- Sector
- Financial Services
- Industry
- Asset Management - Global
- Address
- 250 West 34th Street, 3rd Floor New York NY United States of America 10119
- IPO Date
- Jul 17, 2025
- Business
- WisdomTree Europe Defence UCITS ETF WisdomTree Europe Defence UCITS ETF (WDEF) is an exchange-traded fund that tracks the WisdomTree Europe Defence UCITS Index, providing investors with targeted exposure to European companies engaged in the defence sector, including manufacturers of military equipment, defence electronics, aerospace systems, and space defence technologies; it employs full physical replication, holding a diversified basket of at least 20 qualifying stocks weighted by free-float market capitalization adjusted for revenue exposure to defence activities, while excluding firms involved in controversial weapons such as cluster munitions, antipersonnel landmines, biological or chemical weapons, depleted uranium, or white phosphorus, as well as those violating UN Global Compact principles. Launched on 4 March 2025 and domiciled in Ireland under the WisdomTree Issuer ICAV umbrella, the accumulating ETF, with a total expense ratio of 0.40%, primarily invests in large-cap industrials from countries like Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, such as Rheinmetall AG, BAE Systems, Leonardo SpA, and Thales SA, serving institutional and retail investors seeking thematic equity exposure amid rising European geopolitical tensions and NATO spending commitments. Recent developments include surpassing USD3 billion in assets under management by late June 2025, just three months after inception, reflecting strong demand for its pure-play defence theme; listings on multiple exchanges including Börse Xetra, Borsa Italiana, London Stock Exchange, and others under tickers WDEF, WDEP, and EUDF; and WisdomTree's expansion of its defence ETF suite with complementary products like a U.S.-listed version, a triple-leveraged ETP, and global/Asia-Pacific variants launched in 2025.