iShares, BlackRock’s ETF unit and the world’s largest purveyor of ETFs, today rolled out a dividend-focused international ETF that invests in preferred stocks of companies from developed markets outside the U.S.

The iShares S&P International Preferred Stock Index Fund (NYSEArca: IPFF) tracks an S&P index comprising a group of preferred stocks that have a market capitalization of over $100 million and that meet minimum price, liquidity, trading volume and maturity requirements. These stocks are neither issued nor listed in the U.S.

IPFF comes to market with an expense ratio of 0.55 percent, slightly higher than the 0.48 percent fee for its U.S.-focused counterpart, the iShares S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index Fund (NYSEArca: PFF). PFF boasts $7.3 billion in assets and is the largest preferred stock ETF in the U.S. market today.

Preferred stocks are a class of securities that pays a specified dividend and takes precedence over common stocks in the case of a company’s liquidation. But preferred shares don’t carry voting rights, and they tend to be relatively low on a company’s capital structure, which means they behave more like bonds with very long maturities than similar equity securities.

Income-minded investors traditionally have embraced preferred stocks for their steady, reliable dividend payments, especially in times of volatile market action.

Invesco PowerShares is among the providers that have tapped into the space with a pair of preferred stock portfolios, but none that exclude U.S. stocks. Tracking BofA benchmarks, its PowerShares Preferred Portfolio (NYSEArca: PGX) has gathered $1.4 billion since its 2008 inception, while its financial-stock-focused fund, “PGF,” has $1.5 billion in assets.

IPFF is heavily invested in the financials sector. At the end of October, 85 percent of the index’s market capitalization was tied to financial names, but the basket also comprises energy and utility companies.

From a country allocation perspective, three-quarters of the portfolio is allocated to Canadian issues, but also includes stocks from New Zealand, Singapore, Sweden and the U.K., according to information in the most recent prospectus that iShares filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.