ARK Space and Defense Rockets Past Invesco Aerospace and Defense. Which ETF is Better? |

The Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF (PPA 1.44%) offers a lower-cost, lower-volatility approach to defense than theARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (ARKX 3.47%), which prioritizes high-growth technology companies disrupting the space sector.

Both funds target the expanding aerospace and defense industries but take fundamentally different paths. While ARKX actively hunts for disruptive innovation across space exploration and orbital technologies, PPA follows a more established index-based strategy, favoring traditional U.S. defense contractors and homeland security firms that provide a more stable market profile.

Snapshot (cost & size)

Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield.

The Invesco fund is more affordable for long-term holders, with a 0.58% expense ratio compared to the ARK fund’s 0.75%. This price gap reflects the difference between active management and index tracking.

Performance & risk comparison

What’s inside

The Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF is a seasoned fund launched in 2005 that tracks an index of 61 U.S. defense and homeland security holdings. Its portfolio is heavily concentrated in industrials at 91%, with just 9% in technology. Its largest positions include The Boeing Company (BA 0.85%) at 8.7%, GE Aerospace (GE 0.70%) at 8.3%, and RTX (RTX 1.97%) at 6.9%. Over the trailing 12 months, it paid $0.66 per share in dividends. With $8 billion in assets under management (AUM), it offers significantly greater scale and liquidity than newer, thematic competitors.

In contrast, the ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF was launched in 2021 and manages $717.3 million in assets under management (AUM). It holds a tighter basket of 45 positions and has not paid a dividend over the trailing 12 months. The portfolio has a smaller industrial tilt at 56% while carrying significant technology exposure at 27% and 8% in communication services. Top holdings include Rocket Lab USA (RKLB 6.48%) at 8.7%, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD +2.58%) at 7.9%, and L3Harris Technologies (LHX 3.05%) at 7.1%. This composition reflects an active management style that targets disruptive space technologies and innovation rather than just traditional defense contractors.

Which fund is the better buy?

Not all ETFs are alike, even when they cover the same sector.

The key difference between the Invesco Aerospace & Defense ETF and the ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF is that the Invesco offering is a passively managed ETF meant to reflect an index, the SPADE Defense Index, while the ARK offering is actively managed, meaning a person or team is making decisions to shift assets among its investment landscape. Indeed, the weightings of ARKX’s top 10 holdings have changed notably since the end of the first quarter, with some stocks weighted more heavily other more lightly, and some replaced by new names in the top holdings list.

The active hand is paying off. The year-to-date return of ARKX is about 19%, with a 54% one-year return, and a cumulative return since its early 2021 inception of close to 75%.

The Invesco fund has done decently, with year-to-date and 1-year returns of nearly 13% and 31%, respectively, but that’s left a lot of money on the table compared to the ARK ETF.

If you trust that the active managers who have posted such good returns are acting on skill and insight, then the ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF is the better choice, given the flexibility active management gives the fund to go in whatever direction the team sees fit to find profits. PPA, meanwhile, has to wait for the index company’s quarterly rebalancing to make any significant adjustments.

For more guidance on ETF investing, check out the full guide at this link.

Brendan Coffey has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Boeing, GE Aerospace, L3Harris Technologies, RTX, and Rocket Lab. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.