It didn’t have to be patient. Remember, on March 20, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Eric Lombard, announced the main lines of a new strategy to allow the French to finance, via their savings, companies in the national defense sector. And in just four months, these announcements have been emulated: “From March 20, there has been a 180 -degree turn, with, since then, an increasing craze for investment funds dedicated to defense, but also more events, conferences, symposia on the subject. The world of investment is massively reinforced in defense ”notes Pierre-Elie Frossard, co-founder of the Souvtech-Invest platform.
A sign of this turn, several players in the world of finance have put themselves in working order to adapt their offer and offer products which now allow volunteers to invest their economies in our industrial and technological defense base (ILOD). Here is, in mid-year, a review of these investments.
New investment funds accessible in life insurance
This was the main initiative of the government: encouraging the creation of so -called Equity investment funds. The aim of this type of fund is to collect the savings of individuals to invest in unlisted companies on the stock market, as are the vast majority of our 4,500 companies (VSE, SMEs and ETI) in the defense sector. The first fund of this kind to be created will be the Tikehau “Defense and Security” fund, announced on June 16, and which will be accessible via account units (UC) of life and retirement savings contracts for three partner partner in September 2025: Société Générale Assurances, CNP Assurances and the Carac group.
The second fund which should see the light of day is that of Bpifrance, whose creation had been announced on the occasion of the day dedicated to the financing of the BitD, at the Ministry of the Economy. This new fund, called Bpifrance Defense, will be accessible from 500 euros, and open to “direct” subscription from Bpifrance. According to our information, he was born, too, in September, but could be delayed by a few months, according to a good connoisseur in the sector.
Invest in a basket of listed companies
For investment in listed companies this time, savers can also turn to ETF concentrated on the defense sector in Europe, and which have appeared in recent months. Among them, there are for example the ETF WisdomTree Europe Defense, launched from March 11, 2025, and which exceeded, in three months of existence, the $ 3 billion in management under management. Inside this fund, 20 to 25 large European companies in the sector (Rheinmetall, Leonardo, Bae Systems, Thales, Safran, etc.) whose stock market performance is replicated by ETF.
Since its launch, this “Tracker” has displayed a performance of +24%, with further potential for rising, according to Pierre Debru, research manager for Europe at Wisdomtree : “We see an acceleration of the announcements of European governments on the defense, the European Commission said that it will be necessary to invest more, Germany has already released its constraints in terms of debt, and a few weeks ago, the NATO summit led to an increase of 2% to 5% from the part of GDP to devote to defense for member countries.” In other words, these companies’ order books should continue to fill in the years to come. Among the other ETFs launched recently in the same sector, we can cite the Amundi Stoxx Europe Defense fund (+15.60%since its creation), Ishares Europe Defense (+4.20%), or BNP Paribas Easy Bloomberg Europe Defense (+7.33%).
Finance selected companies
Finally, the last option on the table: crowdfunding of the defense sector. A theme whose Souvtech-Invest platform has made a specialty: it selects companies in search of funding and having military outlets, then organizes a “fundraising” from individuals (from 500 euros). Unlike a private equity fund or an ETF, only one company is financed by project, “Which creates a more direct link between the investor and the company: we know the project, we follow it, and we can thus participate in the growth of the company if we believe in it”explains Pierre-Elie Frossard.
Last month, the first project of this type was thus completed on the platform: 220 investors enabled a company specializing in ceramic 3D printing – with applications, particularly in aeronautics, space, and the military – to raise 400,000 euros to accelerate its development, all with a target yield (TRI) of 30%.
