If you're interested in broad exposure to the Industrials - Aerospace & Defense segment of the equity market, look no further than the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA Quick QuoteITA - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on May 1, 2006.

Retail and institutional investors increasingly turn to passively managed ETFs because they offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; these kind of funds are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

Sector ETFs also provide investors access to a broad group of companies in particular sectors that offer low risk and diversified exposure. Industrials - Aerospace & Defense is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 3, placing it in top 19%.

Index Details

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $9.19 billion, making it one of the largest ETFs attempting to match the performance of the Industrials - Aerospace & Defense segment of the equity market. ITA seeks to match the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index before fees and expenses.

The Dow Jones U.S. Select Aerospace & Defense Index measures the performance of the aerospace and defense sector of the U.S. equity market.

Costs

Cost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.38%, making it one of the cheaper products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.55%.

Sector Exposure and Top Holdings

While ETFs offer diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk, a deep look into a fund's holdings is a valuable exercise. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Industrials sector -- about 99.9% of the portfolio.

Looking at individual holdings, Ge Aerospace (GE) accounts for about 21.22% of total assets, followed by Rtx Corp (RTX) and Boeing (BA).

The top 10 holdings account for about 75.99% of total assets under management.

Performance and Risk

So far this year, ITA return is roughly 37.13%, and was up about 40.45% in the last one year (as of 09/11/2025). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $135.31 and $200.16.

The ETF has a beta of 0.90 and standard deviation of 18.27% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 41 holdings, it has more concentrated exposure than peers.

Alternatives

iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, ITA is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Industrials ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) tracks S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index and the Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA) tracks SPADE Defense Index. SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF has $3.98 billion in assets, Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF has $6.26 billion. XAR has an expense ratio of 0.35%, and PPA charges 0.57%.

Bottom Line

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.