Are IDEF and VOO in the same category?

IDEF is a thematic ETF and VOO is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.

Which returned more over the last year, IDEF or VOO?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IDEF returned −5.7% and VOO +13.7%.

Which is cheaper, IDEF or VOO?

VOO is cheaper, by 0.52 percentage points a year. That is about $52 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do IDEF and VOO overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 42% of IDEF and 100% of VOO by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

IDEF vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IDEF returned −5.7% to VOO's +13.7%, and VOO charges 0.03% to IDEF's 0.55%.

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Net assets: $3.7bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Defense Industrials and Tech Active ETF, and $1.0tn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.

IDEF on its own →VOO on its own →

At a glance

−5.7%

IDEF total return, 1 year

+13.7%

VOO total return, 1 year

0.55%

IDEF expense ratio

0.03%

VOO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VOO costs 0.52 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.4 points; VOO is far larger, $1.0tn against $3.8bn.

IDEF vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	IDEF	VOO
Return
Measure	IDEF	VOO
Total return, 1 year	−5.7%	+13.7%
Drawdown
Measure	IDEF	VOO
Below its all-time high	17.0%, high on Mar 2, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IDEF	VOO
What it tracks	Defense	S&P 500 Index
Cost and size
Measure	IDEF	VOO
Expense ratio	0.55%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$3.8bn	$1.0tn
Active share vs the S&P 500	92%
Holdings
Measure	IDEF	VOO
Holdings in common	8%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	37%	39.1%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, IDEF and VOO hold 8% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

8% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IDEF VOO

MICROSOFT 1.34% 5.79%

AMAZON.COM INC 0.94% 3.72%

PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A 3.02% 0.65%

BROADCOM INC 0.55% 2.54%

GE AEROSPACE 1.72% 0.49%

PALO ALTO NETWORKS 1.46% 0.49%

CROWDSTRIKE HOLDINGS CLASS A 1.30% 0.41%

RTX 7.05% 0.38%

ADVANCED MICRO DEVICES 0.34% 1.52%

AMPHENOL CORP CLASS A 1.07% 0.32%

BOEING 3.44% 0.22%

INTEL CORPORATION 0.19% 0.91%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IDEF

ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS PLC 3.06%

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES COR 2.93%

AIRBUS GROUP 2.34%

THALES SA 2.15%

SAAB CLASS B 1.85%

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES 1.59%

LEONARDO FINMECCANICA SPA 1.57%

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC 1.44%

Only in VOO

NVIDIA Corp 8.40%

Apple Inc 7.39%

Alphabet Inc 3.07%

Alphabet Inc 2.46%

Meta Platforms Inc 2.43%

Micron Technology Inc 1.83%

Tesla Inc 1.52%

Berkshire Hathaway Inc 1.41%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

IDEF iShares Defense Industrials and Tech Active ETF VOO Vanguard S&P 500 ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Defense Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year −5.7% +13.7%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +13.7% (IVV)

Gap to its benchmark not measured 0.0 pts vs IVV

Expense ratio 0.55% 0.03%

Already in the S&P 500 42.5% 99.7%

Holdings 155 507

Net assets, IDEF as of Oct 28, 2026 and VOO as of Sep 30, 2026 $3.7bn $1.0tn

IDEF and VOO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

Alert

About each fund

IDEF

By weight, 42% of IDEF's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 92%. The top ten holdings are 37% of the fund across 155 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −5.7% with distributions reinvested. It sits 17.0% below its all-time high of Mar 2, 2026.

VOO

VOO tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 507 positions, with the top ten at 39.1%.

Questions people ask

Are IDEF and VOO in the same category?: IDEF is a thematic ETF and VOO is a stock ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
Which returned more over the last year, IDEF or VOO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, IDEF returned −5.7% and VOO +13.7%.
Which is cheaper, IDEF or VOO?: VOO is cheaper, by 0.52 percentage points a year. That is about $52 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do IDEF and VOO overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 42% of IDEF and 100% of VOO by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

IDEF vs IVV IDEF vs VTI IDEF vs QQQ IDEF vs QQQM VOO vs XAR PPA vs VOO ITA vs VOO SHLD vs VOO

Where to next

IDEF on its own →VOO on its own →Hold both: look the portfolio through →Rankings →IDEF dividend history →IDEF holdings →VOO dividend history →VOO holdings →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

IDEF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IDEF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IDEF ↗

VOO filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VOO prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VOO ↗

Links are sources, not endorsements. A comparison is not a recommendation.

How this is computed

Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, IDEF against VOO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/idef-vs-voo

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.