{"url":"https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-defense","section":"rankings","title":"The defense ETFs that returned most | ETFIQ","description":"The defense ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, one year, as of Oct 20, 2026.","as_of":"Oct 20, 2026","structured_data":[{"@type":"ItemList","name":"The defense ETFs that returned most","numberOfItems":14,"itemListOrder":"https://schema.org/ItemListOrderDescending","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"FOWF","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/fowf"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"GCAD","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/gcad"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"PPA","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/ppa"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"ITA","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/ita"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"NATO","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/nato"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":6,"name":"MISL","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/misl"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":7,"name":"IDEF","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/idef"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":8,"name":"WDGF","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/wdgf"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":9,"name":"EUAD","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/euad"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":10,"name":"XAR","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/xar"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":11,"name":"WDEF","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/wdef"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":12,"name":"SHLD","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/shld"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":13,"name":"WDAF","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/wdaf"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":14,"name":"KDEF","url":"https://etfiq.com/funds/kdef"}]},{"@type":"Dataset","name":"The defense ETFs that returned most","description":"The defense ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, one year, as of Oct 20, 2026.","url":"https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-defense","dateModified":"2026-10-20","creator":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","isAccessibleForFree":true,"creditText":"ETFIQ (etfiq.com)","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"},"inLanguage":"en","creativeWorkStatus":"Published","distribution":[{"@type":"DataDownload","encodingFormat":"application/json","contentUrl":"https://etfiq.com/data/thematic.json"}],"variableMeasured":["Weight overlap with the S&P 500","Active share","Holdings","Top ten share of the fund","Total return","Fee for the differing part","Expense ratio"],"keywords":["exchange-traded funds","ETF","Thematic ETFs","fund data","SEC filings"]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"ETFIQ","item":"https://etfiq.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Rankings","item":"https://etfiq.com/rankings/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The defense ETFs that returned most","item":"https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-defense"}]},{"@type":"WebPage","name":"The defense ETFs that returned most","description":"The defense ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, one year, as of Oct 20, 2026.","url":"https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-defense","dateModified":"2026-10-20","isPartOf":{"@type":"WebSite","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".lede"]},"publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org"}}],"characters":3526,"truncated":false,"content":"ETFIQ / Rankings / The defense ETFs that returned most \n \n As of Oct 20, 2026 . Rebuilt every trading night.\n The defense ETFs that returned most\n See 14 funds ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, one year. Updated Oct 20, 2026. Funds on one theme can hold different companies, so the gap from top to bottom of this list reflects what they own, not the theme.\n The defense ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, as of Oct 20, 2026. Source: ETFIQ. # Ticker Fund Total return, 1Y vs its benchmark 1Y Weight in S&P 500 companies Fee \n 1 FOWF Pacer Solactive Whitney Future of Warfar +10.6% \u22124.2 pts vs URTH 74.8% 0.49% \n 2 GCAD Gabelli Commercial Aerospace and Defense +9.4% \u22126.5 pts vs VOO 40.1% 0.10% \n 3 PPA Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF +0.5% \u221215.3 pts vs IVV 76.8% 0.58% \n 4 ITA iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF \u22121.4% not measured 80.4% 0.37% \n 5 NATO Themes Transatlantic Defense ETF \u22123.9% \u221219.1 pts vs ACWI 58.2% 0.35% \n 6 MISL First Trust Indxx Aerospace & Defense ET \u22124.2% \u221220.1 pts vs VOO 65.9% 0.60% \n 7 IDEF iShares Defense Industrials and Tech Act \u22124.3% not measured 41.3% 0.55% \n 8 WDGF WisdomTree Global Defense Fund \u22124.4% \u221219.5 pts vs ACWI 34.9% 0.45% \n 9 EUAD Select STOXX Europe Aerospace & Defense \u22127.6% not measured 0.0% 0.50% \n 10 XAR State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defens \u22127.8% \u221223.7 pts vs VOO 39.2% 0.35% \n 11 WDEF WisdomTree Europe Defense Fund \u22128.0% not measured 0.0% 0.45% \n 12 SHLD Global X Defense Tech ETF \u22128.0% not measured 44.6% 0.50% \n 13 WDAF WisdomTree Asia Defense Fund \u22129.5% not measured 0.0% 0.45% \n 14 KDEF PLUS Korea Defense Industry Index ETF \u221216.3% not measured 0.0% 0.65% \n \n Method\n The 14 of 22 ETFs in the defense theme with a full year of trading, highest first, each over the same year to Oct 20, 2026 with distributions reinvested. Across the funds listed here the one year total return runs from -16.3% to 10.6%. A year says what happened, not what happens next. The list sorts one published figure, with no scoring or weighting. Every fund ETFIQ covers in this category is eligible, closed funds included.\n Where to next\n Every defense ETF and what it holds The largest defense ETFs Where these figures came from\n Fund holdings from SEC Form N-PORT and from the issuers own daily files SEC EDGAR, full-text search of fund filings SEC Form N-PORT, what a fund filed it holds Rule 19a-1, what a distribution notice must say ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure; a link is not an endorsement.\n A ranking is not a recommendation or an opinion. ETFIQ is an independent publisher, not an adviser. Standards and sources \n Cite this page. ETFIQ, The defense ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-defense Free to use with attribution for figures ETFIQ computes; issuer data stays under its owner's terms. The underlying files are at Open data .\n Other forms Plain ETFIQ, The defense ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-defense APA ETFIQ. (Oct 20, 2026). The defense ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested. Retrieved from https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-defense Markdown [The defense ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested (ETFIQ, Oct 20, 2026)](https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-defense)","source":"ETFIQ, independent ETF data. Recomputed nightly from public filings and prices.","publisher":{"@id":"https://etfiq.com/#org","name":"ETFIQ","url":"https://etfiq.com"},"license":"https://etfiq.com/license/","license_text":"Figures ETFIQ computes are free to use with attribution: ETFIQ (etfiq.com). Issuer data stays under its owner's terms.","citation":"ETFIQ, The defense ETFs that returned most, ranked by total return with distributions reinvested, data as of Oct 20, 2026. https://etfiq.com/rankings/themes-best-year-defense"}