Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PPA vs VOO: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PPA returned −0.2% to VOO's +13.7%, and VOO charges 0.03% to PPA's 0.58%.
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Net assets: $7.4bn on Oct 27, 2026 for Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF, and $1.0tn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.
Pair scorecard
VOO costs 0.55 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 13.9 points.
| Measure | PPA | VOO |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −0.2% | +13.7% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 14.5%, high on Mar 2, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Defense | S&P 500 Index |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.58% | 0.03% |
| Net assets, PPA as of Oct 27, 2026 and VOO as of Sep 30, 2026 | $7.4bn | $1.0tn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 96% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 4% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 61% | 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 · each against IVVPPA returned more: +975.9% to +804.0%. VOO swung less: 15.9% to 20.0%. VOO fell less at its worst: −31.8% to −41.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PPA | VOO | IVV | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | |||||
| Total return | +975.9% | +804.0% | PPA | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. | |
| Annualized | +15.8% | +14.6% | PPA (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. | |
| Price return | +813.0% | +575.9% | PPA | Price change alone, distributions left out. | |
| Risk | |||||
| Volatility | 20.0% | 15.9% | VOO | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. | |
| Downside deviation | 13.6% | 10.9% | VOO | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. | |
| Max drawdown | −41.9% | −31.8% | VOO | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. | |
| Upside capture | 99.8% | 99.8% | 100.0% | Tie | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. |
| Downside capture | 97.9% | 99.9% | 100.0% | PPA (slight) | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. |
| Beta | 1.05 | 1.00 | 1.00 | VOO lower | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.70 | 1.00 | 1.00 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | |||||
| Sharpe | 0.76 | 0.84 | VOO (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. | |
| Sortino | 1.12 | 1.22 | VOO (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. | |
| Treynor | 0.145 | 0.134 | 0.133 | PPA (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. |
| Calmar | 0.38 | 0.46 | VOO | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. | |
| Against the benchmark | |||||
| Benchmark | IVV | IVV | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.2% a year | 0.0% a year | 0.0% | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.43 | 0.51 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. | |
| Alpha range | −4.2% to +6.6% | −0.1% to +0.2% | Both include zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. | |
| Information ratio | 0.17 | 0.02 | PPA | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.0% | 0.4% | 0.0% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
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, PPA and VOO hold 4% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
4% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
PPA and VOO on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PPA and VOO do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. PPA follows Defense and VOO follows S&P 500 Index.
- Holdings in common. 4% 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 PPA returned −0.2% and VOO +13.7% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 13.9 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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PPA
By weight, 77% of PPA's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 96%. The top ten holdings are 61% of the fund across 70 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −0.2% with distributions reinvested against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, so a holder was behind by 13.9 pts. It sits 14.5% 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 PPA and VOO in the same category?
- PPA 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, PPA or VOO?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, PPA returned −0.2% and VOO +13.7%.
- Which is cheaper, PPA or VOO?
- VOO is cheaper, by 0.55 percentage points a year. That is about $55 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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How this is computed
Overlap adds up the smaller of the two weights for each security both funds hold.
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ETFIQ, PPA against VOO, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ppa-vs-voo
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PPA against VOO. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ppa-vs-voo
[PPA against VOO (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/ppa-vs-voo)
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