Global X - Defense Tech ETF
$62.57+0.32 (+0.51%)
History starts Sep 13, 2023.
- Expense ratio
- 0.50%
- Fund size
- $7.1B
- 1Y return
- −6.8%
- Yield · Last 12 months
- 0.68%
- Holdings
- 50
- Volume · 30D
- 1.4M sh
- NAV per share
- $62.01
- 52W range
The ETF.net SHLD Grade
Score 53 of 100 sits in the C band. Bands: A ≥ 70, B ≥ 55, C ≥ 40, D ≥ 25, F < 25; the scale skips E.
Cost
What you pay to own it — the expense ratio plus trading frictions, ranked within its category.CScore 52Category rankMission
How faithfully it does the job it claims — tracking its mandate or index with minimal slippage.Not scoredRisk
How violently it can move — volatility, drawdown depth, and downside capture versus its category.DScore 38Category rankTradability
How cheaply and easily you can get in and out — liquidity, spread, and premium/discount stability.AScore 80Category rankHoldings
What it actually owns — the quality, breadth, and concentration of the underlying portfolio.DScore 28Category rankDurability
Whether it will still be here — the fund’s assets, age, flows, and issuer staying power.AScore 84Category rank
Our read on SHLD
CMost defense ETFs are a bet on American aerospace primes. SHLD goes global and leans into the tech side of modern war: cybersecurity, AI and big data, drones and advanced military hardware, wherever it gets built.
The Fund seeks results that generally track the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Global X Defense Tech Index.
Why people hold it
- The mandate reaches past US airframes to global companies building cybersecurity systems, applying AI and big data, and making advanced military hardware like robotics and aircraft.globalxetfs.com
- At 0.50%, the fee sits right at the middle of the defense-theme pack. The global, tech-tilted twist doesn't cost extra versus the typical rival.
- A multi-billion-dollar fund that trades actively, which puts it among the easier names in this niche to move in and out of.
- Index-tracking and rules-based: it follows the Global X Defense Tech Index rather than a manager's hunch about which contractor wins next.
Worth knowing
- Cheaper US-centric alternatives exist. XAR (0.35%) and ITA (0.37%) cover aerospace and defense for less, with a narrower, more domestic lineup.
- About 50 stocks in one theme driven by government budgets and geopolitics. Concentration sharpens the exposure in both directions.
- Launched in 2023, so the record is short by cycle standards, and cash comes back once or twice a year rather than monthly.
SHLD Holdings
- Stocks
- 50
- 64%
- PLTR
Sectors
- Industrials84.8%
- Technology15.2%
Geography
- United States64.75%
- Korea (the Republic of)6.84%
- United Kingdom6.66%
- Germany5.30%
- France5.09%
- Italy3.76%
- Israel3.38%
- Norway2.28%
- 1.92%
Developed 68% · Emerging 32%
SHLD Performance
Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.
SHLD$9,318
Returns run to the Sep 22, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
| Period | SHLD |
|---|---|
| Year to date | −3.6% |
| 1 month | −7.2% |
| 3 months | +3.1% |
| 1 year | −6.8% |
| 3 years | +38.0% |
| 5 years | — |
| 10 years | — |
Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.
| Year | Return bar | SHLD |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 YTD | −3.6% | |
| 2025 | +74.2% | |
| 2024 | +35.0% | |
| 2023 | +12.9% |
SHLD in the news
SHLD Dividends
- 0.68%
- $0.42
- $0.19 per share
- Twice a year
Distribution history
| Ex-date | Pay date | Amount per share |
|---|---|---|
| Jun 29, 2026 | Jul 7, 2026 | $0.19 |
| Dec 30, 2025 | Jan 7, 2026 | $0.24 |
| Jun 27, 2025 | Data unavailable | $0.12 |
| Dec 30, 2024 | Jan 7, 2025 | $0.14 |
| Jun 27, 2024 | Jul 5, 2024 | $0.06 |
| Dec 28, 2023 | Jan 8, 2024 | $0.07 |
SHLD Risk
- 21.0%
How it’s calculated: standard deviation
The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.
- 1.56
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio
Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.
Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.
Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.
- −25.4%
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown
The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.
Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.
- 0.28
How it’s calculated: beta
The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.
SHLD Cost
0.50%
SHLD0.50%
- The middle half of Defense & Aerospace funds
- Median 0.50%
11 of the 25 Defense & Aerospace funds charge less.