The Transformation of Defence into a Financial Sector
How thematic indexing and passive investment vehicles are transforming European defence from a specialised industrial sector into a standardized financial asset class.
23 pages · PDF · 10 March 2026 · Licensed single-user copy, watermarked to the buyer
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About this report
Over the past decade, the European defence sector has undergone a structural transformation in how it is perceived within global capital markets.
What was historically treated as a specialised segment of the aerospace and industrial sectors is increasingly being reframed as a distinct macro investment theme linked to geopolitical risk, long-term military expenditure, and technological competition among major powers.
Key questions this report answers
- How has the European defence sector been reframed from an aerospace and industrial segment into a distinct macro investment theme?
- How are defence indices constructed and defence ETFs used as financial infrastructure?
- How do ESG and ethics considerations re-legitimise defence investing?
- What does the indexation of rearmament imply for capital markets and European strategic autonomy?
Inside this report
- Introduction: The Return of Defence as an Investable Sector
- The Transformation of Defence into a Financial Sector
- The Construction of Defence Indices
- Defence ETFs as Financial Infrastructure
- ESG, Ethics, and the Re-Legitimization of Defence Investing
- Capital Markets, European Strategic Autonomy, and the Indexation of Rearmament
- Conclusion
Who it's for
Strategy, corporate-development and investment teams that need an ecosystem-level view — budgets, industrial capacity and technology landscapes — before committing capital or capacity.
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Methodology, format & delivery
DFM reports are built from primary and official sources — TED procurement notices, CORDIS and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, EIB operations, the NATO Innovation Fund portfolio, SIPRI data, official budget documents and company disclosures — read together with the underlying legal texts. Sources are cited in the document; it reflects them as of its publication date (10 March 2026). You receive a 23-page PDF, watermarked to you on every page, delivered on the confirmation page and by e-mail immediately after checkout (personal link valid 72 hours, up to 5 downloads). Guest checkout, single-user licence — Terms of Sale.
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