Do GCAD and ITA hold the same stocks?

By their latest filings, 44% of their books are the same securities at the same weight. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.

Which is more different from the S&P 500, GCAD or ITA?

GCAD has 40% of its weight in S&P 500 names and ITA has 81%, so ITA differs more from the index.

Which is cheaper, GCAD or ITA?

GCAD charges 0.10% a year and ITA charges 0.37%, so GCAD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Thematic ETFs

GCAD vs ITA: Holdings Overlap & Returns

Share on X Download as PDF

Over the year to Nov 4, 2026, GCAD returned +9.4% to ITA's +0.8%; 44% of their weight is in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about GCAD and ITA

Net assets: $44m on Jun 30, 2026 for Gabelli Commercial Aerospace and Defense ETF, and $12.2bn on Nov 4, 2026 for iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF.

GCAD on its own →ITA on its own →

At a glance

40.1%

GCAD in the S&P 500

80.8%

ITA in the S&P 500

+9.4%

GCAD total return, 1 year

+0.8%

ITA total return, 1 year

GCAD · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 60% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

40% of GCAD's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 60% is outside the index. Holdings as of Jun 30, 2026.

ITA · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 19% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

81% of ITA's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 19% is outside the index. Holdings as of Nov 3, 2026.

Pair scorecard

GCAD costs 0.27 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 8.6 points.

GCAD vs ITA: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	GCAD	ITA
Return
Measure	GCAD	ITA
Total return, 1 year	+9.4%	+0.8%
Drawdown
Measure	GCAD	ITA
Below its all-time high	15.6%, high on Aug 14, 2026	15.8%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	GCAD	ITA
What it tracks	Defense	Defense
Cost and size
Measure	GCAD	ITA
Expense ratio	0.10%	0.37%
Net assets, GCAD as of Jun 30, 2026 and ITA as of Nov 4, 2026	$44m	$12.2bn
Holdings
Measure	GCAD	ITA
Holdings in common	44%

Method

What they share

44%

By the books each fund has filed, GCAD and ITA hold 44% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and Nov 3, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

44% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first GCAD ITA

BOEING COMPANY (THE) 5.20% 6.68%

RTX CORP 4.14% 17.02%

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP 3.97% 5.53%

L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES INC 4.01% 3.85%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 3.48% 4.84%

HOWMET AEROSPACE INC 2.60% 4.35%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 2.39% 4.82%

TRANSDIGM GROUP INC 2.03% 4.87%

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INC 1.98% 3.71%

ATI INC 2.29% 1.83%

GE AEROSPACE 1.55% 20.61%

WOODWARD INC 2.10% 1.46%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in GCAD

ALBANY INTERNATIONAL CORP 6.84%

CRANE COMPANY 3.06%

HONEYWELL INTERNATIONAL INC 2.01%

ECHOSTAR CORP 1.30%

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS AND SUPPORT INC 1.16%

CAE INC 1.04%

MTU AERO ENGINES AG 0.77%

RENK GROUP AG 0.65%

Only in ITA

AXON ENTERPRISE 2.52%

ROCKET LAB CORP 2.23%

FTAI AVIATION 1.53%

HEICO CLASS A 1.40%

AEROVIRONMENT 0.35%

VSE CORP 0.34%

BETA TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A 0.21%

ARCHER AVIATION CLASS A 0.20%

Check overlap with more funds →

Window by window

Window by window: GCAD vs ITA: Holdings Overlap & Returns
	Total return
Window	GCAD	ITA
3 months	−14.0%	−15.5%
6 months	−7.1%	−4.6%
1 year	+9.4%	+0.8%
3 years	+105.6%	+91.7%
Since launchNot the same days: GCAD Jan 2023 · ITA May 2006	+117.4%	+916.6%

Open this comparison in the app →

Side by side

GCAD Gabelli Commercial Aerospace and Defense ETF · Holds 51 stocks in defense, 40% of its weight in S&P 500 companies ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF · Holds 51 stocks in defense, 81% of its weight in S&P 500 companies

Issuer Gabelli iShares

Theme Defense Defense

In the S&P 500 40.1% 80.8%

Active share vs the S&P 500 97.2% 97.7%

In the Nasdaq-100 4.4% 8.5%

Holdings 51 51

Top ten, share of the fund 47.5% 76.3%

Expense ratio 0.10% 0.37%

Fee for the differing part 0.10% 0.38%

Total return, 1 year +9.4% +0.8%

vs its benchmark not measured not measured

Below its high −15.6% −15.8%

Net assets, GCAD as of Jun 30, 2026 and ITA as of Nov 4, 2026 $44m $12.2bn

As of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

44% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Alert

About each fund

GCAD

By weight, 40% of GCAD's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 97%. The top ten holdings are 48% of the fund across 51 positions, as filed for Jun 30, 2026. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 the fund returned +9.4% with distributions reinvested. It sits 15.6% below its all-time high of Aug 14, 2026.

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 Nov 3, 2026. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 the fund returned +0.8% with distributions reinvested. It sits 15.8% below its all-time high of Aug 14, 2026.

Questions people ask

Do GCAD and ITA hold the same stocks?: By their latest filings, 44% of their books are the same securities at the same weight. Overlap is the sum of the smaller weight of every security they share.
Which is more different from the S&P 500, GCAD or ITA?: GCAD has 40% of its weight in S&P 500 names and ITA has 81%, so ITA differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, GCAD or ITA?: GCAD charges 0.10% a year and ITA charges 0.37%, so GCAD is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

GCAD vs IDEF GCAD vs NATO GCAD vs WDEF GCAD vs WAR ITA vs WAR ITA vs WDEF ITA vs NATO ITA vs KDEF

Where to next

All thematic ETFs ranked by the S&P 500 Difference Score →How the scores are computed →GCAD on its own →ITA on its own →GCAD dividend history →GCAD holdings →ITA dividend history →ITA holdings →Method →Standards and sources →

Sources and dates

GCAD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

GCAD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Gabelli website ↗

ITA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ITA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ITA ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, GCAD against ITA, data as of Nov 4, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/gcad-vs-ita

Open data →

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