Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GDXJ vs PPA: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GDXJ returned +14.8% to PPA's −0.2%; 0% of their weight is in the same names.
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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $7.6bn for VanEck Junior Gold Miners ETF and $7.4bn for Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF.
0% of GDXJ's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 100% 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
GDXJ costs 0.06 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 15.0 points.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | GDXJ | PPA |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +14.8% | −0.2% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 33.1%, 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 1.4 pts | behind by 13.9 pts |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.52% | 0.58% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $7.6bn | $7.4bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Nov 20, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026 · 883 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GDXJ against ACWI, Nov 20, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026; PPA against IVV, Nov 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026.
PPA returned more: +1,013.8% to +31.1%. PPA swung less: 20.0% to 42.7%. PPA fell less at its worst: −41.9% to −88.3%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GDXJ | PPA | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +31.1% | +1,013.8% | PPA | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +1.6% | +15.3% | PPA | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −7.2% | +834.1% | PPA | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 42.7% | 20.0% | PPA | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 30.0% | 13.6% | PPA | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −88.3% | −41.9% | PPA | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 72.0% | 102.4% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.3% | 98.7% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.99 | 1.03 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.14 | 0.74 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.22 | 0.73 | PPA | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.31 | 1.08 | PPA | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.095 | 0.121 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.02 | 0.36 | PPA | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | IVV | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +1.8% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.01 | 0.77 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −19.0% to +18.9% | −2.8% to +6.4% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.00 | 0.20 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 39.5% | 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, 883 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, GDXJ 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 | GDXJ | PPA | GDXJ | PPA |
| 3 months | +9.9% | −7.2% | +5.5 pts vs ACWI | −13.3 pts vs IVV |
| 6 months | −8.0% | −3.0% | −15.4 pts vs ACWI | −12.1 pts vs IVV |
| 1 year | +14.8% | −0.2% | +1.4 pts vs ACWI | −13.9 pts vs IVV |
| 3 years | +220.2% | +102.1% | +131.3 pts vs ACWI | +6.7 pts vs IVV |
| Since launchNot the same days: GDXJ Nov 2009 · PPA Oct 2005 | +44.9% | +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.
GDXJ and PPA are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Theme. GDXJ covers Gold miners and PPA covers Defense.
- Concentration. The top ten holdings are 40.8% of GDXJ and 61.2% of PPA, a gap of 20.4 points.
- What each follows. GDXJ follows Gold miners and PPA follows Defense.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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GDXJ
By weight, 0% of GDXJ'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 41% of the fund across 156 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +14.8% with distributions reinvested against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI ACWI Index, so a holder was ahead by 1.4 pts. It sits 33.1% 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 GDXJ 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.
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ETFIQ, GDXJ against PPA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/gdxj-vs-ppa
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