Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
IWB vs PFF: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IWB returned +13.1% to PFF's −4.2%; 12% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $49.1bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Russell 1000 ETF, and $11.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF.
Pair scorecard
IWB costs 0.30 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 17.3 points; IWB is 4.1 times larger.
| Measure | IWB | PFF |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.1% | −4.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.1%, high on May 8, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Russell 1000 Index | ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.15% | 0.45% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 26, 2026 | $48.7bn | $11.8bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 12% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 35.3% | 22.7% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,020 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: IWB against VONE, Oct 1, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; PFF against MLRG, Apr 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026.
IWB returned more: +634.9% to +94.0%. IWB swung less: 18.3% to 20.9%. IWB fell less at its worst: −54.8% to −65.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | IWB | PFF | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +634.9% | +94.0% | IWB | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +10.7% | +3.4% | IWB | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +427.4% | −42.8% | IWB | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 18.3% | 20.9% | IWB | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 12.9% | 14.0% | IWB (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −54.8% | −65.4% | IWB | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 100.1% | 37.7% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 100.1% | 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 | 0.56 | 0.19 | IWB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.80 | 0.28 | IWB | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.130 | 0.056 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.20 | 0.05 | IWB | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | VONE | MLRG | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | −3.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.09 | −0.90 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.5% to +0.5% | −11.0% to +4.0% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.03 | −0.37 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 1.0% | 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, 1,020 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, IWB and PFF hold 12% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
12% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
IWB and PFF on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
IWB and PFF do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. IWB follows Russell 1000 Index and PFF follows ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index.
- Holdings in common. 12% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 IWB returned +13.1% and PFF −4.2% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 17.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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IWB
IWB tracks the Russell 1000. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.2% for its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 92% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 1,025 positions, with the top ten at 35.3%.
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, IWB or PFF?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IWB returned +13.1% and PFF −4.2%.
- Which is cheaper, IWB or PFF?
- IWB 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.
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.
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ETFIQ, IWB against PFF, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwb-vs-pff
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). IWB against PFF. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwb-vs-pff
[IWB against PFF (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/iwb-vs-pff)
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