ITA vs WDGF: Grades, Fees and Holdings Compared

iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF

ITAACboe

WisdomTree Global Defense Fund

WDGFBNasdaq

Overlap

41.8%by weight

Expense ratio

ITA −0.08pt a year

ITA0.37%WDGF0.45%

Avg volume · 30D

ITA 640.3×the volume

ITA747KWDGF1.17K

ITA vs WDGF Performance

Oct 31, 2025 – Nov 2, 2026

−0.3%ITA−2.0%WDGF

Expense ratio: ITA 0.37%, better; WDGF 0.45%
Fund size: ITA $12.2B; WDGF $5M
1Y total return: ITA −0.3%, better; WDGF −2.0%
Yield (12M): ITA 0.26%; WDGF No data
Holdings: ITA 52; WDGF 138
Avg volume (30D): ITA 747K sh, better; WDGF 1.17K sh
NAV per share: ITA $209.66; WDGF $30.76
52W range

ETF.net Grade

Pillar letters and Scores for ITA, WDGF, with each pillar’s weight
Pillar	ITA	WDGF
Cost30% weight	A80Higher	B66
Mission25% weight	A76	Not scored
Risk15% weight	B62Higher	B60
Tradability15% weight	A96Higher	D29
Holdings10% weight	D34	A70Higher
Durability5% weight	A98Higher	C40

Rank among Defense & Aerospace funds

How we build Categories ›

Same Category. ITA and WDGF 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 ›

ITA ranks 2nd and WDGF 7th 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 6BIDEFiShares Defense Industrials ActScore 58
Rank 7BWDGFWisdomTree Global Defense FundScore 56
Rank 8BSHLDGlobal X Defense Tech ETFScore 55

Our read on each fund

ETF.net Research

ITAAiShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF

WDGFBWisdomTree Global 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.

WDGF No data

Stated mandate

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

WDGF No data

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.

WDGF No data

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

WDGF No data

Full ITA profile⁠

Full WDGF profile⁠

ITA vs WDGF Holdings

How ITA and WDGF differ

Overlap by weight

41.8%

Shared holdings make up 64.6% of ITA and 44.3% of WDGF.

Level by level

Holdings31 in both41.8%
Countryby domicile55.0%
Asset classEquity100%

Sector

No Sector split for WDGF.

Country, concentration and asset class

Country by domicile

Country weights in ITA and WDGF, widest gap first
Country	More in ITAMore in WDGF	ITA	WDGF
United States	ITA +45.0 points	100.0%	55.0%
United Kingdom	WDGF +9.5 points	0.0%	9.5%
India	WDGF +6.2 points	0.0%	6.2%
Germany	WDGF +6.0 points	0.0%	6.0%
South Korea	WDGF +5.7 points	0.0%	5.7%
France	WDGF +5.5 points	0.0%	5.5%
Israel	WDGF +2.8 points	0.0%	2.8%
Italy	WDGF +2.2 points	0.0%	2.2%
Other countries (10)	WDGF +7.2 points	0.0%	7.2%

Outside the US: WDGF 64% developed, 36% emerging.

Concentration

Weight in the 10 largest Holdings

ITA76.3%
WDGF48.7%

Securities held

ITA50
WDGF124

Asset class

ITA: Equity
WDGF: Equity

Holdings

Only in ITA19
In both31
Only in WDGF93

Only in ITA

19 securities, 35.4% of ITA by weight

Ge Aerospace20.02%
Howmet Aerospace4.01%
Axon Enterprise2.67%
Ati1.73%
Ftai Aviation1.48%
Heico Class A1.38%
Carpenter Technology1.08%
Bwx Technologies Inc0.92%
Hexcel0.45%
Standardaero0.40%
Vse Corp0.32%
Archer Aviation Class A0.21%
V2X0.19%
Beta Technologies Class A0.18%
Astronics0.16%
Cadre Holdings0.07%
Sturm Ruger0.05%
Smith Wesson Brands Inc0.05%
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc Shs C0.03%

Only in WDGF

93 securities, 55.5% of WDGF by weight

Palantir Technologies Inc-A5.50%
BAE Systems PLC5.22%
Thales SA4.98%
Rheinmetall AG4.86%
Saab Ab-B2.89%
Elbit Systems Ltd2.51%
Leonardo Spa2.49%
Kongsberg Gruppen Asa2.46%
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC2.16%
Dassault Aviation Sa1.94%
Hanwha Techwin Co Ltd1.29%
Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd1.20%
CACI International Inc1.07%
Bharat Electronics Ltd0.96%
SAIC Inc0.92%
Hensoldt Ag0.88%
Babcock & Wilcox Co/The0.85%
Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd0.69%
Indra Sistemas SA0.64%
Babcock International Group PL0.52%
Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Co0.51%
Tkms Ag& Co Kgaa0.47%
Science Applications International Corp0.45%
Viasat Inc0.45%
CAE Inc0.42%
Melrose Industries Plc0.40%
Amentum Holdings Inc0.40%
TTM Technologies Inc0.39%
Korea Aerospace Industries Ltd0.38%
Next Vision Stabilized Syste0.37%
Renk Group Ag0.33%
LIG Nex1 Co Ltd0.32%
Hyundai Rotem Co Ltd0.30%
ESCO Technologies Inc0.30%
QinetiQ Group PLC0.29%
Parsons Corp0.28%
Hanwha Systems Co Ltd0.25%
Ondas Inc0.25%
Fincantieri Spa0.25%
Planet Labs Pbc0.22%
Iridium Communications Inc0.22%
KBR Inc0.21%
Exosens Sas0.21%
Theon International Plc0.20%
Vectrus Inc0.20%
Applied Aerospace & Defense0.17%
Chemring Group PLC0.17%
Exail Technologies0.16%
Csg Nv0.15%
Serco Group PLC0.15%

Weight gaps

All 31 Holdings in both funds, largest gap first.

Holding weights in ITA and WDGF, widest gap first
Holding	More in ITAMore in WDGF	ITA	WDGF
RtxRTX	ITA +12.24 points	17.22%	4.98%
BoeingBA	ITA +4.74 points	6.83%	2.09%
Transdigm GroupTDG	ITA +2.23 points	4.77%	2.54%
Honeywell Aerospace IncHONA	ITA +1.26 points	3.75%	2.49%
HeicoHEI	WDGF +0.92 points	1.01%	1.93%
Rocket Lab CorpRKLB	ITA +0.76 points	2.31%	1.55%
Leonardo Drs IncDRS	WDGF +0.54 points	0.22%	0.76%
WoodwardWWD	ITA +0.50 points	1.38%	0.88%
Textron IncTXT	ITA +0.38 points	1.13%	0.75%
Moog Inc Class AMOG.A	ITA +0.29 points	0.77%	0.48%
Northrop Grumman CorpNOC	WDGF +0.27 points	5.06%	5.33%
General Dynamics CorpGD	WDGF +0.25 points	4.95%	5.20%
Lockheed MartinLMT	WDGF +0.18 points	5.69%	5.87%
Loar HoldingsLOAR	WDGF +0.14 points	0.17%	0.31%
Karman Holdings IncKRMN	WDGF +0.12 points	0.38%	0.50%
AarAIR	ITA +0.11 points	0.31%	0.20%
L3HARRIS TechnologiesLHX	ITA +0.10 points	3.97%	3.87%
RedwireRDW	ITA +0.04 points	0.16%	0.12%
Intuitive Machines Inc Class ALUNR	ITA +0.04 points	0.13%	0.09%
Mercury Systems IncMRCY	WDGF +0.04 points	0.33%	0.37%
AerovironmentAVAV	WDGF +0.03 points	0.37%	0.40%
York Space Systems IncYSS	ITA +0.02 points	0.04%	0.02%
Huntington Ingalls IndustriesHII	ITA +0.03 points	0.96%	0.93%
National Presto Industries IncNPK	WDGF +0.01 points	0.06%	0.07%
Kratos Defense and Security SolutiKTOS	WDGF +0.02 points	0.59%	0.61%
Curtiss WrightCW	ITA +0.01 points	1.35%	1.34%
Red Cat Holdings IncRCAT	ITA +0.01 points	0.05%	0.04%
DucommunDCO	WDGF +0.01 points	0.17%	0.18%
Arxis Class AARXS	Same weight	0.19%	0.19%
Firefly AerospaceFLY	Same weight	0.13%	0.13%
Voyager Technologies Class AVOYG	Same weight	0.11%	0.11%

All 50 ITA holdings⁠All WDGF 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.

ITA vs WDGF Cost

Overpaying WDGF vs ITA

$1,528

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

ITA 0.37%
$7,513
WDGF 0.45%
$9,041

Amount$10,000

Years30 years

Cost over time

ITA 0.37%
WDGF 0.45%
Overpaying

Year by year

Year	ITA	WDGF	Overpaying
10	$670	$812	$142
20	$2,590	$3,128	$538
30	$7,513	$9,041	$1,528

Expense ratio

0.37%ITA, cheaper
0.45%WDGF

ITA0.37%WDGF0.45%

0.35%1.11%

Middle half of Defense & Aerospace funds
Median 0.50%

ITA 5th cheapest of 25 funds

WDGF 7th cheapest of 25 funds

ITA vs WDGF Dividends

Last 12 months to Nov 2, 2026

Yield (12M): ITA 0.26%; WDGF No data
Payout (12M): ITA $0.57; WDGF No data
Last payment: ITA $0.25; WDGF $0.02
Ex-dividend: ITA Sep 15, 2026; WDGF Dec 26, 2025
Paid on: ITA Sep 18, 2026; WDGF Dec 30, 2025
Frequency: ITA Quarterly; WDGF Irregular

Distribution history

Per share, 2017 to 2026, same scale for both

ITAQuarterly · 39 paymentsAll ITA payments⁠

WDGFIrregular · 1 paymentAll WDGF payments⁠

ITA vs WDGF Risk

Fall from peak · 5 years

This chart needs five years of history for both funds.

Risk facts

VolatilityStd dev, 3 years: ITA 18.5%WDGF 22.3%since Oct 2025
Return per unit of riskSharpe ratio, 3 years: ITA 1.06WDGF −0.26since Oct 2025
Worst fallMax drawdown, 5 years: ITA −20.0%WDGF −19.9%since Sep 2025
Market sensitivityBeta, 5 years: ITA 0.98WDGF 0.43; Market = 1

ITA and WDGF in the news

All news⁠

News
GE Aerospace raises its 2026 profit forecast again
Oct 20, 2026ITA
News
Navy awards Raytheon an SM-6 contract valued at up to $24.4 billion
Oct 1, 2026ITA
News
Boeing beats Northrop for a Navy fighter development deal of more than $20 billion
Sep 29, 2026ITA
News
Turkish Airlines firms 100 Boeing 737 MAX jets, with deliveries from 2033
Sep 23, 2026ITA
Deep Dive
Defense & Aerospace ETFs nearly doubled in three years. September's losses came from different names
Sep 21, 2026ITA
Deep Dive
ITA fell with Boeing, SHLD rose with Palantir last week
Sep 20, 2026ITA

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ITA vs WDGF

In short

Stated mandate

Why people hold it