Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
PPA vs XT: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Over the year to Oct 28, 2026, PPA returned −0.2% to XT's +22.1%; 2% 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 $4.1bn for iShares Future Exponential Technologies ETF.
77% of PPA's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 23% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 27, 2026.
66% of XT's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 35% is outside the index. Holdings as of Oct 27, 2026.
Pair scorecard
XT costs 0.12 points a year less; their one-year returns differ by 22.3 points; PPA is 1.8 times larger.
Points (pts) are percentage points.
| Measure | PPA | XT |
|---|---|---|
| Return | ||
| Total return, 1 year | −0.2% | +22.1% |
| Drawdown | ||
| Below its all-time high | 14.5%, high on Mar 2, 2026 | |
| Against its benchmark | ||
| What it tracks | Defense | Broad innovation and megatrends |
| Against the S&P 500, 1 year | behind by 13.9 pts | |
| Its benchmark, total return, 1 year | +13.7% | +13.4% |
| Against its benchmark, 1 year | behind by 13.9 pts | ahead by 8.7 pts |
| Cost and size | ||
| Expense ratio | 0.58% | 0.46% |
| Net assets, as of Oct 27, 2026 | $7.4bn | $4.1bn |
| Holdings | ||
| Holdings in common | 2% | |
How different its holdings are from the S&P 500, ranked against 112 thematic ETFs with at least half their money in S&P 500 companies. 100 is best. How it is computed
A percentile among the 112 thematic ETFs with at least half their money in S&P 500 companies. Weight not shared with the S&P 500 only; it says nothing about returns, fees or whether the theme pays off. All thematic ETFs ranked by it →
Holdings in common uses holdings dated Oct 27, 2026. Method
Risk and return
Apr 2, 2015 to Oct 23, 2026 · 603 weekly returnsEach against its own benchmark: PPA against IVV, Nov 4, 2005 to Oct 23, 2026; XT against ACWI, Apr 2, 2015 to Oct 23, 2026.
PPA returned more: +368.7% to +292.0%. XT swung less: 19.0% to 21.3%. XT fell less at its worst: −34.3% to −41.9%.
Full scorecard
19 measures, with how each is measured Open ↓
| Measure | PPA | XT | Edge | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return | ||||
| Total return | +368.7% | +292.0% | PPA | Price change plus distributions, reinvested. |
| Annualized | +14.2% | +12.5% | PPA | Total return as a yearly rate. |
| Price return | +321.7% | +225.6% | PPA | Price change alone, distributions left out. |
| Risk | ||||
| Volatility | 21.3% | 19.0% | XT | Spread of weekly returns, annualized. Lower is steadier. |
| Downside deviation | 14.6% | 13.2% | XT (slight) | Like volatility, counting only weeks below the Treasury bill rate. |
| Max drawdown | −41.9% | −34.3% | XT | Deepest fall from a high to the low after it. |
| Upside capture | 102.4% | 123.1% | Share of its benchmark's rise caught in the weeks it rose. | |
| Downside capture | 98.7% | 108.7% | Share of its benchmark's fall taken in the weeks it fell. Lower is better. | |
| Beta | 1.03 | 1.11 | Not an edge | How far it moves for each 1% its benchmark moves. |
| R squared | 0.74 | 0.89 | Not an edge | Share of its weekly moves its benchmark explains. |
| Risk-adjusted | ||||
| Sharpe | 0.63 | 0.60 | PPA (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of volatility. |
| Sortino | 0.92 | 0.87 | PPA (slight) | Return above Treasury bills per unit of downside deviation. |
| Treynor | 0.121 | 0.103 | Return above Treasury bills per unit of beta. | |
| Calmar | 0.34 | 0.36 | XT (slight) | Annualized return divided by the max drawdown. |
| Against the benchmark | ||||
| Benchmark | IVV | ACWI | The ETF each fund is measured against. | |
| Alpha | +1.8% a year | +1.1% a year | Not significant | Yearly return beyond what its beta to the benchmark predicts. |
| Alpha t-stat | 0.77 | 0.61 | Not an edge | How sure the alpha is. Below 2, it could be chance. |
| Alpha range | −2.8% to +6.4% | −2.5% to +4.7% | Includes zero | The 95% range for the yearly alpha. |
| Information ratio | 0.20 | 0.33 | Return against its benchmark per unit of tracking error. | |
| Tracking error | 10.7% | 6.5% | Not an edge | How far weekly returns stray from the benchmark, annualized. |
Computed by ETFIQ from Tiingo daily prices and ETFIQ's distribution records, 603 weekly returns. Cash rate: the 13-week Treasury bill.
What they share
By the books each fund has filed, PPA and XT hold 2% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Oct 27, 2026.
half
2% in common
Only in one fund ↓
Window by window
| Total return | vs its benchmark | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Window | PPA | XT | PPA | XT |
| 3 months | −7.2% | +10.2% | −13.3 pts vs IVV | +5.8 pts vs ACWI |
| 6 months | −3.0% | +14.0% | −12.1 pts vs IVV | +6.6 pts vs ACWI |
| 1 year | −0.2% | +22.1% | −13.9 pts vs IVV | +8.7 pts vs ACWI |
| 3 years | +102.1% | +93.2% | +6.7 pts vs IVV | +4.3 pts vs ACWI |
| Since launchNot the same days: PPA Oct 2005 · XT Mar 2015 | +1,190.0% | +297.8% | not measured | +71.7 pts vs ACWI |
Side by side
As of Oct 28, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.
2% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.
PPA and XT are built for the same job. How do they differ in cost, holdings and results?
- Theme. PPA covers Defense and XT covers Broad innovation and megatrends.
- Concentration. The top ten holdings are 61.2% of PPA and 36.6% of XT, a gap of 24.6 points.
- What each follows. PPA follows Defense and XT follows Broad innovation and megatrends.
Data as of Oct 28, 2026.
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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.
XT
By weight, 66% of XT's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 69%. The top ten holdings are 37% of the fund across 197 positions, as published by its issuer for Oct 27, 2026. Over the year to Oct 28, 2026 the fund returned +22.1% with distributions reinvested against +13.4% for its benchmark, the MSCI All Country World Index, so a holder was ahead by 8.7 pts.
Questions people ask
- Do PPA and XT hold the same stocks?
- By their latest filings, 2% 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
It is a place in a set, not a rating or a recommendation.
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, PPA against XT, data as of Oct 28, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/ppa-vs-xt
ETFIQ. (Oct 28, 2026). PPA against XT. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/ppa-vs-xt
[PPA against XT (ETFIQ, Oct 28, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/compare/themes/ppa-vs-xt)
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