Are ITA and VTI in the same category?

ITA is a thematic ETF and VTI 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 VTI?

In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ITA returned −4.3% and VTI +13.5%.

Which is cheaper, ITA or VTI?

VTI 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 VTI overlap with the S&P 500?

By their latest filed holdings, 81% of ITA and 88% of VTI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Across categories

ITA vs VTI: Differences, Returns & Fees

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, ITA returned −4.3% to VTI's +13.5%, and VTI charges 0.03% to ITA's 0.37%.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about ITA and VTI

Net assets: $12.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, and $689.2bn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF.

ITA on its own →VTI on its own →

At a glance

−4.3%

ITA total return, 1 year

+13.5%

VTI total return, 1 year

0.37%

ITA expense ratio

0.03%

VTI expense ratio

Pair scorecard

VTI costs 0.34 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 17.8 points; VTI is far larger, $689.2bn against $12.1bn.

ITA vs VTI: Differences, Returns & Fees
Measure	ITA	VTI
Return
Measure	ITA	VTI
Total return, 1 year	−4.3%	+13.5%
Drawdown
Measure	ITA	VTI
Below its all-time high	17.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ITA	VTI
What it tracks	Defense	Morningstar US Total Market Index
Cost and size
Measure	ITA	VTI
Expense ratio	0.37%	0.03%
Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026	$12.1bn	$689.2bn
Active share vs the S&P 500	98%
Holdings
Measure	ITA	VTI
Holdings in common	2%
Top ten holdings, share of the fund	76%	34.7%

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 VTI 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 VTI

GE AEROSPACE 20.09% 0.44%

RTX 17.06% 0.34%

BOEING 6.81% 0.20%

LOCKHEED MARTIN 5.66% 0.16%

HOWMET AEROSPACE 3.93% 0.12%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 4.79% 0.12%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 5.09% 0.09%

TRANSDIGM GROUP 4.78% 0.08%

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INC 4.16% 0.07%

L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES 3.77% 0.06%

ROCKET LAB CORP 2.51% 0.06%

AXON ENTERPRISE 2.70% 0.04%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ITA

XAI INDUSTRIAL DEC 26 0.00%

Only in VTI

NVIDIA Corp 7.14%

Apple Inc 6.63%

Microsoft Corp 5.20%

Amazon.com Inc 3.30%

Alphabet Inc 2.76%

Broadcom Inc 2.28%

Meta Platforms Inc 2.18%

Alphabet Inc 2.18%

Check overlap with more funds →

Side by side

ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF VTI Vanguard Morningstar Total Stock Market ETF

Where it sits Thematic ETF Stock ETF

Issuer iShares Vanguard

What it is Defense Tracks an index of US total market

Total return, 1 year −4.3% +13.5%

Expense ratio 0.37% 0.03%

Already in the S&P 500 80.8% 88.1%

Holdings 51 3521

Net assets, ITA as of Oct 27, 2026 and VTI as of Sep 30, 2026 $12.0bn $689.2bn

ITA and VTI 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.

VTI

VTI tracks an index of US total market. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 it returned +13.5% with distributions reinvested. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings published by its issuer as of Sep 30, 2026, 88% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 3,521 positions, with the top ten at 34.7%.

Questions people ask

Are ITA and VTI in the same category?: ITA is a thematic ETF and VTI 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 VTI?: In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, ITA returned −4.3% and VTI +13.5%.
Which is cheaper, ITA or VTI?: VTI 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 VTI overlap with the S&P 500?: By their latest filed holdings, 81% of ITA and 88% of VTI by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds.

Other comparisons

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

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ITA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ITA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ITA ↗

VTI filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

VTI prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Vanguard page for VTI ↗

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

Open data →

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