Do IDEF and ITA hold the same stocks?

By their latest filings, 36% 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, IDEF or ITA?

IDEF has 42% of its weight in S&P 500 names and ITA has 81%, so ITA differs more from the index.

Which is cheaper, IDEF or ITA?

IDEF charges 0.55% a year and ITA charges 0.37%, so ITA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Thematic ETFs

IDEF vs ITA: Holdings Overlap & Returns

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, IDEF returned −5.7% to ITA's −4.3%; 36% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets: $3.7bn on Oct 28, 2026 for iShares Defense Industrials and Tech Active ETF, and $12.0bn on Oct 27, 2026 for iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF.

IDEF on its own →ITA on its own →

At a glance

42.5%

IDEF in the S&P 500

80.8%

ITA in the S&P 500

−5.7%

IDEF total return, 1 year

−4.3%

ITA total return, 1 year

IDEF · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 58% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

43% of IDEF's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 58% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 27, 2026.

ITA · 1 year to Oct 28, 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 Oct 27, 2026.

Pair scorecard

ITA costs 0.18 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 1.4 points; ITA is 3.2 times larger.

IDEF vs ITA: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	IDEF	ITA
Return
Measure	IDEF	ITA
Total return, 1 year	−5.7%	−4.3%
Drawdown
Measure	IDEF	ITA
Below its all-time high	17.0%, high on Mar 2, 2026	17.9%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	IDEF	ITA
What it tracks	Defense	Defense
Cost and size
Measure	IDEF	ITA
Expense ratio	0.55%	0.37%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$3.7bn	$12.0bn
Holdings
Measure	IDEF	ITA
Holdings in common	36%

Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method

Risk and return

May 30, 2025 to Oct 23, 2026 · 73 weekly returns

IDEF ITA

Return

Total return edge Tie +14.9% +14.9%

Annualized edge Tie +10.4% +10.4%

Price return edge IDEF (slight) +14.5% +14.1%

Risk

Volatility edge ITA (slight) 22.4% 20.4%

Max drawdown edge IDEF −17.1% −20.0%

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge ITA (slight) 0.38 0.40

Sortino edge Tie 0.58 0.57

Calmar edge IDEF 0.61 0.52

Reading

IDEF and ITA returned about the same: +14.9% and +14.9%. ITA swung slightly less: 20.4% to 22.4%. IDEF fell less at its worst: −17.1% to −20.0%.

Full scorecard

9 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: IDEF vs ITA: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	IDEF	ITA	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+14.9%	+14.9%	Tie	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+10.4%	+10.4%	Tie	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+14.5%	+14.1%	IDEF (slight)	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	22.4%	20.4%	ITA (slight)	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	14.7%	14.1%	ITA (slight)	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−17.1%	−20.0%	IDEF	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.38	0.40	ITA (slight)	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	0.58	0.57	Tie	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Calmar	0.61	0.52	IDEF	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.

Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 73 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.

What they share

36%

By the books each fund has filed, IDEF and ITA hold 36% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

36% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first IDEF ITA

RTX 7.05% 17.06%

LOCKHEED MARTIN 5.27% 5.66%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 4.15% 4.79%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 3.92% 5.09%

BOEING 3.44% 6.81%

GE AEROSPACE 1.72% 20.09%

TRANSDIGM GROUP 1.05% 4.78%

HOWMET AEROSPACE 0.74% 3.93%

L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES 0.70% 3.77%

HONEYWELL AEROSPACE INC 0.63% 4.16%

ROCKET LAB CORP 0.61% 2.51%

KRATOS DEFENSE AND SECURITY SOLUTI 0.52% 0.61%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in IDEF

ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS PLC 3.06%

PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A 3.02%

SPACE EXPLORATION TECHNOLOGIES COR 2.93%

THALES SA 2.15%

SAAB CLASS B 1.85%

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES 1.59%

LEONARDO FINMECCANICA SPA 1.57%

PALO ALTO NETWORKS 1.46%

Only in ITA

AXON ENTERPRISE 2.70%

HEICO CLASS A 1.38%

FTAI AVIATION 1.27%

STANDARDAERO 0.39%

ARCHER AVIATION CLASS A 0.22%

ARXIS CLASS A 0.20%

BETA TECHNOLOGIES CLASS A 0.19%

ASTRONICS 0.17%

Check overlap with more funds →

Window by window

Window by window: IDEF vs ITA: Holdings Overlap & Returns
	Total return
Window	IDEF	ITA
3 months	−3.0%	−12.0%
6 months	−5.8%	−2.4%
1 year	−5.7%	−4.3%
3 years	–	+97.8%
Since launchNot the same days: IDEF May 2025 · ITA May 2006	+22.1%	+892.2%

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Side by side

IDEF iShares Defense Industrials and Tech Active ETF · Holds 155 stocks in defense, 42% 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 iShares iShares

Theme Defense Defense

In the S&P 500 42.5% 80.8%

Active share vs the S&P 500 92.2% 97.7%

In the Nasdaq-100 10.7% 2.7%

Holdings 155 51

Top ten, share of the fund 37.3% 76.1%

Expense ratio 0.55% 0.37%

Fee for the differing part 0.60% 0.38%

Total return, 1 year −5.7% −4.3%

vs its benchmark not measured not measured

Below its high −17.0% −17.9%

Net assets, IDEF as of Oct 28, 2026 and ITA as of Oct 27, 2026 $3.7bn $12.0bn

As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

36% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-48E11FE712

IDEF and ITA are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?

Concentration. The top ten holdings are 37.3% of IDEF and 76.1% of ITA, a gap of 38.8 points.
Holdings in common. 36% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
Cost. IDEF charges 0.55% of assets a year and ITA 0.37%, a gap of 0.18 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

IDEF

By weight, 42% of IDEF's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 92%. The top ten holdings are 37% of the fund across 155 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −5.7% with distributions reinvested. It sits 17.0% below its all-time high of Mar 2, 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 Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned −4.3% with distributions reinvested. It sits 17.9% below its all-time high of Aug 14, 2026.

Questions people ask

Do IDEF and ITA hold the same stocks?: By their latest filings, 36% 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, IDEF or ITA?: IDEF has 42% of its weight in S&P 500 names and ITA has 81%, so ITA differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, IDEF or ITA?: IDEF charges 0.55% a year and ITA charges 0.37%, so ITA is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

IDEF vs PPA IDEF vs SHLD IDEF vs MISL IDEF vs KDEF ITA vs SHLD ITA vs PPA ITA vs MISL ITA vs KDEF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

IDEF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

IDEF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for IDEF ↗

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, IDEF against ITA, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/idef-vs-ita

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