FOWF vs IDEF: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

Pacer Solactive Whitney Future of Warfare ETF

FOWFBCboe

iShares Defense Industrials Act

IDEFBNasdaq

Overlap

40.7%by weight

Expense ratio

FOWF −0.06pt a year

FOWF0.49%IDEF0.55%

Avg volume · 30D

IDEF 549.7×the volume

FOWF1.79KIDEF982K

FOWF vs IDEF Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

+11.9%FOWF−6.5%IDEF

Expense ratio: FOWF 0.49%, better; IDEF 0.55%
Fund size: FOWF $15M; IDEF $3.67B
1Y total return: FOWF +11.9%, better; IDEF −6.5%
Yield (12M): FOWF 0.74%; IDEF No data
Holdings: FOWF 88; IDEF 165
Avg volume (30D): FOWF 1.79K sh; IDEF 982K sh, better
NAV per share: FOWF $35.06; IDEF $30.07
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for FOWF, IDEF, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	FOWF	IDEF
Cost30% weight	C52Higher	C44
Mission25% weight	Not scored	Not scored
Risk15% weight	A89Higher	B56
Tradability15% weight	C46	B62Higher
Holdings10% weight	A75	A87Higher
Durability5% weight	B64	A82Higher

Rank among Defense & Aerospace funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. FOWF and IDEF are both graded against the same 25 Defense & Aerospace funds, so their Grades compare head to head.

Defense & Aerospace⁠

Category · 25 funds

See all 25 ›

FOWF ranks 4th and IDEF 6th of 25 funds in the Defense & Aerospace Category.

Rank 1AXARState Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETFScore 78
Rank 2AITAiShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETFScore 74
Rank 3BFLDZTrueShares Patriot Defense ETFScore 62
Rank 4BFOWFPacer Solactive Whitney Future of Warfare ETFScore 61
Rank 5BPPAInvesco Aerospace & Defense ETFScore 60
Rank 6BIDEFiShares Defense Industrials ActScore 58
Rank 7BWDGFWisdomTree Global Defense FundScore 56

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

FOWFBPacer Solactive Whitney Future of Warfare ETF

IDEFBiShares Defense Industrials Act

In short

FOWF Most defense funds are built around the old primes. FOWF tracks the Solactive Whitney Future of Warfare Index, aimed at companies behind emerging defense technology across the U.S. and allied nations.

IDEF BlackRock's active answer to index-tracking defense funds: a stock picker's portfolio of global aerospace, cyber and defense-infrastructure names, with no US-only benchmark holding the leash.

Stated mandate

FOWF The Fund seeks capital appreciation by tracking companies that support critical emerging defense technologies in the U.S. and its allied nations.

IDEF The fund seeks to invest at least 80% of its assets in equity securities of U.S. and non-U.S. defense and related industrial companies.

Why people hold it

FOWF Points at the next war, not the last one: the index targets companies supporting critical emerging defense technologies, not a broad aerospace-and-defense basket.
0.49% a year, right at the middle of the defense-theme pack. No niche premium charged for the narrower mandate.
The mandate covers the U.S. and its allied nations, so allied suppliers abroad are in scope, not just Pentagon contractors.
Roughly 100 holdings spread the theme across many names instead of a few giants, and the fund distributes quarterly.

IDEF Active and global by design: at least 80% of assets go to US and non-US defense and related industrial companies, so European rearmament names are in bounds.ishares.com
Spreads across about 120 holdings, reaching past the classic primes into aerospace, cybersecurity and infrastructure suppliers.ishares.com
Crossed a billion dollars in assets and trades actively, an unusually quick start for a fund launched in 2025.
Holds its own in a crowded defense field, landing in the upper half of its peer group on our review.

Worth knowing

FOWF Launched in December 2024, so the track record is short and any read on its risk profile rests on limited history.
Small and thinly traded next to category heavyweights like ITA and XAR, which can mean wider spreads on larger orders.
A narrow theme tied to defense budgets and procurement cycles, so it can move very differently from a broad market fund.

IDEF At 0.55%, it costs more than index rivals like ITA (0.37%) and XAR (0.35%). The stock picking is what the extra buys.
Launched in 2025 with no declared index, so there is a short record and no benchmark to measure the manager's picks against.
Distributions come once or twice a year rather than quarterly.

Full FOWF profile⁠

Full IDEF profile⁠

FOWF vs IDEF Holdings

As of Oct 23, 2026

How FOWF and IDEF differ

Overlap by weight

40.7%

Shared holdings make up 63.7% of FOWF and 53.6% of IDEF.

Level by level

Holdings34 in both40.7%
Sector7 Sectors80.8%
Countryby domicile80.9%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

Sector weights in FOWF and IDEF, widest gap first
Sector	More in FOWFMore in IDEF	FOWF	IDEF
Industrials	IDEF +18.9 points	58.9%	77.8%
Technology	FOWF +15.4 points	31.8%	16.4%
Communication	FOWF +2.4 points	5.4%	3.0%
Materials	FOWF +1.0 points	2.6%	1.6%
Consumer Discretionary	FOWF +0.5 points	1.4%	0.9%
Energy	IDEF +0.3 points	0.0%	0.3%
Utilities	Same weight	0.0%	0.0%

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in FOWF and IDEF, widest gap first
Country	More in FOWFMore in IDEF	FOWF	IDEF
United States	FOWF +15.4 points	80.2%	64.8%
Japan	IDEF +5.5 points	0.0%	5.5%
South Korea	IDEF +4.5 points	0.0%	4.5%
France	IDEF +2.8 points	3.9%	6.7%
Israel	IDEF +1.9 points	0.0%	1.9%
Australia	IDEF +1.4 points	0.0%	1.4%
United Kingdom	FOWF +1.2 points	6.7%	5.5%
Italy	IDEF +1.1 points	0.6%	1.7%
Other countries (7)	FOWF +0.6 points	8.6%	8.0%

Outside the US: IDEF 82% developed, 18% emerging.

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

FOWF47.1%
IDEF37.8%

Securities held

FOWF86
IDEF153

Asset class

FOWF: Equity
IDEF: Equity

Holdings

Only in FOWF52
In both34
Only in IDEF119

Only in FOWF

52 securities, 36.1% of FOWF by weight

Strategy Inc1.07%
Salesforce Inc0.92%
Synopsys Inc0.83%
Dell Technologies Inc0.82%
Sage Group PLC/The0.82%
Capgemini SE0.81%
Dassault Systemes SE0.78%
NVIDIA Corp0.78%
Emerson Electric Co0.75%
Cloudflare Inc0.74%
Snowflake Inc0.74%
CGI Inc0.74%
Trane Technologies PLC0.73%
Johnson Controls International plc0.72%
Hexagon AB0.72%
AMETEK Inc0.71%
Nucor Corp0.71%
Adobe Inc0.70%
Roper Technologies Inc0.70%
Honeywell International Inc0.70%
Experian PLC0.70%
Oracle Corp0.69%
Datadog Inc0.69%
Smiths Group PLC0.69%
BT Group PLC0.69%
Fortive Corp0.68%
Parker-Hannifin Corp0.68%
Alphabet Inc0.68%
Vodafone Group PLC0.67%
Air Liquide SA0.67%
Dover Corp0.67%
Vulcan Materials Co0.67%
Garmin Ltd0.67%
Cadence Design Systems Inc0.67%
Illinois Tool Works Inc0.66%
DuPont de Nemours Inc0.66%
Verizon Communications Inc0.65%
AT&T Inc0.65%
Cisco Systems Inc0.64%
Vertiv Holdings Co0.64%
Halma PLC0.64%
Rockwell Automation Inc0.64%
Ingersoll Rand Inc0.64%
BCE Inc0.63%
Carrier Global Corp0.63%
Deutsche Telekom AG0.62%
Kla Corp0.62%
Volkswagen AG0.60%
CoreWeave Inc0.57%
Applied Materials Inc0.56%

Only in IDEF

119 securities, 46.2% of IDEF by weight

Space Exploration Technologies Cor2.67%
Ge Aerospace1.76%
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries1.55%
Mitsubishi Electric1.43%
Elbit Systems1.18%
Amphenol Corp Class A1.09%
Hanwha Aerospace Ltd0.95%
Ihi0.91%
Hanwha Systems Ltd0.86%
Singapore Technologies Engineering0.86%
Kawasaki Heavy Industries0.85%
Korea Aerospace Industries0.75%
Csg Class A NV0.66%
Fortinet0.63%
Itt Inc0.60%
Dassault Aviation SA0.60%
Babcock International Group PLC0.60%
Rocket Lab Corp0.58%
Parsons Corp0.58%
Science Applications International0.56%
Qinetiq Group PLC0.55%
Broadcom Inc0.53%
Teledyne Technologies0.52%
Kratos Defense and Security Soluti0.52%
Mercury Systems Inc0.52%
Textron Inc0.51%
Karman Holdings Inc0.50%
Heico0.49%
Aerovironment0.48%
Exosens SA0.47%
Woodward0.47%
Bombardier Class B0.46%
Hensoldt AG0.45%
Viasat Inc0.45%
Curtiss Wright0.44%
Renk Group AG0.43%
Aar0.43%
Sumitomo Heavy Industries Ltd0.42%
Tkms AG0.41%
Ati0.41%
V2X0.41%
Huntington Ingalls Industries0.40%
Moog Inc Class A0.39%
Kbr Inc0.38%
Macom Technology Solutions0.38%
Embraer Adr Representing Four0.37%
Crane0.37%
Rbc Bearings0.36%
Mildef Group0.36%
Vse Corp0.35%

Weight gaps

All 34 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in FOWF and IDEF, widest gap first
Holding	More in FOWFMore in IDEF	FOWF	IDEF
Northrop Grumman CorpNOC	FOWF +3.27 points	7.27%	4.00%
Leidos Holdings IncLDOS	FOWF +3.08 points	3.69%	0.61%
Boeing Co/TheBA	FOWF +3.06 points	6.59%	3.53%
L3Harris Technologies IncLHX	FOWF +2.55 points	3.31%	0.76%
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLCRR.L	IDEF +2.48 points	0.61%	3.09%
General Dynamics CorpGD	FOWF +2.44 points	6.83%	4.39%
Lockheed Martin CorpLMT	FOWF +1.85 points	7.27%	5.42%
Airbus Group SE	IDEF +1.71 points	0.65%	2.36%
BAE Systems PLCBA.L	FOWF +1.64 points	2.56%	0.92%
Thales SA	IDEF +1.55 points	0.63%	2.18%
Saab AB	IDEF +1.21 points	0.72%	1.93%
Palantir Technologies IncPLTR	IDEF +1.12 points	1.70%	2.82%
Leonardo-Finmeccanica Spa	IDEF +1.04 points	0.60%	1.64%
Hewlett Packard Enterprise CoHPE	FOWF +0.79 points	0.84%	0.05%
Motorola Solutions IncMSI	FOWF +0.67 points	0.74%	0.07%
Microchip Technology IncMCHP	FOWF +0.67 points	0.70%	0.03%
International Business Machines CorpIBM	FOWF +0.65 points	0.78%	0.13%
GLOBALFOUNDRIES IncGFS	FOWF +0.62 points	0.65%	0.03%
Palo Alto Networks IncPANW	IDEF +0.61 points	0.73%	1.34%
Zscaler IncZS	FOWF +0.59 points	1.07%	0.48%
RTX CorpRTX	IDEF +0.52 points	6.77%	7.29%
Microsoft CorpMSFT	IDEF +0.51 points	0.81%	1.32%
Advanced Micro Devices IncAMD	FOWF +0.47 points	0.78%	0.31%
TransDigm Group IncTDG	IDEF +0.44 points	0.63%	1.07%
Keysight Technologies IncKEYS	FOWF +0.43 points	0.75%	0.32%
Rheinmetall AG	IDEF +0.41 points	0.60%	1.01%
Safran SA	IDEF +0.39 points	0.61%	1.00%
Crowdstrike Holdings IncCRWD	IDEF +0.33 points	0.89%	1.22%
Howmet Aerospace IncHWM	IDEF +0.25 points	0.52%	0.77%
MTU Aero Engines AG	FOWF +0.18 points	0.65%	0.47%
Kongsberg Gruppen ASA	IDEF +0.18 points	0.73%	0.91%
Amazon.com IncAMZN	IDEF +0.14 points	0.76%	0.90%
CAE Inc	IDEF +0.04 points	0.65%	0.69%
Honeywell Aerospace IncHONA	FOWF +0.03 points	0.62%	0.59%

All 93 FOWF holdings⁠All 153 IDEF holdings⁠

How we measure overlap

Each holding counts at its smaller weight in the two funds, summed over the full Holdings. Sector, country and asset class use the same rule on each fund’s split. Cash, FX and derivative lines stay out of the counts. Two bond funds get no overlap figure.

FOWF vs IDEF Cost

Overpaying IDEF vs FOWF

$1,112

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

FOWF 0.49%
$9,792
IDEF 0.55%
$10,904

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

FOWF 0.49%
IDEF 0.55%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	FOWF	IDEF	Overpaying
10	$883	$988	$105
20	$3,394	$3,790	$396
30	$9,792	$10,904	$1,112

Expense ratio

0.49%FOWF, cheaper
0.55%IDEF

FOWF0.49%IDEF0.55%

0.35%1.11%

Middle half of Defense & Aerospace funds
Median 0.50%

FOWF 11th cheapest of 25 funds

IDEF 14th cheapest of 25 funds

FOWF vs IDEF Dividends

Last 12 months to Oct 30, 2026

Yield (12M): FOWF 0.74%; IDEF No data
Payout (12M): FOWF $0.26; IDEF No data
Last payment: FOWF $0.06; IDEF $0.05
Ex-dividend: FOWF Sep 3, 2026; IDEF Jun 15, 2026
Paid on: FOWF Sep 8, 2026; IDEF Jun 18, 2026
Frequency: FOWF Quarterly; IDEF Twice a year

Distribution history

Per share, 2025 to 2026, same scale for both

FOWFQuarterly · 7 paymentsAll FOWF payments⁠

IDEFTwice a year · 2 paymentsAll IDEF payments⁠

FOWF vs IDEF Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: FOWF 13.1%since Jan 2025IDEF 20.8%since Jun 2025
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: FOWF 1.36since Jan 2025IDEF 0.42since Jun 2025
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: FOWF −12.3%since Dec 2024IDEF −18.9%since May 2025
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: FOWF 0.55IDEF 0.82; Market = 1

FOWF and IDEF in the news

All news⁠

Deep Dive
Defense & Aerospace ETFs nearly doubled in three years. September's losses came from different names
Sep 21, 2026IDEF
Deep Dive
ITA fell with Boeing, SHLD rose with Palantir last week
Sep 20, 2026IDEF

Popular comparisons

FOWFBvsXARA
Pacer Solactive Whitney Future of Warfare ETF · State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF
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IDEFBvsXARA
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FOWFBvsFLDZB
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IDEFBvsFLDZB
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0.55% · 0.40%
Category

FOWF vs IDEF

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it

Worth knowing

How FOWF and IDEF differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in FOWF

Only in IDEF

Weight gaps

Cost over time

Year by year

Distribution history

Fall from peak · 5 years

Risk facts

Defense & Aerospace ETFs nearly doubled in three years. September's losses came from different names

ITA fell with Boeing, SHLD rose with Palantir last week

How FOWF and IDEF differ

Level by level

Sector

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Concentration

Asset class

Holdings

Only in FOWF

Only in IDEF

Weight gaps