EUAD vs XAR

EUADCSelect STOXX Europe Aerospace & Defense ETF

XARAState Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF

In short

EUAD The defense-ETF aisle is stacked with U.S. primes. EUAD faces the other way: one ticker for an index of Europe's aerospace and defense makers, running since its October 2024 launch.

XAR Most defense funds hand the wheel to a handful of giant primes. XAR spreads its roughly 50 aerospace and defense names close to equal weight, so a mid cap parts maker carries about the same load as a household-name contractor.

Stated mandate

EUAD The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the STOXX Europe Total Market Aerospace & Defense Index.

XAR The fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return performance of the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index.

Why people hold it

• EUAD A clean geographic split from the cohort's leaders: it tracks the STOXX Europe Total Market Aerospace & Defense Index, while ITA and XAR sit on U.S. names.
• 0.50% a year lands right on the median for defense ETFs, and under PPA's 0.58%, for exposure most of the group doesn't offer.
• Rules over hunches: a total-market index pulls in Europe's listed aerospace and defense makers instead of a manager's shortlist. It sits in the upper half of its defense peer group.

• XAR Modified equal weighting keeps any single prime contractor from running the show: large, mid and small cap names carry similar weight in the index.ssga.com
• Costs 0.35% a year, under the 0.50% typical of defense funds and a hair below ITA at 0.37%. Cheap for a targeted industry bet.
• Trading since 2011 and now a multi-billion-dollar fund, it is one of the most established and best-built ways to own the US aerospace and defense industry.
• About 50 US-listed aerospace and defense stocks pulled from the S&P Total Market Index, so suppliers and smaller specialists sit alongside the famous names.ssga.com

Worth knowing

• EUAD It opened in October 2024, so the track record is short and the risk read rests on about a year of data.
• One industry on one continent. A short list of large manufacturers can set the tone for the whole fund.
• The holdings trade in European currencies, so exchange-rate swings add to or subtract from what a dollar-based investor sees.

• XAR One industry, tied to government budgets and order cycles. Expect bigger swings than a broad market fund.
• Equal weighting leans on smaller suppliers, which cuts both ways: less of the fund rides the megacap primes when those lead.ssga.com
• Distributions land quarterly, but this is an industry growth basket, not an income vehicle.

Full EUAD profile⁠

Full XAR profile⁠