WAR vs XAR

WARCU.S. Global Technology and Aerospace & Defense ETF

XARAState Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF

In short

WAR Most defense funds buy the primes. WAR's bet is that modern warfare runs on chips, code and data centers, so it pairs aerospace and defense names with semiconductors and cybersecurity in one active, roughly 30-stock portfolio.

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

WAR The Fund seeks capital appreciation. It invests at least 80% of net assets in technology and aerospace and defense equities, emphasizing companies whose products, services, or innovations support national defense, including aerospace, physical, and cybersecurity 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

• WAR Defense plus the tech behind it: aerospace and defense manufacturers sit alongside semiconductors, cybersecurity, data centers and electronic warfare names.globenewswire.com
• Actively managed, not a fixed defense index: managers pick names with quantitative screens and fundamental research, benchmarked to the S&P 500 Total Return Index.usfunds.comusglobaletfs.com
• Roughly 30 holdings, so each position carries real weight. A concentrated take on the theme rather than a watered-down basket.

• 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

• WAR 0.60% a year runs a touch above the typical global thematic fund. That is the tab for an active manager rather than an index.
• Non-diversified and deliberately concentrated, so a rough stretch for chipmakers can drag it even when defense spending holds up.globenewswire.com
• Launched at the end of 2024 and still a small, lightly traded fund: short track record, and spreads can be wider than in the category giants.

• 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 WAR profile⁠

Full XAR profile⁠