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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and SPYM +13.7%.

Which is cheaper, PFF or SPYM?

SPYM is cheaper, by 0.43 percentage points a year. That is about $43 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of PFF and 100% of SPYM by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

PFF vs SPYM: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PFF returned −4.2% to SPYM's +13.7%; 12% of their weight is in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about PFF and SPYM

Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $11.8bn for iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF and $185.0bn for State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 ETF.

PFF on its own →SPYM on its own →

At a glance

−4.2%

PFF total return, 1 year

+13.7%

SPYM total return, 1 year

0.45%

PFF expense ratio

0.02%

SPYM expense ratio

Pair scorecard

SPYM costs 0.43 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 17.9 points; SPYM is 15.7 times larger.

PFF vs SPYM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	PFF	SPYM
Return
Measure	PFF	SPYM
Total return, 1 year	−4.2%	+13.7%
Drawdown
Measure	PFF	SPYM
Below its high	7.1%, high on May 8, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	PFF	SPYM
What it tracks	ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index	S&P 500 Index
Cost and size
Measure	PFF	SPYM
Expense ratio	0.45%	0.02%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.8bn	$185.0bn
Holdings
Measure	PFF	SPYM
Holdings in common	12%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	22.7%	38.1%

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

Risk and return

Apr 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,020 weekly returns

PFF SPYM

Return

Total return edge SPYM +94.0% +663.9%

Annualized edge SPYM +3.4% +10.9%

Price return edge SPYM −42.8% +440.2%

Risk

Volatility edge SPYM 20.9% 17.5%

Max drawdown edge SPYM −65.4% −53.9%

Downside capture 63.8% 96.9%

Beta 0.70 0.96

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge SPYM 0.19 0.59

Sortino edge SPYM 0.28 0.84

Treynor 0.056 0.106

Calmar edge SPYM 0.05 0.20

Against the benchmark

Alpha −3.5% a year +0.4% a year

Alpha t-stat −0.90 0.53

Information ratio −0.37 0.00

Tracking error 17.7% 3.8%

Each against its own benchmark: PFF against MLRG, Apr 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; SPYM against IVV, Nov 25, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

SPYM returned more: +663.9% to +94.0%. SPYM swung less: 17.5% to 20.9%. SPYM fell less at its worst: −53.9% to −65.4%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: PFF vs SPYM: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	PFF	SPYM	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+94.0%	+663.9%	SPYM	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+3.4%	+10.9%	SPYM	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	−42.8%	+440.2%	SPYM	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	20.9%	17.5%	SPYM	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	14.0%	12.4%	SPYM	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−65.4%	−53.9%	SPYM	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	37.7%	94.1%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	63.8%	96.9%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	0.70	0.96	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.34	0.95	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.19	0.59	SPYM	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.28	0.84	SPYM	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.056	0.106		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.05	0.20	SPYM	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	+0.4% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	−0.90	0.53	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−11.0% to +4.0%	−1.2% to +2.0%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	−0.37	0.00		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	17.7%	3.8%	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

12%

By the books each fund has filed, PFF and SPYM hold 12% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

12% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first PFF SPYM

ALPHABET INC 2.31% 2.83%

ALPHABET INC 2.26% 2.26%

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 0.85% 1.34%

BANK OF AMERICA CORP 1.43% 0.49%

GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC 0.50% 0.40%

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY SERIES L 2.14% 0.38%

ORACLE CORPORATION 2.06% 0.34%

MORGAN STANLEY 0.48% 0.34%

CITIGROUP CAPITAL XIII 1.22% 0.31%

NEXTERA ENERGY INC 1.06% 0.26%

CHARLES SCHWAB CORPORATION (THE) 0.32% 0.22%

AT&T INC 0.53% 0.21%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in PFF

STRATEGY INC 3.53%

NEXTERA ENERGY UNITS 1.04%

BRIGHTSPRING HEALTH SERVICES UNITS 0.78%

JPMORGAN CHASE & CO 0.75%

NEXTERA ENERGY UNITS 0.73%

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY 0.69%

JPMORGAN CHASE AND CO DS REPSTG T 0.65%

JPMORGAN CHASE NON-CUMULATIVE PREF 0.64%

Only in SPYM

NVIDIA CORP 7.92%

APPLE INC 7.61%

MICROSOFT CORP 5.92%

AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%

BROADCOM INC 2.44%

META PLATFORMS INC CLASS A 2.05%

TESLA INC 1.72%

MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC 1.57%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

PFF iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF SPYM State Street SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 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 500

Total return, 1 year −4.2% +13.7%

Its benchmark over the same days +13.6% (MLRG) +13.7% (IVV)

Gap to its benchmark −17.8 pts vs MLRG 0.0 pts vs IVV

Expense ratio 0.45% 0.02%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 99.8%

Holdings 453 506

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $11.8bn $185.0bn

Former ticker none SPLG

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-8846D6AA64

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

What each follows. PFF follows ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index and SPYM follows S&P 500 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 PFF returned −4.2% and SPYM +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 17.9 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

The two-page PDF for this pair is coming. Save the comparison to follow its changes. Free. It needs an email sign-in, once.

Your saved page · Privacy.

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.

SPYM

SPYM tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.02% 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 506 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, PFF or SPYM?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and SPYM +13.7%.
Which is cheaper, PFF or SPYM?: SPYM is cheaper, by 0.43 percentage points a year. That is about $43 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do PFF and SPYM overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of PFF and 100% of SPYM by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

PFF vs SPY PFF vs VIG ITOT vs PFF PFF vs SCHX SPSB vs SPYM SPYM vs VGLT SPYM vs TIP SPYM vs VBIL

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

PFF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

PFF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for PFF ↗

SPYM filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

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

Open data →

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