Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PFF vs SPHQ: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PFF returned −4.2% to SPHQ's +14.1%; 1% 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 $18.7bn for Invesco S&P 500 Quality ETF.
Pair scorecard
SPHQ costs 0.30 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 18.3 points; SPHQ is 1.6 times larger.
| Measure | PFF | SPHQ |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −4.2% | +14.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.1%, high on May 8, 2026 | 6.4%, high on Jun 30, 2026 |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index | S&P 500 Quality Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.45% | 0.15% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $11.8bn | $18.7bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 1% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 22.7% | 43.3% |
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: PFF against MLRG, Apr 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; SPHQ against IVV, Dec 16, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
SPHQ returned more: +531.5% to +94.0%. SPHQ swung less: 17.8% to 20.9%. SPHQ fell less at its worst: −56.9% to −65.4%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PFF | SPHQ | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +94.0% | +531.5% | SPHQ | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +3.4% | +9.9% | SPHQ | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −42.8% | +381.2% | SPHQ | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 20.9% | 17.8% | SPHQ | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.0% | 12.8% | SPHQ (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −65.4% | −56.9% | SPHQ | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 37.7% | 91.6% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 63.8% | 97.3% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.70 | 0.94 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.34 | 0.85 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.19 | 0.53 | SPHQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.28 | 0.74 | SPHQ | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.056 | 0.097 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.05 | 0.17 | SPHQ | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | MLRG | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −3.5% a year | −0.5% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.90 | −0.31 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −11.0% to +4.0% | −3.5% to +2.5% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.37 | −0.15 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 17.7% | 7.1% | 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, PFF and SPHQ hold 1% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
1% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
PFF and SPHQ on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PFF and SPHQ do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. PFF follows ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index and SPHQ follows S&P 500 Quality Index.
- Holdings in common. 1% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PFF returned −4.2% and SPHQ +14.1% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 18.3 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
SPHQ
SPHQ tracks the S&P 500 Quality. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +14.1% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 102 positions, with the top ten at 43.3%. It sat 6.4% below its high of Jun 30, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, PFF or SPHQ?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and SPHQ +14.1%.
- Which is cheaper, PFF or SPHQ?
- SPHQ 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, PFF against SPHQ, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pff-vs-sphq
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PFF against SPHQ. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pff-vs-sphq
[PFF against SPHQ (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pff-vs-sphq)
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