Are ITA and VOO in the same category?

ITA 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, ITA or VOO?

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

Which is cheaper, ITA or VOO?

VOO 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 VOO overlap with the S&P 500?

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

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ITA vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ITA returned −4.3% to VOO's +13.7%, and VOO charges 0.03% 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 $1.0tn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.

ITA on its own →VOO on its own →

At a glance

−4.3%

ITA total return, 1 year

+13.7%

VOO total return, 1 year

0.37%

ITA expense ratio

0.03%

VOO expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VOO costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 18.0 points; VOO is far larger, $1.0tn against $12.1bn.

ITA vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ITA	VOO
Return
Measure	ITA	VOO
Total return, 1 year	−4.3%	+13.7%
Drawdown
Measure	ITA	VOO
Below its all-time high	17.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ITA	VOO
What it tracks	Defense	S&P 500 Index
Cost and size
Measure	ITA	VOO
Expense ratio	0.37%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$12.1bn	$1.0tn
Active share vs the S&P 500	98%
Holdings
Measure	ITA	VOO
Holdings in common	2%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	76%	39.1%

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

Risk and return

Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026 · 840 weekly returns

ITA VOO

Return

Total return edge Tie +815.0% +804.0%

Annualized edge Tie +14.7% +14.6%

Price return edge ITA +663.9% +575.9%

Risk

Volatility edge VOO 22.2% 15.9%

Max drawdown edge VOO −49.3% −31.8%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge VOO 0.66 0.84

Sortino edge VOO 0.96 1.22

Calmar edge VOO 0.30 0.46

Reading

ITA and VOO returned about the same: +815.0% and +804.0%. VOO swung less: 15.9% to 22.2%. VOO fell less at its worst: −31.8% to −49.3%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: ITA vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ITA	VOO	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+815.0%	+804.0%	Tie	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+14.7%	+14.6%	Tie	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+663.9%	+575.9%	ITA	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	22.2%	15.9%	VOO	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	15.2%	10.9%	VOO	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−49.3%	−31.8%	VOO	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.66	0.84	VOO	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.96	1.22	VOO	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.30	0.46	VOO	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 840 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, ITA and VOO hold 2% 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

2% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ITA VOO

GE AEROSPACE 20.09% 0.49%

RTX 17.06% 0.38%

BOEING 6.81% 0.22%

LOCKHEED MARTIN 5.66% 0.16%

HOWMET AEROSPACE 3.93% 0.14%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 4.79% 0.13%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 5.09% 0.10%

TRANSDIGM GROUP 4.78% 0.09%

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INC 4.16% 0.07%

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 VOO

NVIDIA Corp 8.40%

Apple Inc 7.39%

Microsoft Corp 5.79%

Amazon.com Inc 3.72%

Alphabet Inc 3.07%

Broadcom Inc 2.54%

Alphabet Inc 2.46%

Meta Platforms Inc 2.43%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense 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 −4.3% +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 0.37% 0.03%

Already in the S&P 500 80.8% 99.7%

Holdings 51 507

Net assets, ITA as of Oct 27, 2026 and VOO as of Sep 30, 2026 $12.0bn $1.0tn

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

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-32298936A7

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

What each follows. ITA follows Defense and VOO follows S&P 500 Index.
Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026 and Sep 30, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 ITA returned −4.3% and VOO +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.

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 ITA and VOO in the same category?: ITA 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, ITA or VOO?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ITA returned −4.3% and VOO +13.7%.
Which is cheaper, ITA or VOO?: VOO 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 VOO overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 81% of ITA and 100% of VOO by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

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

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ITA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ITA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ITA ↗

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

Open data →

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