VanEck Defense UCITS ETF is a equity ETF from VanEck tracking the Defense index through physical replication. Domiciled in Ireland and launched in 2023, the fund manages about 6 bn € and charges a TER of 0.55% — 55 € per year on a €10,000 investment. Income is automatically reinvested in the fund (accumulating).
VanEck Defense UCITS ETF competes with 175 other products in the same class and region (Equity, Global): it ranks 8th by fund size and 130th by ongoing cost, with a TER of 0.55% against a group median of 0.40%. It has been listed since 2023, 3 years of track record.
On a €10,000 investment the TER costs 55 € a year, against 40 € for the median product in the category.
Replication is physical: the fund holds the underlying securities directly. The ten largest positions account for 57.8% of the portfolio.
Income is accumulated: no distribution is paid out, the share price absorbs it. In a savings plan this removes the need to reinvest dividends by hand. The fund is denominated in EUR. That is not the same as currency risk: the exposure comes from the currencies of the underlying holdings, not from the denomination or the trading currency of a given listing.
Irish domicile lets the fund apply the Ireland–US tax treaty, with 15% withholding instead of 30% on US dividends received by the fund.
| RTX Corporation | 9.0% |
| Palantir Technologies Inc. | 7.5% |
| Thales S.A. | 6.9% |
| Curtiss-Wright Corporation | 6.1% |
| Leonardo S.p.A. | 6.0% |
| Elbit Systems Ltd | 5.7% |
| Hanwha Aerospace Co Ltd | 5.2% |
| Saab AB (publ) | 4.8% |
| SINGAPORE TECH ENGINEERING LTD | 3.4% |
| Kongsberg Gruppen ASA | 3.2% |
| Borsa Italiana | DFNS | EUR |
| XETRA | DFEN | EUR |
| London Stock Exchange | DFNS | USD |
| London Stock Exchange | DFNG | GBP |
| Euronext Paris | DFNS | EUR |
| SIX Swiss Exchange | DFNS | CHF |
Source: the fund's KID and the issuer's official documentation — data verified as of July 2026.
This page is informational and is not an investment recommendation. Figures may contain errors or be out of date: always check the KID and the issuer's factsheet before any decision.