Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GDX vs PPA: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GDX returned +19.0% to PPA's −0.2%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $25.6bn for VanEck Gold Miners ETF and $7.4bn for Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF.
12% of GDX's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 88% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 22, 2026.
77% of PPA's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 23% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 27, 2026.
Pair scorecard
GDX costs 0.07 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 19.2 points; GDX is 3.5 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | GDX | PPA |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +19.0% | −0.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 27.5%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | 14.5%, high on Mar 2, 2026 |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold miners | Defense |
| Against the S&P 500, 1 year | behind by 13.9 pts | |
| Its benchmark, total return, 1 year | +13.4% | +13.7% |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 5.6 pts | behind by 13.9 pts |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.51% | 0.58% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $25.6bn | $7.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Jun 2, 2006 to Oct 23, 2026 · 1,064 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GDX against ACWI, Apr 4, 2008 to Oct 23, 2026; PPA against IVV, Nov 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
PPA returned more: +1,011.1% to +148.2%. PPA swung less: 21.2% to 38.4%. PPA fell less at its worst: −56.7% to −79.2%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GDX | PPA | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +148.2% | +1,011.1% | PPA | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +4.5% | +12.5% | PPA | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +105.0% | +812.0% | PPA | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 38.4% | 21.2% | PPA | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 26.4% | 14.7% | PPA | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −79.2% | −56.7% | PPA | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 50.2% | 102.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 74.9% | 98.7% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.76 | 1.03 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.13 | 0.74 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.27 | 0.58 | PPA | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.38 | 0.84 | PPA | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.127 | 0.121 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.06 | 0.22 | PPA | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +3.4% a year | +1.8% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.41 | 0.77 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −13.0% to +19.9% | −2.8% to +6.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.04 | 0.20 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 36.4% | 10.7% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 1,064 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, GDX and PPA 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 | GDX | PPA | GDX | PPA |
| 3 months | +14.1% | −7.2% | +9.7 pts vs ACWI | −13.3 pts vs IVV |
| 6 months | −2.6% | −3.0% | −10.0 pts vs ACWI | −12.1 pts vs IVV |
| 1 year | +19.0% | −0.2% | +5.6 pts vs ACWI | −13.9 pts vs IVV |
| 3 years | +197.7% | +102.1% | +108.8 pts vs ACWI | +6.7 pts vs IVV |
| Since launchNot the same days: GDX May 2006 · PPA Oct 2005 | +173.0% | +1,190.0% | not measured | not measured |
Side by side
As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
0% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.
GDX and PPA are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Theme. GDX covers Gold miners and PPA covers Defense.
- What each follows. GDX follows Gold miners and PPA follows Defense.
- Holdings in common. 0% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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GDX
By weight, 12% of GDX's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 100%. The top ten holdings are 60% of the fund across 59 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +19.0% with distributions reinvested against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, so a holder was ahead by 5.6 pts. It sits 27.5% below its all-time high of Feb 27, 2026.
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.
Questions people ask
- Do GDX and PPA 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.
Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown
ETFIQ, GDX against PPA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/gdx-vs-ppa
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). GDX against PPA. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/gdx-vs-ppa
[GDX against PPA (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/gdx-vs-ppa)
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