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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFUS returned +13.8% and PFF −4.2%.

Which is cheaper, DFUS or PFF?

DFUS is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 89% of DFUS and 0% of PFF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

DFUS vs PFF: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, DFUS returned +13.8% to PFF's −4.2%; 11% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $20.9bn on Jul 31, 2026 for Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF, and $11.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF.

DFUS on its own →PFF on its own →

At a glance

+13.8%

DFUS total return, 1 year

−4.2%

PFF total return, 1 year

0.09%

DFUS expense ratio

0.45%

PFF expense ratio

Pair scorecard

DFUS costs 0.36 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 18.0 points.

DFUS vs PFF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	DFUS	PFF
Return
Measure	DFUS	PFF
Total return, 1 year	+13.8%	−4.2%
Drawdown
Measure	DFUS	PFF
Below its high		7.1%, high on May 8, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	DFUS	PFF
What it tracks	No index, actively managed	ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index
Cost and size
Measure	DFUS	PFF
Expense ratio	0.09%	0.45%
Net assets, DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 and PFF as of Oct 27, 2026	$20.9bn	$11.8bn
Holdings
Measure	DFUS	PFF
Holdings in common	11%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	34.6%	22.7%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

Jun 25, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026 · 278 weekly returns

DFUS PFF

Return

Total return edge DFUS +87.6% +0.4%

Annualized edge DFUS +12.5% +0.1%

Price return edge DFUS +76.2% −26.5%

Risk

Volatility edge PFF 16.2% 10.8%

Max drawdown edge PFF −24.2% −21.1%

Downside capture 99.4% 63.8%

Beta 1.00 0.70

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge DFUS 0.58 −0.28

Sortino edge DFUS 0.87 −0.40

Treynor 0.094 0.056

Calmar edge DFUS 0.52 0.00

Against the benchmark

Alpha +0.8% a year −3.5% a year

Alpha t-stat 2.33 −0.90

Information ratio 1.04 −0.37

Tracking error 0.8% 17.7%

Each against its own benchmark: DFUS against IWV, Jun 25, 2021 to Oct 23, 2026; PFF against MLRG, Apr 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

DFUS returned more: +87.6% to +0.4%. PFF swung less: 10.8% to 16.2%. PFF fell less at its worst: −21.1% to −24.2%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: DFUS vs PFF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	DFUS	PFF	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+87.6%	+0.4%	DFUS	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+12.5%	+0.1%	DFUS	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+76.2%	−26.5%	DFUS	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	16.2%	10.8%	PFF	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	10.8%	7.7%	PFF	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−24.2%	−21.1%	PFF	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	101.4%	37.7%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	99.4%	63.8%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	1.00	0.70	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	1.00	0.34	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.58	−0.28	DFUS	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.87	−0.40	DFUS	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.094	0.056		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.52	0.00	DFUS	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	IWV	MLRG		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	+0.8% a year	−3.5% a year	PFF not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	2.33	−0.90	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	+0.1% to +1.5%	−11.0% to +4.0%	PFF includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	1.04	−0.37		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	0.8%	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, 278 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

11%

By the books each fund has filed, DFUS and PFF hold 11% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

11% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first DFUS PFF

ALPHABET INC. 3.00% 2.31%

ALPHABET INC. 2.48% 2.26%

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. 1.37% 0.85%

BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION 0.61% 1.43%

THE GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC. 0.44% 0.50%

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY 0.39% 0.69%

MORGAN STANLEY 0.36% 0.48%

CITIGROUP INC. 0.33% 0.38%

ORACLE CORPORATION 0.31% 2.06%

NEXTERA ENERGY, INC. 0.26% 1.06%

THE CHARLES SCHWAB CORPORATION 0.25% 0.32%

THE BOEING COMPANY 0.24% 3.11%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in DFUS

NVIDIA CORPORATION 6.75%

APPLE INC. 6.45%

MICROSOFT CORPORATION 4.99%

AMAZON.COM, INC. 3.83%

BROADCOM INC. 2.63%

META PLATFORMS, INC. 1.77%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. 1.38%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY, INC. 1.35%

Only in PFF

STRATEGY INC 3.53%

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE CONV PR 2.36%

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY SERIES L 2.14%

CITIGROUP CAPITAL XIII 1.22%

NEXTERA ENERGY UNITS 1.04%

BRIGHTSPRING HEALTH SERVICES UNITS 0.78%

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 0.75%

NEXTERA ENERGY UNITS 0.73%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

DFUS Dimensional U.S. Equity Market ETF PFF iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF

Where it sits Stock ETF Bond ETF

Issuer Dimensional iShares

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

Total return, 1 year +13.8% −4.2%

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

Gap to its benchmark +0.5 pts vs IWV −17.8 pts vs MLRG

Expense ratio 0.09% 0.45%

Already in the S&P 500 89.4% 0.0%

Holdings 2236 453

Net assets, DFUS as of Jul 31, 2026 and PFF as of Oct 27, 2026 $20.9bn $11.8bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-7619457FD2

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

What each follows. DFUS 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 Jul 31, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 DFUS returned +13.8% and PFF −4.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 18.0 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

DFUS

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.8% with distributions reinvested, against +13.3% for its benchmark, the Russell 3000 Index.

DFUS is actively managed and tracks no index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for Jul 31, 2026, 89% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 2,236 positions, with the top ten at 34.6%.

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, DFUS or PFF?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, DFUS returned +13.8% and PFF −4.2%.
Which is cheaper, DFUS or PFF?: DFUS is cheaper, by 0.36 percentage points a year. That is about $36 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do DFUS and PFF overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 89% of DFUS and 0% of PFF by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

DFUS vs SPSB DFUS vs EMB DFUS vs VGLT DFUS vs VUSB DYNF vs PFF PFF vs SCHB DIA vs PFF PFF vs QUAL

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

DFUS filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

DFUS prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Dimensional 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, DFUS against PFF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/dfus-vs-pff

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