Invest in Europe’s long-term security
A dedicated ETF designed to give investors precise access to Europe’s growing defence sector
Europe is undergoing a profound structural transformation – financially, industrially, and geopolitically. After decades of underinvestment, the continent is now rapidly rebuilding its military capabilities, as evidenced by high-profile strategic initiatives such as the European Commission’s EUR 800 billion Readiness 2030 defence package1, in response to rising geopolitical uncertainty. This push to enhance its military capabilities across the region has been prompted by several recent developments, including the ongoing geopolitical conflict in Ukraine and the prospect of the US taking a less prominent role in the NATO2 alliance.
For investors, the result is one of the most significant structural growth stories in Europe today as European R&D3 defence spending is set to grow 5%-10% a year by 20304. And one of the most effective ways to seize this opportunity could be through a specialised ETF5 that aims to capture the breadth and depth of defence and related companies involved.
Source: Towards a Massive Increase in European Military Spending? Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS), 16 June 2025. Consolidated data sourced from European Defence Agency, Defence ministries of countries studied, Le Monde.
An easy way to access European defense exposure
With a pure-play European defence ETF, we offer a thematic strategy exclusively invested in defence to capture this evolving long-term structural trend.
Our BNP Paribas Easy Bloomberg Europe Defense ETF is designed to meet investors’ demand for exposure in this space while applying a differentiated market capitalisation weighting (a 12% cap per stock for the Top 5 holdings, for instance) that reflects the index methodology6.
In doing so, it offers all the advantages of ETF investing, from continuous listing and trading to transparency and low costs. Visit our fund centre to learn more about BNP Paribas Easy Bloomberg Europe Defense ETF.
Source: BNP Paribas Asset Management as of April 2026. Any views expressed here are those of the author as of the date of publication, based on available information, and subject to change without notice. This material does not constitute investment advice. No information given or any term used herein shall be interpreted to provide such a guarantee or protection.
1. Contribute towards Europe’s secular defence initiative
The long-term, reliable nature of government defence spending programmes will help companies develop high-visibility investment plans. Among those, European defence contractors will be heavily favoured compared with businesses based elsewhere globally, and their potential to grow revenues and profit margins could be high. The selection of stocks combines a quantitative segmentation of companies into three buckets based on their medium-term defence revenue and a comprehensive theme-eligibility selection, followed by an individual analysis of each company’s market position.
Source: Bloomberg LP, BNP Paribas Asset Management, April 2026
2. Take into account the European Union’s substantial plans for defence-related structural investments
After decades of falling short of NATO’s recommended annual target for European defence spending of 2% of GDP⁷, 23 of NATO’s 32 members were on track to meet the funding target in 2025. And earlier the same year, the European Commission announced an initiative to mobilise as much as EUR 800 billion over the next four years for defence investments by European Union member states.
Source: European Commission, March 2025. Security Action for Europe (SAFE), Council of the European Union, May 2025.
3. Benefit from BNP Paribas Asset Management’s experience, innovation and expertise in index funds, notably thematic ETFs
We are a major player in the index-funds and ETF industry in Europe and one of the leaders when it comes to thematic investing. With the BNP Paribas Easy range, we launched our first thematic ETF in 2008, totalling €2.091 billion in assets under management.8
Source: BNP Paribas Asset Management, as of 31 March 2026. Assets under management encompasses both ETFs and index solutions. AXA Investment Managers data integrated. Rounded to the nearest whole number.
Team and expertise
With more than 30 years of experience in index management, BNP Paribas Asset Management is among the leading players in thematic and ESG9 ETFs10.
Our dedicated ETF team consists of 18 portfolio managers with an average of 17 years of industry experience11. Team members benefit from support and access to BNP Paribas Asset Management’s company-wide resources, including our Sustainability Centre, Quantitative Research Group, and Macro Research team.
Investment risks
Investments are subject to market fluctuations and other risks inherent to investing in securities. The value of investments and the income they generate may rise or fall and it is possible that investors may not recover their initial investment. The strategy may be exposed to specific risks, including Equity Risk.
For a complete description and definition of the strategy’s generic and specific risks, please refer to the Prospectus and KID.
BNP Paribas Easy Bloomberg Europe Defence ETF
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[1] Defence Readiness Omnibus – Defence Industry and Space, 17 June 2025
[2] NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization
[3] R&D = Research and Development
[4] European Defence Agency
[5] ETF = Exchange-Traded Fund
[6] Prospectus and KID are leading
[7] GDP = Gross Domestic Product
[8, 10, 11] BNP Paribas Asset Management as of 31 March 2026
[9] ESG = Environmental, Social and Governance. ESG assessments are based on BNPP AM’s proprietary methodology which integrates all 3 aspects of E, S & G
Important information
Marketing communication. For professional investors only.
Past performance or achievement is not indicative of current or future performance. Performance is calculated net of fees unless otherwise stated.
Any views expressed here are those of the author as of the date of publication, based on available information, and subject to change without notice. This material does not constitute investment advice.
Investments are subject to market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investments in securities. The value of investments and the income they generate may go down as well as up and it is possible that investors will not recover their initial investment. There is no guarantee that the performance objective will be achieved.
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment risk: The lack of common or harmonised definitions and labels integrating ESG and sustainability criteria at EU level may result in different approaches by managers when setting ESG objectives. This also means that it may be difficult to compare strategies integrating ESG and sustainability criteria to the extent that the selection and weightings applied to select investments may be based on metrics that may share the same name but have different underlying meanings. In evaluating a security based on the ESG and sustainability criteria, the Investment Manager may also use data sources provided by external ESG research providers. Given the evolving nature of ESG, these data sources may for the time being be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable. Applying responsible business conduct standards in the investment process may lead to the exclusion of securities of certain issuers. Consequently, performance may at times be better or worse than the performance of relatable strategies that do not apply such standards.
This is not an exhaustive list of risks. For a complete description and definition of risks, please consult a client relationship manager or the global BNP Paribas Asset Management website: staging.bnpparibas-am.co.uk.