The European defense ETF from WisdomTree surpasses 500 million dollars in just two weeks
25 MAR, 2025
The WisdomTree Europe Defence UCITS ETF (WDEF) was launched on March 11, 2025. Since then, it has achieved 554 million dollars in new net flows in its first two weeks available and currently has 511 million in assets under management.
WisdomTree Europe Defence
The WisdomTree Europe Defence UCITS ETF aims to follow the evolution of price and profitability, before commissions and expenses, of the WisdomTree Europe Defence UCITS Index. The proprietary index is designed to track the performance of European companies that are related to the defence sector, which includes manufacturers of equipment, parts or civil defence products, defence electronics and space defence equipment.
The index seeks to exclude companies involved in controversial weapons banned by international law, such as cluster munitions, anti-personnel mines and biological and chemical weapons, as well as companies that violate the standards of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC, for its acronym in English). The WDEF is the first within this theme focused exclusively on European defence companies.
"The situation of defence in Europe is evolving rapidly. European governments are not making short-term reactive purchases, but seem to be redesigning their long-term defence strategies. The EU recently presented a comprehensive plan to mobilize €800,000 million to strengthen its defences, while military and political leaders support the creation of a £100,000 million Defence Security and Resilience bank for rearmament in the UK and Continental Europe. These are just two of many signs that we are at the beginning of a multi-year transformation," declares Adrià Beso, Director of Distribution in Europe for WisdomTree.
“Given the historical underdevelopment in defense investments in Europe, the WisdomTree Europe Defence UCITS ETF was created to capture the growth of Europe's defense expansion. Historically, Europe has relied on American defense contractors for advanced military technology, but changes in policy are now prioritizing national suppliers. The European Defense Industrial Strategy (EDIS) is driving a transition towards locally produced defense systems, with the aim of acquiring 50% of the EU's military equipment from European manufacturers by 2030, and 60% by 2035. Therefore, we expect that defense procurement in Europe will predominantly benefit European companies. This vision is reflected in the interest of investors in the ETF, which offers exposure to the best-positioned European companies to take advantage of this critical megatrend,” says Beso.
For the WisdomTree expert, “European defense stocks represent an industrial transformation that investors are still adapting to. The change in spending patterns, the restructuring of defense supply chains, and long-term contracts make European defense one of the strongest secular growth stories in the current market”.
