MISL vs XAR

MISLCFirst Trust Indxx Aerospace & Defense ETF

XARAState Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF

In short

MISL First Trust's aerospace-and-defense sleeve: roughly 50 US-listed names tracking the Indxx US Aerospace & Defense Index. A 2022 arrival in a crowded aisle, priced a notch above the category median.

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

MISL The Fund seeks investment results corresponding generally to the price and yield of the Indxx US Aerospace & Defense Index and normally invests at least 80% of net assets in the stocks comprising that 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

• MISL Roughly 50 US aerospace and defense stocks, with at least 80% of net assets in the index names. Rules-based tracking, no manager hunches.ftportfolios.com
• Moderately traded rather than thin, which generally shows up as workable spreads on retail-size orders.
• Live since 2022 and run by First Trust, a long-established ETF shop. It sits in the upper half of the defense-theme funds we grade.

• 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

• MISL 0.60% a year sits above the category median of 0.50%, and cheaper US aerospace-and-defense trackers exist: XAR at 0.35%, ITA at 0.37%.
• One theme, one country. Results ride on defense budgets and aerospace cycles, and with about 50 names each holding carries real weight.
• Built for exposure, not income: distributions land annually or semiannually.

• 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 MISL profile⁠

Full XAR profile⁠