Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
GDXJ vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, GDXJ returned +14.8% to XAR's −10.0%; 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 $5.0bn for State Street SPDR S&P 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.
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 0.17 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 24.8 points; GDXJ is 1.5 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | GDXJ | XAR |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | +14.8% | −10.0% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 33.1%, high on Feb 27, 2026 | 24.1%, high on Aug 14, 2026 |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Gold miners | Defense |
| Against the S&P 500, 1 year | behind by 23.7 pts | |
| Its benchmark, total return, 1 year | +13.4% | +13.7% |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | ahead by 1.4 pts | behind by 23.7 pts |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.52% | 0.35% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $7.6bn | $5.0bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 0% | |
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Oct 7, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 785 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: GDXJ against ACWI, Nov 20, 2009 to Oct 23, 2026; XAR against VOO, Oct 7, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026.
XAR returned more: +905.6% to +12.1%. XAR swung less: 23.3% to 42.9%. XAR fell less at its worst: −45.1% to −84.7%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | GDXJ | XAR | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +12.1% | +905.6% | XAR | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +0.8% | +16.5% | XAR | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | −14.5% | +760.2% | XAR | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 42.9% | 23.3% | XAR | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 30.1% | 15.5% | XAR | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −84.7% | −45.1% | XAR | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 72.0% | 115.9% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 97.3% | 107.2% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 0.99 | 1.16 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.14 | 0.62 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.20 | 0.70 | XAR | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.28 | 1.05 | XAR | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.095 | 0.141 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.01 | 0.37 | XAR | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | ACWI | VOO | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | −0.1% a year | +0.3% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | −0.01 | 0.08 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −19.0% to +18.9% | −7.0% to +7.6% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.00 | 0.17 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 39.5% | 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, GDXJ 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 | GDXJ | XAR | GDXJ | XAR |
| 3 months | +9.9% | −12.8% | +5.5 pts vs ACWI | −18.9 pts vs VOO |
| 6 months | −8.0% | −9.9% | −15.4 pts vs ACWI | −19.0 pts vs VOO |
| 1 year | +14.8% | −10.0% | +1.4 pts vs ACWI | −23.7 pts vs VOO |
| 3 years | +220.2% | +103.5% | +131.3 pts vs ACWI | +8.0 pts vs VOO |
| Since launchNot the same days: GDXJ Nov 2009 · XAR Sep 2011 | +44.9% | +945.4% | not measured | +171.9 pts vs VOO |
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 XAR are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Theme. GDXJ covers Gold miners and XAR covers Defense.
- What each follows. GDXJ follows Gold miners and XAR 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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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.
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 GDXJ 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, GDXJ against XAR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/gdxj-vs-xar
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