Do SHLD and XDEF hold the same stocks?

By their latest filings, 15% 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, SHLD or XDEF?

SHLD has 53% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XDEF has 0%, so XDEF differs more from the index.

Which is cheaper, SHLD or XDEF?

SHLD charges 0.50% 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

SHLD vs XDEF: Holdings Overlap & Returns

Share on X Download as PDF

SHLD and XDEF hold 15% of their weight in the same names.

askIQ about this page

askIQ about SHLD and XDEF

Net assets: $6.3bn on Oct 12, 2026 for Global X Defense Tech ETF, and $4.3m on Nov 2, 2026 for Xtrackers Europe Defense Technologies ETF.

SHLD on its own →XDEF on its own →

At a glance

52.8%

SHLD in the S&P 500

0.0%

XDEF in the S&P 500

−8.5%

SHLD total return, 1 year

−12.4%

XDEF total return, since launch, Feb 19, 2026

SHLD · 1 year to Nov 4, 2026 47% of its weight is outside the S&P 500

53% of SHLD's weight is in S&P 500 companies and 47% is outside the index. Holdings as of Aug 31, 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 0.15 points a year less; SHLD is far larger, $6.3bn against $4.1m.

SHLD vs XDEF: Holdings Overlap & Returns
Measure	SHLD	XDEF
Return
Measure	SHLD	XDEF
Total return, 1 year	−8.5%	not published
Drawdown
Measure	SHLD	XDEF
Below its all-time high	21.4%, high on Mar 9, 2026	13.0%, high on Feb 20, 2026
Benchmark
Measure	SHLD	XDEF
What it tracks	Defense	Defense
Cost and size
Measure	SHLD	XDEF
Expense ratio	0.50%	0.35%
Net assets, as of Oct 12, 2026	$6.3bn	$4.1m
Holdings
Measure	SHLD	XDEF
Holdings in common	15%

Method

What they share

15%

By the books each fund has filed, SHLD and XDEF hold 15% of their money in the same securities at the same weight. Holdings dated Aug 31, 2026.

50%

0 half 100%

half

15% in common

Positions both hold · largest shared weight first SHLD XDEF

BAE SYSTEMS PLC 4.62% 7.93%

THALES SA 3.72% 4.31%

KONGSBERG GRUPPEN ASA 2.05% 4.47%

BABCOCK INTERNATIONAL GROUP PLC 0.97% 3.91%

Hensoldt AG 0.89% 3.23%

DASSAULT AVIATION SA 0.83% 3.11%

CSG NV 0.47% 1.73%

QINETIQ GROUP PLC 0.37% 1.64%

TKMS AG & Co KgaA 0.37% 1.36%

CHEMRING GROUP PLC 0.28% 1.10%

Bittium Oyj 0.19% 0.79%

Only in one fund ↓

Only in SHLD

PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC. 10.80%

RTX CORPORATION 9.31%

GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION 8.59%

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION 8.34%

Northrop Grumman Corporation 7.71%

Rheinmetall Aktiengesellschaft 4.04%

HANWHA AEROSPACE CO., LTD. 3.81%

L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 3.80%

Only in XDEF

ROLLS-ROYCE HOLDINGS PLC 9.20%

SAFRAN SA 8.53%

AIRBUS SE 8.40%

RHEINMETALL AG 6.81%

SAAB AB 4.90%

MTU AERO ENGINES AG 4.83%

MELROSE INDUSTRIES PLC 4.66%

LEONARDO SPA 4.04%

Check overlap with more funds →

Window by window

Window by window: SHLD vs XDEF: Holdings Overlap & Returns
	Total return
Window	SHLD	XDEF
3 months	−9.2%	−9.7%
6 months	−9.7%	−5.7%
1 year	−8.5%	–
3 years	+133.6%	–
Since launchNot the same days: SHLD Sep 2023 · XDEF Feb 2026	+151.4%	−12.4%

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

Side by side

SHLD Global X Defense Tech ETF · Holds 50 stocks in defense, 53% 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 Global X Xtrackers

Theme Defense Defense

In the S&P 500 52.8% 0.0%

Active share vs the S&P 500 98.7% 100.0%

In the Nasdaq-100 10.8% 0.0%

Holdings 50 35

Top ten, share of the fund 64.8% 64.0%

Expense ratio 0.50% 0.35%

Fee for the differing part 0.51% 0.35%

Total return, 1 year −8.5% −12.4% (since launch, Feb 19, 2026)

vs its benchmark not measured not measured

Below its high −21.4% −13.0%

Net assets, SHLD as of Oct 12, 2026 and XDEF as of Nov 2, 2026 $6.3bn $4.3m

As of Nov 4, 2026. Source: ETFIQ.

15% of the two portfolios are the same securities at the same weight.

Alert

About each fund

SHLD

By weight, 53% of SHLD's portfolio is stocks that are also in the S&P 500; its active share against the S&P 500 is 99%. The top ten holdings are 65% of the fund across 50 positions, as filed for Aug 31, 2026. Over the year to Nov 4, 2026 the fund returned −8.5% with distributions reinvested. It sits 21.4% below its all-time high of Mar 9, 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 SHLD and XDEF hold the same stocks?: By their latest filings, 15% 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, SHLD or XDEF?: SHLD has 53% of its weight in S&P 500 names and XDEF has 0%, so XDEF differs more from the index.
Which is cheaper, SHLD or XDEF?: SHLD charges 0.50% a year and XDEF charges 0.35%, so XDEF is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.

Other comparisons

SHLD vs XAR SHLD vs WDGF SHLD vs TSSD SHLD vs AMMO XDEF vs AV XDEF vs IDEF XDEF vs EUAD XDEF vs WDEF

Where to next

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

Sources and dates

SHLD filings on SEC EDGAR ↗

SHLD prospectus with the expense ratio (SEC) ↗

Global X page for SHLD ↗

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.

Cite this pageCitation, APA and Markdown

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

Open data →

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