The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA), dominated by commercial aerospace giants like GE Aerospace and Boeing, has underperformed the equal-weighted SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) in 2024 despite a strong defense spending environment. ITA's concentration in commercial-heavy stocks limits its gains, while XAR's equal-weighting allows smaller pure-play defense firms to boost returns, with XAR up 17.27% YTD versus ITA's 10.73%. Investors should consider tax implications and account type when switching, as XAR offers broader exposure and has historically outperformed ITA over the long term.
Mar Vista Investment Partners' U.S. Quality strategy posted a net return of +12.71% in the second quarter of 2026, underperforming the Russell 1000 and S&P 500 indexes, which returned +15.14% and +15.20%, respectively. Key contributors to the portfol...
GE Aerospace's stock has gained 16.95% year-to-date through July 10, 2026, driven by a strong aerospace supercycle and rising defense budgets. However, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLI), a broad industrial ETF, slightly outperformed with a...
Mar Vista Investment Partners' U.S. Quality Premier strategy delivered a strong net return of 10.15% in the second quarter of 2026. Key contributors to this performance included GE Aerospace, Alphabet, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, which ap...
