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

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and USMV +10.8%.

Which is cheaper, PFF or USMV?

USMV 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.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 0% of PFF and 93% of USMV by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

PFF vs USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PFF returned −4.2% to USMV's +10.8%; 4% 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 $24.1bn for iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF.

PFF on its own →USMV on its own →

At a glance

−4.2%

PFF total return, 1 year

+10.8%

USMV total return, 1 year

0.45%

PFF expense ratio

0.15%

USMV expense ratio

Pair scorecard

USMV costs 0.30 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 15.0 points; USMV is 2.0 times larger.

PFF vs USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	PFF	USMV
Return
Measure	PFF	USMV
Total return, 1 year	−4.2%	+10.8%
Drawdown
Measure	PFF	USMV
Below its high	7.1%, high on May 8, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	PFF	USMV
What it tracks	ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index	MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index
Cost and size
Measure	PFF	USMV
Expense ratio	0.45%	0.15%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$11.8bn	$24.1bn
Holdings
Measure	PFF	USMV
Holdings in common	4%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	22.7%	14.8%

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

Risk and return

Oct 28, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 782 weekly returns

PFF USMV

Return

Total return edge USMV +81.9% +423.5%

Annualized edge USMV +4.1% +11.6%

Price return edge USMV −23.6% +295.7%

Risk

Volatility edge PFF 10.7% 13.4%

Max drawdown edge PFF −27.2% −30.6%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge USMV 0.27 0.76

Sortino edge USMV 0.38 1.09

Calmar edge USMV 0.15 0.38

Reading

USMV returned more: +423.5% to +81.9%. PFF swung less: 10.7% to 13.4%. PFF fell less at its worst: −27.2% to −30.6%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: PFF vs USMV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	PFF	USMV	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+81.9%	+423.5%	USMV	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+4.1%	+11.6%	USMV	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	−23.6%	+295.7%	USMV	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	10.7%	13.4%	PFF	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	7.5%	9.3%	PFF	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−27.2%	−30.6%	PFF	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.27	0.76	USMV	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.38	1.09	USMV	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.15	0.38	USMV	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 782 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, PFF and USMV hold 4% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

4% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first PFF USMV

SOUTHERN COMPANY (THE) 0.98% 1.35%

AT&T INC 0.53% 0.73%

DUKE ENERGY CORP 0.45% 1.38%

ALLSTATE CORPORATION (THE) 0.43% 0.54%

XCEL ENERGY INC 0.38% 0.47%

ALPHABET INC 2.31% 0.35%

BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP 0.25% 0.91%

ORACLE CORPORATION 2.06% 0.22%

CMS ENERGY CORPORATION 0.25% 0.18%

FIRST CITIZENS BANCSHARES INC (DEL 0.18% 0.51%

T-MOBILE USA INC 0.16% 0.81%

HARTFORD FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP 0.16% 0.13%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in PFF

STRATEGY INC 3.53%

BOEING CO 3.11%

HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE CONV PR 2.36%

SUPER MICRO COMPUTER INC 2.27%

ALPHABET INC 2.26%

WELLS FARGO & COMPANY SERIES L 2.14%

BANK OF AMERICA CORP 1.43%

CITIGROUP CAPITAL XIII 1.22%

Only in USMV

MICROSOFT 1.61%

EXXONMOBIL HOLDINGS CORP 1.54%

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC CLASS B 1.50%

CHUBB 1.50%

MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS INC 1.48%

AMPHENOL CORP CLASS A 1.47%

NVIDIA 1.47%

JOHNSON & JOHNSON 1.44%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

PFF iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF USMV iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor ETF

Where it sits Bond ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Tracks an index of Preferred and Income Securities Tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor

Total return, 1 year −4.2% +10.8%

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% 0.15%

Already in the S&P 500 0.0% 93.0%

Holdings 453 176

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $11.8bn $24.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-BD7CB37357

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

What each follows. PFF follows ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index and USMV follows MSCI USA Minimum Volatility (USD) Index.
Holdings in common. 4% 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 USMV +10.8% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 15.0 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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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.

USMV

USMV tracks the MSCI USA Min Vol Factor. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +10.8% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.15% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 93% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 176 positions, with the top ten at 14.8%.

Questions people ask

Which returned more over the last year, PFF or USMV?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and USMV +10.8%.
Which is cheaper, PFF or USMV?: USMV 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.
How much do PFF and USMV overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 0% of PFF and 93% of USMV by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

PFF vs RDVY CGGR vs PFF PFF vs SPMO DFUS vs PFF SPSB vs USMV EMB vs USMV USMV vs VGLT BOXX vs USMV

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

PFF and USMV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

PFF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for PFF ↗

USMV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for USMV ↗

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

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