ETF comparison
ITA vs SHLD
Both Industrials.
iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF · Global X Defense Tech ETF
Holdings overlap
14 positions appear in both funds. Buying equal dollars of ITA and SHLD would leave roughly 32.6% of each dollar exposed to the same underlying securities.
Side by side
Sub-score comparison
Tracking quality isn't part of the composite — see what we don't score for why.
Cost difference
ITA is 12 bps cheaper than SHLD. On a $100,000 position that's about $120/yr more in fees for SHLD.
Fee figure is the annual expense charged on $100,000. To see how the gap compounds over a multi-decade holding period, open the cost calculator pre-filled with ITA vs SHLD.
Top shared holdings
14 shared in total| # | Holding | In ITA | In SHLD | Overlap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RTX CORPORATION | 16.55% | 7.92% | 7.92% |
| 2 | GENERAL DYNAMICS CORPORATION | 4.77% | 7.15% | 4.77% |
| 3 | L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | 4.66% | 4.91% | 4.66% |
| 4 | LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION | 4.58% | 9.46% | 4.58% |
| 5 | Northrop Grumman Corporation | 4.58% | 4.92% | 4.58% |
| 6 | BWX TECHNOLOGIES, INC. | 1.58% | 2.90% | 1.58% |
| 7 | HUNTINGTON INGALLS INDUSTRIES, INC. | 1.26% | 2.67% | 1.26% |
| 8 | KRATOS DEFENSE & SECURITY SOLUTIONS, INC. | 1.10% | 2.20% | 1.10% |
| 9 | MOOG INC. | 0.70% | 1.45% | 0.70% |
| 10 | KARMAN HOLDINGS INC. | 0.52% | 1.15% | 0.52% |
| 11 | AEROVIRONMENT, INC. | 0.49% | 1.45% | 0.49% |
| 12 | MERCURY SYSTEMS, INC. | 0.32% | 0.81% | 0.32% |
Only in ITA
30 total- GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY 19.03%
- THE BOEING COMPANY 8.91%
- TRANSDIGM GROUP INCORPORATED 4.53%
- HOWMET AEROSPACE INC. 4.50%
- AXON ENTERPRISE, INC. 2.83%
- ROCKET LAB CORPORATION 2.55%
- FTAI Aviation Ltd. 2.12%
- CURTISS-WRIGHT CORPORATION 2.12%
- WOODWARD, INC. 1.80%
- ATI INC 1.67%
Only in SHLD
35 total- Rheinmetall Aktiengesellschaft 6.78%
- PALANTIR TECHNOLOGIES INC. 5.60%
- BAE SYSTEMS PLC 4.60%
- HANWHA AEROSPACE CO., LTD. 4.24%
- THALES SA 4.17%
- LEONARDO - SOCIETA PER AZIONI 4.15%
- SAAB Aktiebolag 4.06%
- LEIDOS HOLDINGS, INC. 3.44%
- ELBIT SYSTEMS LTD 3.17%
- KOREA AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES, LTD. 1.45%
Open ITA or SHLD at a brokerage
Both funds trade commission-free at major US brokerages.
Affiliate links — opening an account through these earns PlainIndex a one-time referral. Scoring is computed before any affiliate consideration; see our methodology and funding disclosure.
Holdings overlap is the sum of min(weight_a, weight_b) over positions
matched on ISIN (CUSIP fallback). Methodology: see
/methodology/.
Comparing two funds doesn't endorse swapping one for the other. Tax-lot history, account type, and personal goals matter — PlainIndex publishes data and methodology, not investment advice.