Are ITA and VGT in the same category?

ITA is a thematic ETF and VGT 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 VGT?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ITA returned −4.3% and VGT +24.7%.

Which is cheaper, ITA or VGT?

VGT is cheaper, by 0.28 percentage points a year. That is about $28 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

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

By their latest filed holdings, 81% of ITA and 87% of VGT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ITA vs VGT: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ITA returned −4.3% to VGT's +24.7%, and VGT charges 0.09% to ITA's 0.37%.

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Net assets: $12.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, and $154.5bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Information Tech ETF.

ITA on its own →VGT on its own →

At a glance

−4.3%

ITA total return, 1 year

+24.7%

VGT total return, 1 year

0.37%

ITA expense ratio

0.09%

VGT expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VGT costs 0.28 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 29.0 points; VGT is 12.8 times larger.

ITA vs VGT: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ITA	VGT
Return
Measure	ITA	VGT
Total return, 1 year	−4.3%	+24.7%
Drawdown
Measure	ITA	VGT
Below its all-time high	17.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Below its high		4.8%, high on Oct 6, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ITA	VGT
What it tracks	Defense	MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Information Technology 25/50
Cost and size
Measure	ITA	VGT
Expense ratio	0.37%	0.09%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$12.1bn	$154.5bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	98%
Holdings
Measure	ITA	VGT
Holdings in common	0%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	76%	63.6%

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

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, ITA and VGT hold 0% 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

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ITA VGT

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ITA

GE AEROSPACE 20.09%

RTX 17.06%

BOEING 6.81%

LOCKHEED MARTIN 5.66%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 5.09%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 4.79%

TRANSDIGM GROUP 4.78%

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INC 4.16%

Only in VGT

NVIDIA Corp 17.58%

Apple Inc 15.91%

Microsoft Corp 11.16%

Micron Technology Inc 4.45%

Broadcom Inc 4.11%

Advanced Micro Devices Inc 3.67%

Intel Corp 1.98%

Cisco Systems Inc 1.60%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF VGT Vanguard Information Tech ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Defense Tracks an index of Information technology

Total return, 1 year −4.3% +24.7%

Its benchmark over the same days not measured +25.0% (FTEC)

Gap to its benchmark not measured −0.3 pts vs FTEC

Expense ratio 0.37% 0.09%

Already in the S&P 500 80.8% 86.8%

Holdings 51 320

Net assets, ITA as of Oct 27, 2026 and VGT as of Sep 30, 2026 $12.0bn $154.5bn

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

Alert

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.

VGT

VGT tracks an index of Information technology. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +24.7% with distributions reinvested, against +25.0% for its benchmark, the MSCI US Investable Market Index (IMI)/Information Technology 25/50. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 87% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 320 positions, with the top ten at 63.6%. It sat 4.8% below its high of Oct 6, 2026 on Oct 28, 2026.

Questions people ask

Are ITA and VGT in the same category?: ITA is a thematic ETF and VGT 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 VGT?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ITA returned −4.3% and VGT +24.7%.
Which is cheaper, ITA or VGT?: VGT is cheaper, by 0.28 percentage points a year. That is about $28 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
How much do ITA and VGT overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 81% of ITA and 87% of VGT by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

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

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ITA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ITA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ITA ↗

VGT filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VGT prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VGT ↗

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 VGT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ita-vs-vgt

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