ITA vs WDAF

ITAAiShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF

WDAFCWisdomTree Asia Defense Fund

In short

ITA The 2006 original in aerospace and defense, and still the anchor fund of the category. It follows a market-cap-weighted index of U.S. aircraft, parts and weapons makers, so the big primes carry most of the weight.

WDAF Most defense ETFs are a story about the US primes. WDAF flips the map: a rules-based basket of Asia-Pacific defense names, weighted toward the companies that earn the biggest share of their revenue from defense.

Stated mandate

ITA The fund is designed to follow an index of U.S. equity companies focused on aerospace and defense.

WDAF The Fund seeks to follow the pre-fee price and yield performance of the WisdomTree Asia Defense Index. It uses passive indexing with representative sampling and normally invests at least 80% of net assets in index constituents or economically similar investments.

Why people hold it

• ITA Charges 0.37% a year, below the typical defense-fund fee and a whisker off the cheapest large rival, XAR at 0.35%.
• Trading since 2006 and now a multi-billion-dollar, actively traded fund: the long-standing incumbent in U.S. aerospace and defense.
• The index weights by market cap but caps any single company's weight, so the biggest primes lead without swallowing the whole portfolio.spglobal.com
• One of the strongest builds in a crowded defense peer group, with a plain-vanilla index mandate and quarterly payouts.

• WDAF Pure-play Indo-Pacific defense: Japan, South Korea, India, Taiwan, Australia and neighbors. The best-known funds in its peer group lean US (XAR, ITA) or transatlantic (NATO).wisdomtree.com
• 0.45% a year, below the median fee for defense-theme ETFs.
• Weighting is not just size. Each name's market cap is scaled by how much revenue comes from defense, then capped at 7.5% for the purest plays and 4% for everyone else.wisdomtree.com
• Clear rules: at least 10% defense revenue, $200M free float and $1M average daily volume to qualify, with the roster rebuilt each March and September.wisdomtree.comsec.gov

Worth knowing

• ITA About 50 stocks, cap-weighted: a few primes drive most of the ride. XAR's modified equal weight spreads exposure further down the size ladder.ssga.com
• One U.S. industry, running on two engines: government procurement and commercial aircraft demand. Narrower than a broad-market fund by design.ishares.com
• Holds a representative sample of the index rather than every constituent, which can leave small gaps versus the benchmark.sec.gov

• WDAF Launched in 2025 and still small, so it trades thinly next to the long-established US defense funds and bid-ask spreads can be wider.
• If fewer than 20 companies clear the screen, the index loosens the revenue bar in 1% steps down to a 5% floor, so some holdings can be light on actual defense work.wisdomtree.com
• One sector, one region. WisdomTree notes that sector-focused funds are more exposed to any single economic or regulatory development, and the index holds as few as 20 names.wisdomtree.comsec.gov

Full ITA profile⁠

Full WDAF profile⁠