, prefer to jump aboard the active ETF craze, there's a preferred fund for that: the Principal Spectrum Preferred Securities Active ETF (PREF).
PREF's six-person management team averages more than 30 years of experience. They're tasked with buying $1,000 par preferreds with "attractive yields, diversification benefits and reduced risk compared to other fixed-income securities."
This is another concentrated portfolio, at around 150 holdings. More than 60% of assets are dedicated to financials, insurance and banks (sound familiar?), with 16% more in utilities, 10% in energy stocks and the rest sprinkled across a handful of other sectors.
PREF does suffer by comparison due to a lower yield for the space. But that reflects an extremely high-quality portfolio where a majority of assets are investment-grade.
Most of that (89%) is BBB-rated preferred stocks, but another 9% or so are in A- and AAA-rated preferreds. The remainder are BB, which is the highest level of junk.
No wonder, then, that PREF has delivered extremely competitive performance since its 2017 inception.
Learn more about PREF at the Principal Asset Management provider site.
