Why do banks use preferred stock?
Preferred securities count toward regulatory capital requirements so banks issue preferreds to help them maintain their required capital ratio. Preferreds can also offer issuers structural benefits, lower capital costs and improved agency ratings.
Most shareholders are attracted to preferred stocks because they offer more consistent dividends than common shares and higher payments than bonds. However, these dividend payments can be deferred by the company if it falls into a period of tight cash flow or other financial hardship.
Preferred stock is attractive as it usually offers higher fixed-income payments than bonds with a lower investment per share. Preferred stockholders also have a priority claim over common stocks for dividend payments and liquidation proceeds.
Preferreds provide attractive income and total returns from high-quality securities; despite added risks, default rates can be lower than credit ratings suggest.
Therefore, investors looking to hold equities but not overexpose their portfolio to risk often buy preferred stock. In addition, preferred stock receives favorable tax treatment; therefore, institutional investors and large firms may be enticed to the investment due to its tax advantages.
The main disadvantage of owning preference shares is that the investors in these vehicles don't enjoy the same voting rights as common shareholders. 1 This means that the company is not beholden to preferred shareholders the way it is to traditional equity shareholders.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Fixed-income payments | No voting rights |
| Lower capital risk | Lower capital gain potential |
| Paid dividends before common stockholders | Dividend payouts are not guaranteed |
| Paid assets before common stockholders | Asset payouts are not guaranteed |
| Preferred Stock ETF | Dividend Yield* | Expense Ratio |
|---|---|---|
| iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (PFF) | 6.5% | 0.46% |
| First Trust Preferred Securities and Income ETF (FPE) | 5.9% | 0.84% |
| Invesco Preferred ETF (PGF) | 5.5% | 0.56% |
| SPDR ICE Preferred Securities ETF (PSK) | 5.6% | 0.45% |
While preferred stock is senior to common equity on a bank's balance sheet, it falls below all other creditors, including subordinated or senior unsecured debt. The risk is that in a bank liquidation, preferred shareholders would get little to nothing in recovery. This is known as subordination risk.
Preferred stocks are particularly attractive investments after major dislocations such as the great financial crisis or the Pandemic. This occurs because the asset class usually becomes oversold with most securities trading well below par value.
Do preferred stocks go down when interest rates rise?
Perhaps most critical, is unlike bonds, many preferred stocks are “perpetual;” that is, they have no maturity date when an investor knows her shares will be redeemed. This means if interest rates rise as they are now, the fixed dividend will be worth less, and the preferred stock's price may fall, never to return.
- High-yield savings accounts.
- Money market funds.
- Short-term certificates of deposit.
- Series I savings bonds.
- Treasury bills, notes, bonds and TIPS.
- Corporate bonds.
- Dividend-paying stocks.
- Preferred stocks.
Lower buy-in. Most corporate bonds are issued at a par value of $1,000, whereas preferred stock might be issued at $100 or even $25 per share.
Government bonds (aka "Treasurys") are generally considered the safest investments because they're backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Other types of bonds include corporate bonds and municipal bonds (earnings on the latter are exempt from federal taxes).
Its value is affected primarily by changes in interest rates and the credit outlook of the company but without the upside appreciation potential of common stock. The income provided by preferred stocks can be attractive and is likely the biggest draw for investors.
Common stock investments have a potentially larger reward, but also come with more risk because they're exposed to the market. Preferred stock investments are a safer investment with fixed-income dividends, but investors may miss out on a share's appreciation they would get with common stock.
Preferred stock (also called preferred shares, preference shares, or simply preferreds) is a component of share capital that may have any combination of features not possessed by common stock, including properties of both an equity and a debt instrument, and is generally considered a hybrid instrument.
APPLE INC.
The Company is authorized to issue Common Stock and Preferred Stock.
The market prices of preferred stocks do tend to act more like bond prices than common stocks, especially if the preferred stock has a set maturity date. Preferred stocks rise in price when interest rates fall and fall in price when interest rates rise.
- SPDR® ICE Preferred Securities ETF.
- Invesco Variable Rate Preferred ETF.
- Global X US Preferred ETF.
- Invesco Preferred ETF.
- AAM Low Duration Pref & Inc Secs ETF.
- iShares Preferred&Income Securities ETF.
- Global X SuperIncome™ Preferred ETF.
Can you sell preferred stock at any time?
Perpetual instruments with call features Preferred shares typically don't have a maturity date but are callable at set intervals and prices, at the issuers' discretion.
There are four main types of preference shares: cumulative preferred, non-cumulative preferred, participating preferred, and convertible.
Banking regulation has changed over the last 100 years to provide more protection to consumers. You can keep money in a bank account during a recession and it will be safe through FDIC and NCUA deposit insurance. Up to $250,000 is secure in individual bank accounts and $500,000 is safe in joint bank accounts.
Preferred securities generally have long maturity dates—like 30 years or longer—or no maturity date at all, meaning they are perpetual in nature. However, most preferreds have a stated "call date" that the issuer may choose to redeem them, usually at the par value.
Conversely, when rates fall, the value of preferreds may rise. However, most issuers reserve the right to “call” or buy back preferred shares after a certain date, so a company could call its preferred shares and issue new shares with a lower coupon rate.
