Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
Every quarter, institutional investment managers with $100 million or more in 13(f) securities report their holdings to the SEC (SEC Form 13F FAQ). The filings are public but not built for prospecting: each is one firm's list of issuer names, share counts and values, with no asset class tags and no quarter-over-quarter comparison. Finding which RIAs hold a given ETF means pulling filings firm by firm and doing the matching yourself.
Dakota Marketplace does that work for you. Its 13F tab holds 2,621,000+ holdings, including 938,000+ ETF positions, searchable by ticker, asset class and product structure, with Status fields that flag each position as New, Increased, Decreased or Sold-Out versus last quarter.
We used that data to find which preferred stock ETFs the most RIAs actually own. The answer is iShares Preferred and Income Securities (PFF), held by 42 RIAs for the quarter ending December 31, 2025. First Trust Preferred Securities and Income (FPE) follows at 22, then First Trust Institutional Preferred Securities and Income (FPEI) at 14. Preferreds earned their place in income portfolios last year, with the ICE BofA Fixed Rate Preferred Securities Index returning 5.13% in 2025 (Morgan Stanley Investment Management, February 2026).
In this article, we’ll rank the 10 preferred stock ETFs held by the most RIAs, show where the dollars concentrate, and break down what a small, active-friendly preferreds sleeve means for managers selling income strategies.
The Top 10 Multi-Asset ETFs Held by RIAs
Ranked by the number of distinct RIAs reporting a position in 13F filings for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Rank
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
Category
|
RIA holdings
|
|
1
|
PFF
|
iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF
|
Broad preferred (index)
|
42
|
|
2
|
FPE
|
First Trust Preferred Securities and Income ETF
|
Preferred and income (active)
|
22
|
|
3
|
FPEI
|
First Trust Institutional Preferred Securities and Income ETF
|
Preferred and income (active)
|
14
|
|
4
|
PFFD
|
Global X U.S. Preferred ETF
|
Broad preferred (index)
|
12
|
|
5
|
PFXF
|
VanEck Preferred Securities ex Financials ETF
|
Preferred and income (active)
|
11
|
|
6
|
PGX
|
Invesco Preferred ETF
|
Broad preferred (index)
|
11
|
|
7
|
VRP
|
Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF
|
Variable rate preferred
|
10
|
|
8
|
PFFA
|
Virtus InfraCap U.S. Preferred Stock ETF
|
Preferred and income (active)
|
10
|
|
9
|
PSK
|
SPDR ICE Preferred Securities ETF
|
Broad preferred (index)
|
5
|
|
10
|
PGF
|
Invesco Financial Preferred ETF
|
Financial preferred
|
4
|
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025. PFXF and PGX tie at 11 RIAs. VRP and PFFA tie at 10. Ties are ordered by RIA dollars held.
What the Ranking Shows
1. Preferreds Are a Specialist Allocation (81 RIAs)
81 RIAs hold a preferred stock ETF, with $180M in total. That’s a small sleeve next to other income categories. 136 RIAs hold a top 10 high yield bond ETF, for example.
Positions are modest. The median RIA position in a preferred ETF is about $390,000, and 48 of 151 positions are under $250,000. For most RIAs, preferreds are an income add-on, not a core holding.
2. Active Management Wins a Real Share (37 RIAs)
Two of the top three funds are actively managed, and both are from First Trust: FPE at 22 RIAs and FPEI at 14. Together they hold $60M, about 36% of top 10 dollars.
Across all active preferred ETFs, including FPE, FPEI, PFFA, PIMCO’s PRFD and John Hancock’s JHPI, 37 RIAs hold $67M, about 37% of all preferred ETF dollars. 19 RIAs hold both an active and an index preferred fund.
3. Preferreds Sit Inside the Credit Sleeve (72 of 81)
RIAs that own preferreds are already credit investors. 72 of the 81 also hold an investment grade corporate bond ETF, and 58 hold a high yield bond ETF.
Some also take a specific view within preferreds. 11 RIAs hold a variable rate fund (VRP or PFFV) to limit interest rate sensitivity, and 11 hold PFXF to avoid the bank-heavy concentration of most preferred indexes.
Want to see which RIAs in your territory hold these funds? Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
Breadth vs. Dollars: Where RIA Assets Concentrate
The ETFs held by the most RIAs are not always the ones holding the most RIA money. RIAs reported $170M in the top 10 preferred stock ETFs for the quarter ending December 31, 2025.
|
Ticker
|
ETF
|
RIA holding
|
RIA holdings
|
|
PFF
|
iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF
|
42
|
$52M
|
|
FPE
|
First Trust Preferred Securities and Income ETF
|
22
|
$34M
|
|
FPEI
|
First Trust Institutional Preferred Securities and Income ETF
|
14
|
$27M
|
|
VRP
|
Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF
|
10
|
$20M
|
|
PFFD
|
Global X U.S. Preferred ETF
|
12
|
$17M
|
|
PGX
|
Invesco Preferred ETF
|
11
|
$6M
|
PFF leads both ways, with about 30% of top 10 dollars, but its average position is just $1.2M. The larger tickets go to more specific strategies. VRP averages $2.0M per RIA and FPEI $1.9M, the two largest averages in the top 10.
PGX goes the other way. It ties for fifth by holders, but its average position is about $550,000. Most of its holders own only a small amount.
Source: Dakota Marketplace 13F holdings data, quarter ending December 31, 2025.
What This Means for Investment Firms Pitching RIAs
Preferreds are a niche, income-driven allocation where active managers already compete well. That shapes how preferred and income managers should approach RIAs.
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Pitch inside the income sleeve. Nearly every preferred holder also owns investment grade and high yield bond ETFs. Show what preferreds add to the credit they already hold: higher income, different issuers and a different capital structure position.
-
Call the active buyers first. The 37 RIAs in active preferred ETFs have already chosen to pay for security selection in a complex market. They are the natural audience for active preferred, hybrid and capital securities managers.
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Make the case to single-fund holders. 20 RIAs hold PFF and no other preferred fund. For them, the case for an active or more targeted strategy comes down to managing call risk, interest rate exposure and bank concentration.
-
Read the rate and sector signals. RIAs in VRP or PFXF have already taken a view on rate sensitivity or financials exposure. Lead with the part of your strategy that matches that view.
Turn 13F Holdings Into a Prospect List
Every number in this post came from the 13F tab in Dakota Marketplace. Members filter 2,621,000+ holdings by account name, investment strategy, ticker, asset class, sub-asset class, product structure, fund balance range and filing period, and switch between a By Investor and a By Fund view.
Seven new fields make the data faster to act on:
- Quarter-over-quarter change on any holding: Previous No. of Shares, Previous Quarter Value and Status (New, Increased, Decreased, Equal Shares or Sold-Out) show who is adding or trimming a position, with no filing to open and no math to do.
- ETF exposure on every account: ETF AUM, ETF AUM %, Active ETF AUM and Passive ETF AUM answer "does this RIA use ETFs, and how much?" right on the account page.
That gives investment firms three ways to build a sharper list:
-
Find who holds a competitor's fund. Search a ticker and pull every firm reporting it.
-
Spot momentum. Filter by Status to see which RIAs bought or added to a position last quarter, and which sold out.
-
Target real holdings, not stated mandates. An RIA that leans active in its ETF book is a very different conversation than one that runs almost entirely passive.
Members can now build and save their own 13F lists with Create a List and My Lists, then export any list to Excel to share or print.
Find the RIAs Behind the Holdings
Dakota Marketplace tracks 8,700+ RIAs and 48,300+ RIA contacts, with 13F holdings attached to each firm profile. Filter by ETF ticker or asset class held, by RIA AUM, by metro area, or by decision-maker title such as CIO or portfolio manager.
Book a demo of Dakota Marketplace to know what an RIA already owns before you pitch what it should add.
