Do PPA and XAR hold the same stocks?

By their latest filings, 48% 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, PPA or XAR?

PPA has 77% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XAR has 40%, so XAR differs more from the index.

Which is cheaper, PPA or XAR?

PPA charges 0.58% a year and XAR charges 0.35%, so XAR is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

Thematic ETFs

PPA vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns

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Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PPA returned −0.2% to XAR's −10.0%; 48% of their weight is in the same names.

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Net assets on Oct 27, 2026: $7.4bn for Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF and $5.0bn for State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF.

PPA on its own →XAR on its own →

At a glance

76.7%

PPA in the S&P 500

39.7%

XAR in the S&P 500

−0.2%

PPA total return, 1 year

−10.0%

XAR total return, 1 year

PPA · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 23% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

77% of PPA's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 23% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 27, 2026.

XAR · 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 60% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

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 0.23 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 9.8 points; PPA is 1.5 times larger.

Points (pts) are percentage points.

PPA vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	PPA	XAR
Return
Measure	PPA	XAR
Total return, 1 year	−0.2%	−10.0%
Drawdown
Measure	PPA	XAR
Below its all-time high	14.5%, high on Mar 2, 2026	24.1%, high on Aug 14, 2026
Against its benchmark
Measure	PPA	XAR
What it tracks	Defense	Defense
Against the S&P 500, 1 year	behind by 13.9 pts	behind by 23.7 pts
Its benchmark, total return, 1 year	+13.7%	+13.7%
Against its benchmark, 1 year	behind by 13.9 pts	behind by 23.7 pts
Cost and size
Measure	PPA	XAR
Expense ratio	0.58%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026	$7.4bn	$5.0bn
Holdings
Measure	PPA	XAR
Holdings in common	48%

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

Risk and return

Oct 7, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026 · 785 weekly returns

PPA XAR

Return

Total return edge PPA (slight) +964.3% +905.6%

Annualized edge PPA (slight) +17.0% +16.5%

Price return edge PPA (slight) +815.8% +760.2%

Risk

Volatility edge PPA 20.0% 23.3%

Max drawdown edge PPA (slight) −41.9% −45.1%

Downside capture 98.7% 107.2%

Beta 1.03 1.16

Risk-adjusted

Sharpe edge PPA 0.80 0.70

Sortino edge PPA 1.19 1.05

Treynor 0.121 0.141

Calmar edge PPA (slight) 0.40 0.37

Against the benchmark

Alpha +1.8% a year +0.3% a year

Alpha t-stat 0.77 0.08

Information ratio 0.20 0.17

Tracking error 10.7% 14.6%

Each against its own benchmark: PPA against IVV, Nov 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026; XAR against VOO, Oct 7, 2011 to Oct 23, 2026.

Reading

PPA returned slightly more: +964.3% to +905.6%. PPA swung less: 20.0% to 23.3%. PPA fell slightly less at its worst: −41.9% to −45.1%.

Full scorecard

19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓

Risk and return: PPA vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	PPA	XAR	Edge	How it is measured
Return
Total return	+964.3%	+905.6%	PPA (slight)	Price change plus distributions, reinvested.
Annualized	+17.0%	+16.5%	PPA (slight)	Total return as a yearly rate.
Price return	+815.8%	+760.2%	PPA (slight)	Price change alone, distributions left out.
Risk
Volatility	20.0%	23.3%	PPA	Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier.
Downside deviation	13.4%	15.5%	PPA	Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate.
Max drawdown	−41.9%	−45.1%	PPA (slight)	Deepest fall from a high to the low after it.
Upside capture	102.4%	115.9%		Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose.
Downside capture	98.7%	107.2%		Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better.
Beta	1.03	1.16	Not an edge	How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves.
R squared	0.74	0.62	Not an edge	Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains.
Risk-adjusted
Sharpe	0.80	0.70	PPA	Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
Sortino	1.19	1.05	PPA	Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation.
Treynor	0.121	0.141		Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta.
Calmar	0.40	0.37	PPA (slight)	Annualized return divided by the max drawdown.
Against the benchmark
Benchmark	IVV	VOO		The ETF each fund is measured against.
Alpha	+1.8% a year	+0.3% a year	Not significant	Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts.
Alpha t-stat	0.77	0.08	Not an edge	How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance.
Alpha range	−2.8% to +6.4%	−7.0% to +7.6%	Includes zero	The 95% range for the yearly alpha.
Information ratio	0.20	0.17		Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error.
Tracking error	10.7%	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

48%

By the books each fund has filed, PPA and XAR hold 48% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

48% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first PPA XAR

Lockheed Martin Corp 9.65% 3.69%

Honeywell Aerospace Inc 4.08% 3.44%

Northrop Grumman Corp 5.30% 3.32%

L3Harris Technologies Inc 4.07% 3.21%

General Dynamics Corp 5.51% 3.12%

TransDigm Group Inc 3.47% 3.12%

RTX Corp 9.32% 3.06%

General Electric Co 8.53% 2.84%

Howmet Aerospace Inc 3.46% 2.56%

Boeing Co 7.79% 2.53%

Axon Enterprise Inc 2.08% 2.70%

ATI Inc 1.29% 2.50%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in PPA

Parker-Hannifin Corp 3.42%

Elbit Systems Ltd 3.06%

Amphenol Corp 2.16%

Eaton Corp PLC 1.80%

Palantir Technologies Inc 1.75%

Leidos Holdings Inc 1.06%

CACI International Inc 1.00%

Space Exploration Technologies Corp 0.92%

Only in XAR

FTAI AVIATION LTD 2.66%

VSE CORP 2.22%

ARCHER AVIATION INC A 1.58%

ARXIS INC A 1.19%

ASTRONICS CORP 1.16%

INTUITIVE MACHINES INC 1.01%

BETA TECHNOLOGIES INC CL A 0.94%

NATIONAL PRESTO INDS INC 0.43%

Check overlap with more funds →

Window by window

Window by window: PPA vs XAR: Holdings Overlap & Returns
	Total return		vs its benchmark
Window	PPA	XAR	PPA	XAR
3 months	−7.2%	−12.8%	−13.3 pts vs IVV	−18.9 pts vs VOO
6 months	−3.0%	−9.9%	−12.1 pts vs IVV	−19.0 pts vs VOO
1 year	−0.2%	−10.0%	−13.9 pts vs IVV	−23.7 pts vs VOO
3 years	+102.1%	+103.5%	+6.7 pts vs IVV	+8.0 pts vs VOO
Since launchNot the same days: PPA Oct 2005 · XAR Sep 2011	+1,190.0%	+945.4%	not measured	+171.9 pts vs VOO

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Side by side

PPA Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF · Holds 70 stocks in defense, 77% of its weight in S&P 500 companies XAR State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF · Holds 50 stocks in defense, 40% of its weight in S&P 500 companies

Issuer Invesco State Street

Theme Defense Defense

In the S&P 500 76.7% 39.7%

Active share vs the S&P 500 96.4% 97.7%

In the Nasdaq-100 3.8% 2.7%

Holdings 70 50

Top ten, share of the fund 61.2% 32.2%

Expense ratio 0.58% 0.35%

Fee for the differing part 0.60% 0.36%

Total return, 1 year −0.2% −10.0%

vs its benchmark −13.9 pts vs IVV −23.7 pts vs VOO

Below its high −14.5% −24.1%

Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 $7.4bn $5.0bn

As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

48% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Client brief · page 1 of 2 Report BR-032D3C31EC

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

Concentration. The top ten holdings are 61.2% of PPA and 32.2% of XAR, a gap of 29.0 points.
Holdings in common. 48% of the weight is in the same securities (holdings dated Oct 27, 2026).
One-year total return. Over 1 year to Oct 28, 2026 PPA returned −0.2% and XAR −10.0% with distributions reinvested, a gap of 9.8 points.

Data as of Oct 28, 2026.

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About each fund

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.

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 PPA and XAR hold the same stocks?: By their latest filings, 48% 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, PPA or XAR?: PPA has 77% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XAR has 40%, so XAR differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, PPA or XAR?: PPA charges 0.58% a year and XAR charges 0.35%, so XAR is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

PPA vs SHLD PPA vs IDEF PPA vs ITA PPA vs EUAD XAR vs EUAD XAR vs GCAD XAR vs FOWF XAR vs ARMY

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

PPA filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

PPA prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Invesco page for PPA ↗

XAR filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

XAR prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

State Street 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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

ETFIQ, PPA against XAR, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/ppa-vs-xar

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Free to use with attribution for data ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms.