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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and SDY +16.5%.

Which is cheaper, PFF or SDY?

SDY is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

PFF vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PFF returned −4.2% to SDY's +16.5%; 5% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.8bn for iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF and $21.9bn for State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF.

PFF on its own →SDY on its own →

At a glance

−4.2%

PFF total return, 1 year

+16.5%

SDY total return, 1 year

0.45%

PFF expense ratio

0.35%

SDY expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SDY costs 0.10 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 20.7 points; SDY is 1.9 times larger.

PFF vs SDY: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	PFF	SDY
Return
Measure	PFF	SDY
Total return, 1 year	−4.2%	+16.5%
Drawdown
Measure	PFF	SDY
Below its high	7.1%, high on May 8, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	PFF	SDY
What it tracks	ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index	S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index
Cost and size
Measure	PFF	SDY
Expense ratio	0.45%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.8bn	$21.9bn
Holdings
Measure	PFF	SDY
Holdings in common	5%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	22.7%	20.4%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, PFF and SDY hold 5% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

5% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first PFF SDY

NEXTERA ENERGY INC 1.06% 1.11%

SOUTHERN COMPANY (THE) 0.98% 1.30%

MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED 1.03% 0.80%

ALBEMARLE CORP 1.02% 0.43%

XCEL ENERGY INC 0.38% 1.22%

SCE TRUST VII 0.24% 0.86%

UMB FINANCIAL CORPORATION 0.16% 0.40%

RENAISSANCERE HOLDINGS LTD 0.14% 0.23%

BANK OZK 0.11% 0.22%

WR BERKLEY CORPORATION 0.11% 0.24%

ASSURANT INC 0.09% 0.58%

GLOBE LIFE INC 0.09% 0.27%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in PFF

STRATEGY INC 3.53%

BOEING CO 3.11%

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE CONV PR 2.36%

ALPHABET INC 2.31%

SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC 2.27%

ALPHABET INC 2.26%

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY SERIES L 2.14%

ORACLE CORPORATION 2.06%

Only in SDY

ACCENTURE PLC CL A 3.73%

VERIZON COMMUNICATIONS INC 2.81%

CHEVRON CORP 2.15%

REALTY INCOME CORP 1.94%

PEPSICO INC 1.82%

MEDTRONIC PLC 1.79%

TARGET CORP 1.59%

AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING 1.55%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

PFF iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF SDY State Street SPDR S&P Dividend ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks an index of Preferred and Income Securities Tracks the S&P Dividend

Total return, 1 year −4.2% +16.5%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.6% (MLRG) not measured

Gap to its benchmark −17.8 pts vs MLRG not measured

Expense ratio 0.45% 0.35%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 84.4%

Holdings 453 156

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $11.8bn $21.9bn

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

Alert

About each fund

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.

SDY

SDY tracks the S&P Dividend. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +16.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.35% 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 156 positions, with the top ten at 20.4%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, PFF or SDY?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and SDY +16.5%.
Which is cheaper, PFF or SDY?: SDY is cheaper, by 0.10 percentage points a year. That is about $10 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do PFF and SDY overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of PFF and 84% of SDY by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

PFF vs RSP PFF vs VOE DVY vs PFF COWZ vs PFF SDY vs SPSB EMB vs SDY SDY vs VGLT BOXX vs SDY

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

PFF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

PFF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for PFF ↗

SDY filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SDY prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street website ↗

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

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