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Preferred stock ETF's

edited April 2012 in Fund Discussions
I would appreciate any comments, feedback,criticism of investing in Preferred Stock EFT's. I am an older retired man with a good sized bond portfolio, but am concerned about the future returns of corporate bonds. Many thanks.

Comments

  • Dear Alex: For years I have owned a number of preferred stocks, and have had reasonable appreciation along with excellent yields. In terms of ETF's, I own ishares Preferred Stock Fund (PFF).
    Here are some others:
    http://finance.yahoo.com/portfolio/pf_29/view/v2
    In addition, I linking two very helpful preferred stock sites:
    WSJ List Of Preferred Stocks:
    http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3024-Preferreds.html?mod=mdc_uss_pglnk
    Quantum Online.Com : http://www.quantumonline.com/QuickStart.cfm
    Regards,
    Ted
  • I would avoid them now as too expensive and think you can do better by selecting individual issues selling under par with yields of over 7 1/2 %
  • I can't speak to it myself, but you may want to go to the M* discussion board and this thread, by LordXot: http://socialize.morningstar.com/NewSocialize/forums/p/303290/3236218.aspx#3236218 When is comes to questions on preferred's, he is the one I look to.

    Best, Dan
  • The best information we have found on individual preferred stocks is at quantumonline.com. But I would be very careful about picking individual preferred stocks. Remember that, just a few years ago, a lot of folks owned shares of preferred stocks for GM, thought they were a good bargain when the price dropped quite a bit, bought more, only to have them tank. There is no sure thing anymore, and since most preferred stocks have par values of $25, you need to be careful of paying too much, despite what may be an attractive yield. And be sure you look at what preferreds did in 2008-09, just to make sure you cam stomach that kind of ride. Yes, there will be warning signs before that happens, and perhaps we will be smarter than we were then

    We use PFF for some client accounts. There are also a number of mutual funds that own preferred stocks. Nuveen has a preferred/convertible fund NPSRX, and Osterweis Strategic Income OSTIX owns very short-term converts and preferreds. It has a long track record and has done quite well. Nuveen lost about 25% in 2008, PFF lost 23%, and Osterweis was down about 6%. Osterweis will lag in good years, because of its very short duration, but should do much better in bear markets. Other providers include Flaherty & Crumrine and John Hancock, both with closed-end offerings. And Nuveen has a closed-end fund, too.
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