JEDI vs XAR

JEDIDDrone and Modern Warfare ETF

XARAState Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF

In short

JEDI Pure-play drone warfare: about 50 developed-market names earning at least half their revenue from military drones, unmanned systems, AI warfare and satellites. It also won room in 2026 to hold private defense tech, up to 15% of assets.

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

JEDI The Fund seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the BITA Drone & Modern Warfare Select 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

• JEDI Unusual for an index fund: up to 15% of assets can sit in privately issued defense-tech shares, held directly or via single-asset SPVs run by unaffiliated sponsors.defianceetfs.comglobenewswire.com
• Pure play by construction: index names must draw at least 50% of revenue from drones, unmanned systems, electronic warfare, ISR, military satellites, cyber or eVTOL.sec.govdefianceetfs.com
• Weighted by a liquidity-momentum factor rather than raw market cap, rescreened semi-annually, with room to add fresh IPOs between rebalances.sec.gov
• Any private position is disclosed in the fund's daily holdings file, same as the listed names.globenewswire.com

• 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

• JEDI Fees run 0.99%, above the defense category median and above broad peers XAR (0.35%) and ITA (0.37%). Niche access is what the premium buys.
• Private holdings count as illiquid under Rule 22e-4 and are valued by the adviser, not a live market. That sleeve is capped at 15% of net assets.defianceetfs.comglobenewswire.com
• A 2025 launch, so the record is short, and about 50 non-diversified names in one theme means a single headline can swing it.barchart.com

• 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 JEDI profile⁠

Full XAR profile⁠