Future of Defence Report | February 2025

Defence and Aerospace ETF Key Takeaways

NATO members react to 5% of GDP proposal – The Trump Administration has called upon NATO member countries to increase their military spending to 5% of GDP, a point Trump reiterated in his speech at Davos on January 23rd. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte agrees that U.S. President Donald Trump is being “absolutely fair” to demand that European allies spend more on defence. Already Lithuania and Estonia have pledged to meet the 5% target, making those countries the highest spenders in percentage terms, surpassing Poland at 4.1%. Rutte says that countries that have still not yet the requisite 2% target, will need to get it done in the coming months. European spending sits at an average of 1.9%.

Europe must spend more on its own defence – The combination of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, and broader global power shifts requires that Europe must take a greater responsibility for its own security. The EU estimates that an additional €500 billion in defence investment is needed over the next decade. This is also an opportunity for Europe to secure strategic autonomy. But it requires collective action on two fronts: 1) a sustainable financing model for increased defence spending, and 2) a transformation of the European defence industry. Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis argues that to avoid deficit spending, defence expenditures should be excluded from fiscal targets. He is also calling for the creation of a new European Instrument, at least €100 billion in size, to finance collective defence requirements. He argues this financing would allow individual member states, and the EU as a whole, to address crucial weaknesses in their defence capabilities, strengthening Europe’s technological and industrial base. It would also visibly increase Europe’s contribution to NATO and strengthen transatlantic cooperation. Most importantly, it would signal Europe is united and determined and a global power to be reckoned with at a time when the geopolitical stakes for Europe have never been higher.

High food and energy costs straining defence ambitions – Pressing domestic spending priorities, as Europe faces high food and energy costs have constrained the ambitions of regional governments to increase funding for security and defence. Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that spending 5% of the national GDP on defence was a tall order. Sweden’s Finance Minister Elisabeth Svantesson noted that she had to weigh the desire for higher defence spending against the need for economic growth, which has been a challenge throughout much of Europe. Sweden, which joined as NATO’s newest member in 2024, announced it plans to increase defence spending to 2.4% of GDP in 2025 and 2.6% of economic output by 2028. One country in Trump’s target is Spain. The European Commission forecast a 3% expansion for the country’s economy last year, but Spain allocated just 1.28% of its GDP toward defence in 2024.

Germany pushes back on 5% target – German Defence Minister Boris Pistorious dismissed Trump’s call to hike defence spending to 5% calling it unrealistic and unnecessary. “Five percent of our economic output would equal 42 percent of the federal budget — that’s nearly every second euro the government spends, around €230 billion.” By contrast, the U.S. currently spends 3.4% of GDP.
“More important than a specific number is meeting NATO’s capability targets within the agreed timeline,” he said, pointing to alliance-wide decisions expected later this year that will shape defence commitments through the next decade. Adding to Germany’s reluctance is that it still does not have a federal budget plan in place for 2025. Germany is currently spending 2.12% of GDP on defence. It only just recently hit NATO’s 2% goal only, thanks to a €100 billion special defence fund launched after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But that fund is expected to run dry by 2027. The German economy is on the verge of a recession, growing at a meagre 0.1% in Q3, spurred by high energy costs tied to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

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

Company News – Earnings Analysis

Source: VettaFi as of 31.12.2024. Table displays expected data. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

Largest positive Q4 2024 earnings surprises

Source: VettaFi as of 31.12.2024.

Largest negative Q4 2024 earnings surprises

None to report yet.

Source: VettaFi as of 31.12.2024.

Macro Outlook

With a 5% of GDP target now set as a mutual goal for NATO to achieve, Europe must enact collective action on two fronts: 1) arriving at a sustainable financing model for increased defence spending, and 2) a transformation of the European defence industry. A few initiatives that have been floated on the financing side have been a European Defence Bank and a collective European Financing Instrument. To scale up European defence, the key is to move towards greater cooperation and integration between member states, creating a more unified defence market where countries jointly develop, procure, and produce military equipment. This would promote economies of scale and enhanced capabilities across the continent, while focusing on shared priorities like air and missile defence and cybersecurity. Key elements to achieve these goals include: joint procurement, R&D collaboration, standardization, defence industrial base consolidation, EU coordination, and the elimination of political barriers that limit defence coordination.

Defence and Aerospace ETF Performance
As of 31/01/2025

NATO (Fund)NATONTR (Index)
1M3.75%3.79%
3M0.22%0.33%
6M8.85%9.09%
YTD17.60%17.95%
12M20.52%21.06%
3Y173.73%177.90%
Since Inception (03/07/2023)178.88%183.26%


Please note that all performance figures are showing net data. Source: Bloomberg / HANetf. Data as of 31.08.2026

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.

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