Are ITA and IVV in the same category?

ITA is a thematic ETF and IVV 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, ITA or IVV?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ITA returned −4.3% and IVV +13.7%.

Which is cheaper, ITA or IVV?

IVV is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

How much do ITA and IVV overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 81% of ITA and 100% of IVV by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ITA vs IVV: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ITA returned −4.3% to IVV's +13.7%, and IVV charges 0.03% to ITA's 0.37%.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $12.0bn for iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF and $885.1bn for iShares Core S&P 500 ETF.

ITA on its own →IVV on its own →

At a glance

−4.3%

ITA total return, 1 year

+13.7%

IVV total return, 1 year

0.37%

ITA expense ratio

0.03%

IVV expense ratio

Pair scorecard

IVV costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 18.0 points; IVV is far larger, $885.1bn against $12.0bn.

ITA vs IVV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ITA	IVV
Return
Measure	ITA	IVV
Total return, 1 year	−4.3%	+13.7%
Drawdown
Measure	ITA	IVV
Below its all-time high	17.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ITA	IVV
What it tracks	Defense	S&P 500
Cost and size
Measure	ITA	IVV
Expense ratio	0.37%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$12.0bn	$885.1bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	98%
Holdings
Measure	ITA	IVV
Holdings in common	2%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	76%	38.1%

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

Risk and return

May 12, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,067 weekly returns

ITA IVV

Return

Total return edge ITA +898.4% +761.5%

Annualized edge ITA (slight) +11.9% +11.1%

Price return edge ITA +704.3% +489.3%

Risk

Volatility edge IVV 23.3% 17.7%

Max drawdown edge IVV (slight) −58.8% −54.7%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge IVV 0.53 0.59

Sortino edge IVV (slight) 0.75 0.83

Calmar edge Tie 0.20 0.20

Reading

ITA returned more: +898.4% to +761.5%. IVV swung less: 17.7% to 23.3%. IVV fell slightly less at its worst: −54.7% to −58.8%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ITA vs IVV: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ITA	IVV	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+898.4%	+761.5%	ITA	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+11.9%	+11.1%	ITA (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+704.3%	+489.3%	ITA	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	23.3%	17.7%	IVV	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	16.2%	12.4%	IVV	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−58.8%	−54.7%	IVV (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.53	0.59	IVV	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.75	0.83	IVV (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.20	0.20	Tie	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,067 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, ITA and IVV hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

2% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ITA IVV

GE AEROSPACE 20.09% 0.46%

RTX 17.06% 0.39%

BOEING 6.81% 0.20%

LOCKHEED MARTIN 5.66% 0.19%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 4.79% 0.14%

HOWMET AEROSPACE 3.93% 0.12%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 5.09% 0.11%

TRANSDIGM GROUP 4.78% 0.09%

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INC 4.16% 0.08%

L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES 3.77% 0.07%

AXON ENTERPRISE 2.70% 0.05%

TEXTRON INC 1.05% 0.02%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ITA

ROCKET LAB CORP 2.51%

ATI 1.77%

WOODWARD 1.40%

HEICO CLASS A 1.38%

CURTISS WRIGHT 1.37%

FTAI AVIATION 1.27%

CARPENTER TECHNOLOGY 1.12%

HEICO 0.99%

Only in IVV

NVIDIA 7.92%

APPLE 7.61%

MICROSOFT 5.93%

AMAZON.COM INC 3.73%

ALPHABET CLASS A 2.83%

BROADCOM INC 2.45%

ALPHABET CLASS C 2.26%

META PLATFORMS CLASS A 2.05%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF IVV iShares Core S&P 500 ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares iShares

What it is Defense Tracks the S&P 500

Total return, 1 year −4.3% +13.7%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +13.6% (SPY)

Gap to its benchmark not measured +0.1 pts vs SPY

Expense ratio 0.37% 0.03%

Already in the S&P 500 80.8% 99.8%

Holdings 51 505

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $12.0bn $885.1bn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-638A587C2D

ITA and IVV do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?

What each follows. ITA follows Defense and IVV follows S&P 500.
Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ITA returned −4.3% and IVV +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 18.0 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

ITA

By weight, 81% of ITA's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 98%. The top ten holdings are 76% of the fund across 51 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −4.3% with distributions reinvested. It sits 17.9% below its all-time high of Aug 14, 2026.

IVV

IVV tracks the S&P 500. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.7% with distributions reinvested, against +13.6% for its benchmark, the S&P 500. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026, 100% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 505 positions, with the top ten at 38.1%.

Questions people ask

Are ITA and IVV in the same category?: ITA is a thematic ETF and IVV 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, ITA or IVV?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ITA returned −4.3% and IVV +13.7%.
Which is cheaper, ITA or IVV?: IVV is cheaper, by 0.34 percentage points a year. That is about $34 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ITA and IVV overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 81% of ITA and 100% of IVV by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

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

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ITA and IVV filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ITA and IVV prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ITA ↗

iShares page for IVV ↗

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, ITA against IVV, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ita-vs-ivv

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