TIPS substitute...floating rate preferred stocks

Earlier, I wrote about preferred stocks as an investment vehicle, however another way they can be used is as a substitute for TIPS, which are indexed to CPI and are considered a hedge against inflation. My big problem with TIPS is that the CPI is a poor index for inflation, since food and fule are excluded, and probably understates actual inflation by a significant amount. This means that any TIPS investor is losing money when they think they're protected.

An interesting substitute is floating rate preferred stocks, which are typically indexed to LIBOR. For example, Sallie Mae has a preferred B that yields LIBOR + .7% which resets in a few years to LIBOR + 1.7%. I think the reset is to encourage the preferred to be called, which is fine since this would represent a capital gain of almost 100%, based on the current price of $54 against the par value of $100. Obviously there is risk based on SLM but I think the exit of large competitors, the 'political' nature of student loans (they're not going away), and the focus on more profitable business with larger spreads means the preferred should do fine, since they are senior to the common stock.