Do ITA and XDEF 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.

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

ITA has 81% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XDEF has 0%, so XDEF differs more from the index.

Which is cheaper, ITA or XDEF?

ITA charges 0.37% a year and XDEF charges 0.35%, so XDEF is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Thematic ETFs

ITA vs XDEF: Holdings Overlap & Returns

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ITA and XDEF hold 0% of their weight in the same names.

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Net assets: $12.2bn on Nov 4, 2026 for iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF, and $4.3m on Nov 2, 2026 for Xtrackers Europe Defense Technologies ETF.

ITA on its own →XDEF on its own →

At a glance

80.8%

ITA in the S&P 500

0.0%

XDEF in the S&P 500

+0.8%

ITA total return, 1 year

−12.4%

XDEF total return, since launch, Feb 19, 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.

XDEF · 6 months to Nov 4, 2026 100% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

0% of XDEF's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 100% is outside the index. Holdings as of Aug 31, 2026.

Pair scorecard

XDEF costs 0.02 points a year less; ITA is far larger, $12.4bn against $4.3m.

ITA vs XDEF: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	ITA	XDEF
Return
Measure	ITA	XDEF
Total return, 1 year	+0.8%	not published
Drawdown
Measure	ITA	XDEF
Below its all-time high	15.8%, high on Aug 14, 2026	13.0%, high on Feb 20, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	ITA	XDEF
What it tracks	Defense	Defense
Cost and size
Measure	ITA	XDEF
Expense ratio	0.37%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Nov 2, 2026	$12.4bn	$4.3m
Holdings
Measure	ITA	XDEF
Holdings in common	0%

Method

What they share

By the books each fund has filed, ITA and XDEF hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026 and Nov 3, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

0% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first ITA XDEF

AAR 0.32% 8.40%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in ITA

GE AEROSPACE 20.61%

RTX 17.02%

BOEING 6.68%

LOCKHEED MARTIN 5.53%

TRANSDIGM GROUP 4.87%

NORTHROP GRUMMAN CORP 4.84%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORP 4.82%

HOWMET AEROSPACE 4.35%

Only in XDEF

ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS PLC 9.20%

SAFRAN SA 8.53%

BAE SYSTEMS PLC 7.93%

RHEINMETALL AG 6.81%

SAAB AB 4.90%

MTU AERO ENGINES AG 4.83%

MELROSE INDUSTRIES PLC 4.66%

KONGSBERG GRUPPEN ASA 4.47%

Check overlap with more funds →

Window by window

Window by window: ITA vs XDEF: Holdings Overlap & Returns
	Total return
Window	ITA	XDEF
3 months	−15.5%	−9.7%
6 months	−4.6%	−5.7%
1 year	+0.8%	–
3 years	+91.7%	–
Since launchNot the same days: ITA May 2006 · XDEF Feb 2026	+916.6%	−12.4%

– means no data for this window. Open this comparison in the app →

Side by side

ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF · Holds 51 stocks in defense, 81% of its weight in S&P 500 companies XDEF Xtrackers Europe Defense Technologies ETF · Holds 35 stocks in defense, 0% of its weight in S&P 500 companies

Issuer iShares Xtrackers

Theme Defense Defense

In the S&P 500 80.8% 0.0%

Active share vs the S&P 500 97.7% 100.0%

In the Nasdaq-100 8.5% 0.0%

Holdings 51 35

Top ten, share of the fund 76.3% 64.0%

Expense ratio 0.37% 0.35%

Fee for the differing part 0.38% 0.35%

Total return, 1 year +0.8% −12.4% (since launch, Feb 19, 2026)

vs its benchmark not measured not measured

Below its high −15.8% −13.0%

Net assets, ITA as of Nov 4, 2026 and XDEF as of Nov 2, 2026 $12.2bn $4.3m

As of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

0% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Alert

About each fund

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.

XDEF

By weight, 0% of XDEF'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 64% of the fund across 35 positions, as filed for Aug 31, 2026. Since it first traded on Feb 19, 2026 the fund returned −12.4% with distributions reinvested. It sits 13.0% below its all-time high of Feb 20, 2026.

Questions people ask

Do ITA and XDEF 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.
Which is more different from the S&P 500, ITA or XDEF?: ITA has 81% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XDEF has 0%, so XDEF differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, ITA or XDEF?: ITA charges 0.37% a year and XDEF charges 0.35%, so XDEF is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

ITA vs ARMY ITA vs FOWF ITA vs WR ITA vs WDAF XDEF vs MISL XDEF vs KDEF XDEF vs AMMO XDEF vs PPA

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

ITA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

ITA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

iShares page for ITA ↗

XDEF filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XDEF prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Xtrackers website ↗

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

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