ITA vs XAR

ITAAiShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF

XARAState Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF

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.

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

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

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

• 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.

• 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

• 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

• 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 ITA profile⁠

Full XAR profile⁠