By Sudip Kar-Gupta
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Belgium’s state-owned financial firm Belfius said on Tuesday it would invest in defence companies headquartered in NATO countries, as fund managers tap into Europe’s race to re-arm itself in light of the Russia-Ukraine war.
“By focusing on investments in defence companies headquartered in NATO countries, Belfius intends to offer a clear framework. NATO includes Europe’s main strategic allies in terms of defence,” said Belfius in a statement.
“In this way, Belfius is ensuring that it supports an industry that is essential to the Alliance’s defence capabilities, while avoiding opening the door to players whose interests might diverge,” it added.
Belfius’ move comes as many European asset managers reconsider policies on investing in defence, after U.S. President Donald Trump demanded more military spending from European NATO states, and as Europe in turn has aimed to become less reliant on the United States’ military help.
The EU’s spending boost has sent European aerospace and defence stocks including Germany’s Rheinmetall and Italy’s Leonardo to record highs along with the sector index, while the VanEck Defense UCITS exchange traded fund is up nearly 23% since the start of the year.
Belfius, which has nearly 200 billion euros ($218.6 billion) worth of savings and investments, declined to say how much it was targeting in terms of its defence-related investments but said it was backing the EU’s military spending plan.
“Belfius supports the European Commission’s European Defence Industrial Strategy,” it said.
($1 = 0.9147 euros)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by David Evans)
