Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
VOO vs XAR: Differences, Returns & Fees
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, VOO returned +13.7% to XAR's −10.0%, and VOO charges 0.03% to XAR's 0.35%.
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Net assets: $1.0tn on Sep 30, 2026 for Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, and $5.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF.
Pair scorecard
VOO costs 0.32 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 23.7 points; VOO is far larger, $1.0tn against $5.5bn.
| Measure | VOO | XAR |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +13.7% | −10.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 24.1%, high on Aug 14, 2026 | |
| Benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | S&P 500 Index | Defense |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.03% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Sep 30, 2026 | $1.0tn | $5.5bn |
| Active share vs the S&P 500 | 98% | |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 39.1% | 32% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 7, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 785 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: VOO against IVV, Sep 17, 2010 to Oct 23, 2026; XAR against VOO, Oct 7, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026.
XAR returned more: +905.6% to +761.7%. VOO swung less: 15.8% to 23.3%. VOO fell less at its worst: −31.8% to −45.1%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | VOO | XAR | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +761.7% | +905.6% | XAR | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +15.3% | +16.5% | XAR (slight) | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +560.4% | +760.2% | XAR | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 15.8% | 23.3% | VOO | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 10.8% | 15.5% | VOO | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −31.8% | −45.1% | VOO | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 99.8% | 115.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 99.9% | 107.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.00 | 1.16 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 1.00 | 0.62 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.88 | 0.70 | VOO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.28 | 1.05 | VOO | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.134 | 0.141 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.48 | 0.37 | VOO | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IVV | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | 0.0% a year | +0.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.51 | 0.08 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −0.1% to +0.2% | −7.0% to +7.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.02 | 0.17 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 0.4% | 14.6% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 785 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, VOO and XAR hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Side by side
VOO and XAR on the fields both publish, as of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
VOO and XAR do different jobs. What does each one do in a portfolio?
- What each follows. VOO follows S&P 500 Index and XAR follows Defense.
- Holdings in common. 2% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Sep 30, 2026 and Oct 27, 2026).
- One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 VOO returned +13.7% and XAR −10.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 23.7 points.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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%.
XAR
By weight, 40% of XAR'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 32% of the fund across 50 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −10.0% with distributions reinvested against +13.7% for its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, so a holder was behind by 23.7 pts. It sits 24.1% below its all-time high of Aug 14, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Are VOO and XAR in the same category?
- VOO is a stock ETF and XAR is a thematic ETF, so they do different jobs. The table compares what both publish: return, cost and holdings.
- Which returned more over the last year, VOO or XAR?
- In the year to Oct 28, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VOO returned +13.7% and XAR −10.0%.
- Which is cheaper, VOO or XAR?
- VOO is cheaper, by 0.32 percentage points a year. That is about $32 on $10,000 held for a year. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
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.
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ETFIQ, VOO against XAR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/voo-vs-xar
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). VOO against XAR. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/any/voo-vs-xar
[VOO against XAR (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/any/voo-vs-xar)
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