Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
BAI vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, BAI returned +19.6% to XAR's −10.0%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets: $13.6bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares A.I. Innovation and Tech Active ETF, and $5.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF.
55% of BAI's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 45% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 27, 2026.
40% of XAR's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 60% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 27, 2026.
Pair scorecard
XAR costs 0.20 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 29.6 points; BAI is 2.6 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | BAI | XAR |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +19.6% | −10.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 19.6%, high on Jun 22, 2026 | 24.1%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Artificial intelligence | Defense |
| Against the S&P 500, 1 year | behind by 23.7 pts | |
| Its benchmark, total return, 1 year | +47.8% | +13.7% |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | behind by 28.2 pts | behind by 23.7 pts |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.55% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $13.2bn | $5.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
| Top ten holdings, share of the fund | 42% | 32% |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 1, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026 · 103 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: BAI against ARTY, Nov 1, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026; XAR against VOO, Oct 7, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026.
BAI returned more: +67.0% to +41.8%. XAR swung less: 27.9% to 34.4%. XAR fell less at its worst: −26.6% to −33.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | BAI | XAR | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +67.0% | +41.8% | BAI | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +29.5% | +19.3% | BAI | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +64.0% | +40.5% | BAI | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 34.4% | 27.9% | XAR | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 23.4% | 17.5% | XAR | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −33.3% | −26.6% | XAR | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 91.9% | 115.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 102.9% | 107.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.98 | 1.16 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.89 | 0.62 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.81 | 0.63 | BAI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 1.19 | 1.00 | BAI | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.283 | 0.141 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.89 | 0.73 | BAI | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ARTY | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −9.4% a year | +0.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −1.15 | 0.08 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −25.5% to +6.8% | −7.0% to +7.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | −0.88 | 0.17 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 11.3% | 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, 103 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, BAI and XAR hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
0% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Window by window
| Total return | vs its benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | BAI | XAR | BAI | XAR |
| 3 months | +16.3% | −12.8% | −5.1 pts vs ARTY | −18.9 pts vs VOO |
| 6 months | +5.1% | −9.9% | −17.8 pts vs ARTY | −19.0 pts vs VOO |
| 1 year | +19.6% | −10.0% | −28.2 pts vs ARTY | −23.7 pts vs VOO |
| 3 years | – | +103.5% | – | +8.0 pts vs VOO |
| Since launchNot the same days: BAI Oct 2024 · XAR Sep 2011 | +77.2% | +945.4% | −33.5 pts vs ARTY | +171.9 pts vs VOO |
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Side by side
As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
0% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.
BAI and XAR are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Theme. BAI covers Artificial intelligence and XAR covers Defense.
- Concentration. The top ten holdings are 42.5% of BAI and 32.2% of XAR, a gap of 10.3 points.
- What each follows. BAI follows Artificial intelligence and XAR follows Defense.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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BAI
By weight, 55% of BAI's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 76%. The top ten holdings are 42% of the fund across 49 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +19.6% with distributions reinvested against +47.8% for its benchmark, the Morningstar Global Artificial Intelligence Select Index, so a holder was behind by 28.2 pts. It sits 19.6% below its all-time high of Jun 22, 2026.
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
- Do BAI and XAR hold the same stocks?
- By their latest filings, 0% of their books are the same securities at the same weight. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
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.
Every number is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested.
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ETFIQ, BAI against XAR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/bai-vs-xar
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). BAI against XAR. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/bai-vs-xar
[BAI against XAR (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/bai-vs-xar)
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