Future of Defence Report | October 2024

Defence and Aerospace ETF Key Takeaways

New NATO chief advocates for increased spending – Former Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte has taken over as the new General Secretary of NATO. Rutte was the Dutch PM from 2010 to 2024 and is a well-known consummate diplomat and consensus-builder known as “Teflon Mark”. This may be quickly put to the test given the external and internal vulnerabilities within the NATO alliance. Rutte will encourage NATO’s 32 members to increase defence spending and their investment in defence technology and equipment. His main three priorities are: 1) Keep NATO strong and ensure defences remain effective and credible against all threats which will require more investment, 2) To step up support for Ukraine and bring it close to NATO, and 3) Strengthen partnerships withing the alliance, particularly among EU countries with similar values in the spirit of “team effort”.

Report suggests EU buying too much abroad – A landmark report on EU competitiveness warns that EU countries are buying too much of their defence equipment abroad, with almost two thirds of it coming from the US, and failing to invest enough in joint military projects. The 27 EU member states are also failing to make best use of Europe’s R&D capacities to modernize their armed forces, with just a fraction the level of U.S. investment, found the report by former Italian prime minister and European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi. The EU is now in its third-year post Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to “jump-start” the European defence industry. The report argues that Europe is wasting its common resources and collective spending power and should be investing more to help create strong European defence firms. “We are still not joining forces in the defence industry to help our companies to integrate and reach scale,” it said. The report pointed out that “we also do not favour competitive European defence companies.” The report notes that, between mid-2022 and mid-2023, 63% of all EU defence orders were placed with U.S. companies, and a further 15% with other non-EU suppliers. As a recent example, the Netherlands joined a list of EU members ordering big budget U.S.-made F-35 warplanes.

Europe’s ESG funds double defence holdings – The value of European sustainable investment funds’ exposure to defence stocks has more than doubled since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as policymakers push the need for a strong defence industrial base. About a third of funds in Europe and the UK focused on environmental, social and governance issues now have €7.7bn invested in the sector, compared with €3.2bn in the first quarter of 2022, according to an analysis for the Financial Times by Morningstar Direct. Although the rise in value is in part due to the share prices of defence companies soaring since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many investors have also bought into the argument from governments that backing arms makers, long the subject of boycotts and student protests, should carry positive social connotations rather than exclusively downside risk. Morningstar’s analysis also shows the number of European ESG funds holding more than 5% in aerospace and defence companies tripled, going from 22 to 66 in the past two years.

Sources available upon request. Please remember that when you invest in ETFs, your capital is at risk.

Macro Outlook

Faced with the reality of growing aggression around the world, NATO countries, particularly those in Europe who have underinvested in defence for years, will be ramping up military spending to catch up and restore depleted military stocks.  All of this is benefiting defence companies such as Thales, BAE Systems, Saab, and Rheinmetall in Europe and US contractors such as Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, and RTX. Total military expenditures rose to a record $2.4 trillion in 2023, and this year is on track for more record spending levels.

New NATO Chief Mark Rutte will be promoting more military spending and investment in defence readiness.  Clearly there is also a push for Europe to rely less on outside military support and equipment and work together to scale and leverage their collective spending power to build strong European defence companies and military defence platforms.   Evolving European attitudes about defence are also spilling over into investment allocations, as about a third of “ESG” funds have not investment have €7.7bn invested in the sector, compared with €3.2bn in the first quarter of 2022, according to Morningstar.  Although the rise in allocations is due in part to the share price increases of defence companies since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, many investors have also bought into the argument from governments that backing arms makers carries positive social connotations in defence of NATO values and Western security.

Defence and Aerospace ETF Performance
As of 30/09/2024

NATO (Fund)NATONTR (Index)
1M-4.22%-4.20%
3M2.19%2.32%
6M9.28%9.51%
YTD12.64%13.00%
12M5.47%5.90%
3Y169.33%173.43%
Since Inception (03/07/2023)167.11%171.37%

Please note that all performance figures are showing net data. Source: Bloomberg / HANetf. Data as of 30/09/2024

Performance before inception is based on back-tested data. Backtesting is the process of evaluating an investment strategy by applying it to historical data to simulate what the performance of such a strategy would have been. Back-tested data does not represent actual performance and should not be interpreted as an indication of actual or future performance. Past performance for the index is in USD. Past performance is not an indicator for future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product. Investors should read the prospectus of the Issuer (“Prospectus”) before investing and should refer to the section of the Prospectus entitled ‘Risk Factors’ for further details of risks associated with an investment in this product. When you invest in ETFs and ETCs, your capital is at risk.

Wie man kauft