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Data as of .

PPA vs SMH: which is really different?

SMH holds 82.3% of its weight in S&P 500 companies and PPA 71.8%.

Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF and VanEck Semiconductor ETF, side by side, thematic ETFs on ETFIQ.

71.8%PPA in the S&P 500
82.3%SMH in the S&P 500
+8.5%PPA total return, 1 year
+87.6%SMH total return, 1 year

ETFIQ Off-Index Score: PPA scores higher

How much of it is not the index it is sold as an alternative to?

PPA 37.2SMH 11.20.1, the lowest in this set91.6, the highest

A percentile among the 371 thematic ETFs with a holdings filing. It is a position in a set, not a rating, and neither end of it is a recommendation. All thematic ETFs ranked by it · How it is computed

PPA28% of its weight is outside the S&P 500 · 1 year to Sep 11, 2026
72%28%of its weight in S&P 500 companiesoutside the S&P 500active share 96% · top ten 54% of the fund · 62 holdings filed Sep 10, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 5% in72%28%in the S&P 500outsideactive share 96% · top ten 54% of the fund
SMH18% of its weight is outside the S&P 500 · 1 year to Sep 11, 2026
82%18%of its weight in S&P 500 companiesoutsideactive share 81% · top ten 72% of the fund · 25 holdings filed Sep 10, 2026 · Nasdaq-100: 80% in82%18%in the S&P 50018% of its weight outside the S&P 500active share 81% · top ten 72% of the fund

What they hold in common

By the books each fund has filed, PPA and SMH hold 0% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.

Largest positions each one holds and the other does not
Only in PPAOnly in SMH
RTX Corp 8.29%Nvidia Corp 22.45%
Boeing Co/The 7.05%Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co L 9.78%
General Electric Co 6.94%Broadcom Inc 5.91%
Lockheed Martin Corp 6.59%Advanced Micro Devices Inc 5.74%
General Dynamics Corp 4.97%Micron Technology Inc 5.65%
Northrop Grumman Corp 4.95%Asml Holding Nv 5.02%
Howmet Aerospace Inc 3.92%Intel Corp 4.34%
Parker-Hannifin Corp 3.84%Lam Research Corp 4.29%

Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Sep 10, 2026.

Performance, window by window

PPA and SMH over each window. Every figure is an ETFIQ calculation with distributions reinvested. Source: ETFIQ.
WindowTotal returnvs the S&P 500vs the Nasdaq-100
PPASMHPPASMHPPASMH
3 months−7.0%−8.3%−10.3 pts−11.6 pts−6.2 pts−7.5 pts
6 months−6.5%+46.8%−22.5 pts+30.8 pts−27.2 pts+26.1 pts
1 year+8.5%+87.6%−9.0 pts+70.1 pts−14.4 pts+64.7 pts
3 years+100.5%+285.8%+22.6 pts+207.9 pts+5.4 pts+190.7 pts
Since launch+998.8%+5026.7%+194.5 pts+4222.3 pts−675.1 pts+3352.8 pts
Open the live comparison on ETFIQ
PPA and SMH on the same fields, as of Sep 11, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
PPA
Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF
Holds 62 stocks in defense, 72% of its weight in S&P 500 companies
SMH
VanEck Semiconductor ETF
Holds 25 stocks in semiconductors, 82% of its weight in S&P 500 companies
IssuerInvescoVanEck
ThemeDefenseSemiconductors
In the S&P 50071.8%82.3%
Active share vs the S&P 50096.4%80.6%
In the Nasdaq-1004.9%80.2%
Holdings6225
Top ten, share of the fund53.7%71.7%
Expense ratio0.58%0.35%
Fee for the differing part0.60%0.43%
Total return, 1 year+8.5%+87.6%
vs the S&P 500−9.0 pts+70.1 pts
vs the Nasdaq-100−14.4 pts+64.7 pts
Below its high−12.7%−15.0%

PPA in plain words

By weight, 72% 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 54% of the fund across 62 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 10, 2026. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 the fund returned +8.5% with distributions reinvested against +17.5% for the S&P 500, so a holder was behind by 9.0 pts. It sits 12.7% below its all-time high of Mar 2, 2026.

SMH in plain words

By weight, 82% of SMH's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 81%. The top ten holdings are 72% of the fund across 25 positions, as published by its issuer for Sep 10, 2026. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 the fund returned +87.6% with distributions reinvested against +17.5% for the S&P 500, so a holder was ahead by 70.1 pts. It sits 15.0% below its all-time high of Jun 22, 2026.

Questions people ask

Which is more different from the S&P 500, PPA or SMH?
PPA has 72% of its weight in S&P 500 names and SMH has 82%, so PPA differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, PPA or SMH?
PPA charges 0.58% a year and SMH charges 0.35%, so SMH is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

Where these figures came from

ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.

PPA against SMH, ETFIQ, data as of Sep 11, 2026. Every figure is arithmetic on a named public source; the method is at etfiq.com/methodology. A comparison is not a recommendation.

Cite this page. ETFIQ, PPA against SMH, data as of Sep 11, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/ppa-vs-smh Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.

How every figure is computed · Standards and sources