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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and SPSB +2.2%.

Which is cheaper, PFF or SPSB?

SPSB is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

PFF vs SPSB: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PFF returned −4.2% to SPSB's +2.2%, and SPSB charges 0.04% to PFF's 0.45%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about PFF and SPSB

Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.8bn for iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF and $11.3bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF.

PFF on its own →SPSB on its own →

At a glance

−4.2%

PFF total return, 1 year

+2.2%

SPSB total return, 1 year

0.45%

PFF expense ratio

0.04%

SPSB expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPSB costs 0.41 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 6.4 points.

PFF vs SPSB: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	PFF	SPSB
Return
Measure	PFF	SPSB
Total return, 1 year	−4.2%	+2.2%
Drawdown
Measure	PFF	SPSB
Below its high	7.1%, high on May 8, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	PFF	SPSB
What it tracks	ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index	Bloomberg U.S. 1-3 Year Corporate Bond Index
Cost and size
Measure	PFF	SPSB
Expense ratio	0.45%	0.04%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.8bn	$11.3bn
Holdings
Measure	PFF	SPSB
Holdings in common	0%
In the S&P 500, by weight	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	22.7%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Jun 30, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, PFF and SPSB hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first PFF SPSB

Only in one fund ↓

Only in PFF

BOEING COMPANY (THE) 6% SER A DEP SHS REPSTG 1/20TH INT MANDATORY CONV PFD 3.93%

STRATEGY INC VARIABLE RATE SERIES A PERPETUAL STRETCH PREFERRED STOCK 2.95%

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY 7.5% NON-CUMULATIVE PERPETUAL CONVERTIBLE CLASS A PREFERRED STOCK, SERIES L 2.33%

ORACLE CORP DEPOSITARY SHARES EACH REPRESENTING A 1/2,000TH INTEREST IN A SHARE OF 6.50% SERIES D MANDATORY CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK 2.28%

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY 7.625% SERIES C MANDATORY CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK 1.76%

BANK OF AMERICA CORP 7.25% NON-CUMULATIVE PERPETUAL CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK SERIES L 1.45%

CITIGROUP CAPITAL XIII FIXED/FLOAT TRUST PREFERRED SECURITIES 1.31%

ALBEMARLE CORP DEPOSITARY SHARES EACH REPRESENTING A 1/20TH INTEREST IN A SHARE OF 7.25% SERIES A MANDATORY CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK 1.29%

Only in SPSB

Salesforce Inc, due Mar 15, 2029 0.56%

AerCap Ireland Capital DAC / AerCap Global Aviation Trust, due Oct 29, 2028 0.44%

Bank of America Corp, due Dec 20, 2028 0.42%

Citigroup Inc, due Mar 4, 2029 0.42%

Morgan Stanley, due Apr 10, 2030 0.38%

JPMorgan Chase & Co, due Jul 25, 2028 0.38%

Pfizer Investment Enterprises Pte Ltd, due May 19, 2028 0.37%

Sprint Capital Corp, due Nov 15, 2028 0.37%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

PFF iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF SPSB State Street SPDR Portfolio Short Term Corporate Bond ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Bond ETF

Issuer iShares State Street

What it is Tracks an index of Preferred and Income Securities Tracks an index of Short Term Corporate Bond

Total return, 1 year −4.2% +2.2%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.6% (MLRG) −1.4% (AGG)

Gap to its benchmark −17.8 pts vs MLRG +3.6 pts vs AGG

Expense ratio 0.45% 0.04%

Holdings 453 1684

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $11.8bn $11.3bn

PFF and SPSB 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.

SPSB

SPSB tracks an index of Short Term Corporate Bond. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +2.2% with distributions reinvested, against −1.4% for its benchmark, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.04% a year.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, PFF or SPSB?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and SPSB +2.2%.
Which is cheaper, PFF or SPSB?: SPSB is cheaper, by 0.41 percentage points a year. That is about $41 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

PFF vs VCSH IGSB vs PFF BSV vs PFF PFF vs VGLT SPSB vs VGLT SPSB vs VBIL EMB vs SPSB SPSB vs VUSB

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

PFF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

PFF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for PFF ↗

SPSB filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SPSB 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 SPSB, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pff-vs-spsb

Open data →

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