Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PFF vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PFF returned −4.2% to VOO's +13.7%; 12% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $11.8bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF, and $1.0tn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.
Pair scorecard
VOO costs 0.42 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 17.9 points; VOO is far larger, $1.0tn against $12.3bn.
| Measure | PFF | VOO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −4.2% | +13.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its high | 7.1%, high on May 8, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.45% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $12.3bn | $1.0tn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 12% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 22.7% | 39.1% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026 · 840 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: PFF against MLRG, Apr 5, 2007 to Oct 23, 2026; VOO against IVV, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026.
VOO returned more: +804.0% to +85.2%. PFF swung less: 10.5% to 15.9%. PFF fell less at its worst: −27.2% to −31.8%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PFF | VOO | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +85.2% | +804.0% | VOO | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +3.9% | +14.6% | VOO | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −27.7% | +575.9% | VOO | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 10.5% | 15.9% | PFF | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 7.4% | 10.9% | PFF | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −27.2% | −31.8% | PFF | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 37.7% | 99.8% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 63.8% | 99.9% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.70 | 1.00 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.34 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.26 | 0.84 | VOO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.37 | 1.22 | VOO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.056 | 0.134 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.14 | 0.46 | VOO | 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 | 0.0% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.90 | 0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −11.0% to +4.0% | −0.1% to +0.2% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.37 | 0.02 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 17.7% | 0.4% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 840 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, PFF and VOO hold 12% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
12% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
PFF and VOO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PFF and VOO do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. PFF follows ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index and VOO follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 12% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PFF returned −4.2% and VOO +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 17.9 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.
VOO
VOO 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 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 507 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, PFF or VOO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PFF returned −4.2% and VOO +13.7%.
- Which is cheaper, PFF or VOO?
- VOO is cheaper, by 0.42 percentage points a year. That is about $42 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 VOO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pff-vs-voo
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PFF against VOO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pff-vs-voo
[PFF against VOO (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/pff-vs-voo)
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