Which returned more over the last year, AVUS or PFF?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVUS returned +18.0% and PFF −4.2%.

Which is cheaper, AVUS or PFF?

AVUS is cheaper, by 0.30 percentage points a year. That is about $30 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do AVUS and PFF overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 84% of AVUS and 0% of PFF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

AVUS vs PFF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, AVUS returned +18.0% to PFF's −4.2%; 11% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $14.8bn for Avantis U.S. Equity ETF and $11.8bn for iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF.

AVUS on its own →PFF on its own →

At a glance

+18.0%

AVUS total return, 1 year

−4.2%

PFF total return, 1 year

0.15%

AVUS expense ratio

0.45%

PFF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

AVUS costs 0.30 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 22.2 points; AVUS is 1.3 times larger.

AVUS vs PFF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AVUS	PFF
Return
Measure	AVUS	PFF
Total return, 1 year	+18.0%	−4.2%
Drawdown
Measure	AVUS	PFF
Below its high		7.1%, high on May 8, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	AVUS	PFF
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index
Cost and size
Measure	AVUS	PFF
Expense ratio	0.15%	0.45%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$14.8bn	$11.8bn
Holdings
Measure	AVUS	PFF
Holdings in common	11%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	30.0%	22.7%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Oct 4, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026 · 368 weekly returns

AVUS PFF

Return

Total return edge AVUS +183.7% +14.7%

Annualized edge AVUS +15.9% +2.0%

Price return edge AVUS +158.5% −22.8%

Risk

Volatility edge PFF 19.5% 14.4%

Max drawdown edge PFF −35.1% −27.2%

Downside capture 98.3% 63.8%

Beta 1.01 0.70

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge AVUS 0.71 0.01

Sortino edge AVUS 1.02 0.01

Treynor 0.136 0.056

Calmar edge AVUS 0.45 0.07

Against the benchmark

Alpha +0.5% a year −3.5% a year

Alpha t-stat 0.37 −0.90

Information ratio 0.18 −0.37

Tracking error 3.4% 17.7%

Each against its own benchmark: AVUS against IWV, Oct 4, 2019 to Oct 23, 2026; PFF against MLRG, Apr 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

AVUS returned more: +183.7% to +14.7%. PFF swung less: 14.4% to 19.5%. PFF fell less at its worst: −27.2% to −35.1%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: AVUS vs PFF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	AVUS	PFF	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+183.7%	+14.7%	AVUS	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+15.9%	+2.0%	AVUS	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+158.5%	−22.8%	AVUS	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	19.5%	14.4%	PFF	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	13.6%	10.3%	PFF	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−35.1%	−27.2%	PFF	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	98.1%	37.7%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	98.3%	63.8%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	1.01	0.70	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.97	0.34	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.71	0.01	AVUS	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	1.02	0.01	AVUS	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.136	0.056		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.45	0.07	AVUS	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	IWV	MLRG		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	+0.5% a year	−3.5% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	0.37	−0.90	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−2.1% to +3.0%	−11.0% to +4.0%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	0.18	−0.37		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	3.4%	17.7%	Not an edge	How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 368 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

11%

By the books each fund has filed, AVUS and PFF hold 11% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

11% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first AVUS PFF

ALPHABET INC CL A COMMON STOCK USD.001 1.89% 2.31%

JPMORGAN CHASE + CO COMMON STOCK USD1.0 1.36% 0.85%

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC COMMON STOCK USD.01 0.46% 0.50%

WELLS FARGO + CO COMMON STOCK USD1.666 0.45% 2.14%

MORGAN STANLEY COMMON STOCK USD.01 0.43% 0.48%

BANK OF AMERICA CORP COMMON STOCK USD.01 0.42% 1.43%

CITIGROUP INC COMMON STOCK USD.01 0.34% 1.22%

SCHWAB (CHARLES) CORP COMMON STOCK USD.01 0.28% 0.32%

ALLSTATE CORP COMMON STOCK USD.01 0.27% 0.43%

CAPITAL ONE FINANCIAL CORP COMMON STOCK USD.01 0.27% 0.51%

AT+T INC COMMON STOCK USD1.0 0.23% 0.53%

BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP COMMON STOCK 0.22% 0.25%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in AVUS

APPLE INC COMMON STOCK USD.00001 5.90%

NVIDIA CORP COMMON STOCK USD.001 5.54%

MICROSOFT CORP COMMON STOCK USD.00000625 4.71%

AMAZON.COM INC COMMON STOCK USD.01 3.39%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC COMMON STOCK USD.1 2.19%

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A COMMON STOCK USD.000006 2.13%

ALPHABET INC CL C COMMON STOCK USD.001 1.52%

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP COMMON STOCK 1.33%

Only in PFF

ALPHABET INC 2.26%

NEXTERA ENERGY UNITS 1.04%

MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED 1.03%

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 0.75%

NEXTERA ENERGY UNITS 0.73%

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY 0.69%

JPMORGAN CHASE AND CO DS REPSTG T 0.65%

JPMORGAN CHASE NON-CUMULATIVE PREF 0.64%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

AVUS Avantis U.S. Equity ETF PFF iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Bond ETF

Issuer Avantis iShares

What it is Actively managed Tracks an index of Preferred and Income Securities

Total return, 1 year +18.0% −4.2%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.3% (IWV) +13.6% (MLRG)

Gap to its benchmark +4.7 pts vs IWV −17.8 pts vs MLRG

Expense ratio 0.15% 0.45%

Already in the S&P 500 84.1% 0.0%

Holdings 1943 453

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $14.8bn $11.8bn

AVUS and PFF on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-A0E3BD02E4

AVUS and PFF do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. AVUS follows No index, actively managed and PFF follows ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index.
Holdings in common. 11% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 AVUS returned +18.0% and PFF −4.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 22.2 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

AVUS

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +18.0% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000.

AVUS is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 84% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,943 positions, with the top ten at 30.0%.

PFF

PFF tracks an index of Preferred and Income Securities. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned −4.2% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the MSCI USA Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.45% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 0% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 453 positions, with the top ten at 22.7%. It sat 7.1% below its high of May 8, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, AVUS or PFF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, AVUS returned +18.0% and PFF −4.2%.
Which is cheaper, AVUS or PFF?: AVUS is cheaper, by 0.30 percentage points a year. That is about $30 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do AVUS and PFF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 84% of AVUS and 0% of PFF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

AVUS vs SPSB AVUS vs VBIL AVUS vs EMB AVUS vs VGLT DGRW vs PFF PFF vs XLG MTUM vs PFF PFF vs SPHQ

Where to next

AVUS on its own →PFF on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →AVUS dividend history →AVUS holdings →PFF dividend history →PFF holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

AVUS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

AVUS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Avantis website ↗

PFF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

PFF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for PFF ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, AVUS against PFF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/avus-vs-pff

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.