They answered the call. Almost seven months ago, on March 20, during a day dedicated to financing the defense sector, at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, new solutions were promised to allow the French to invest in French companies that produce for our armies. Since then, several financial products dedicated to this objective have emerged, aimed at different savers profiles. Review of the workforce.
Funds available for life insurance, PER, PEA
Let’s start with so-called private equity funds, in other words, which allow you to invest in companies not listed on the stock exchange, i.e. the vast majority of the 4,500 companies (VSEs, SMEs and ETIs) in our defense sector. The advantage of these funds is that they can be included in general public savings packages, such as life insurance, the retirement savings plan, or the PEA and the PEA-PME, or employee savings products.
The first fund of this type to have seen the light of day is the Tikehau “Defense and Security” fund, launched on June 16, and accessible via the units of account (UC) of life insurance and PER contracts from three partner insurers: Société Générale Assurances, CNP Assurances and the Carac group. The “Bpifrance Défense” fund, open for subscription since Tuesday, October 14, can also be referenced by your insurer or distributor (for the moment, it is at Meilleurtaux, Axa and Natixis Interagence), but it is also accessible directly from Bpifrance, with a minimum entry ticket of 500 euros.
Target return: 5% per year at Bpifrance, 8% at Tikehau.
Risk level: 6/7 for both.
To invest in the stock market via your securities account or PEA
To invest in companies listed on the stock exchange, this time, savers can also turn to the shares of giants in the sector (Thales, Safran, Dassault, etc.). Recent months have also seen the appearance of new ETFs (trackers) which replicate the stock market performance of a basket of shares of large companies in the military industry sector, and whose prices could be boosted in the future by orders from European states. These ETFs are only accessible via a securities account (CTO), except for the BNP Paribas Easy Bloomberg Europe Defense, also eligible for the PEA.
Return: WisdomTree Europe Defense: +32% over six months, launched in March 2025; Amundi Stoxx Europe Defense: +24.80% since its creation in May; iShares Europe Defense: +9.6% since May; BNP Paribas Easy Bloomberg Europe Defense: +13% since May.
Risk level: 5/7 for these four ETFs.
To invest in crowdfunding in a targeted company
Final angle of attack: participatory financing of the defense sector. A theme in which the SouvTech-Invest platform has made a specialty: it selects companies seeking financing and having military outlets, then organizes a “fundraiser” from individuals (from 500 euros). Unlike a private equity fund or an ETF, only one company is financed per project. A first project was completed on the platform this year: 220 investors enabled a company specializing in ceramic 3D printing – with applications notably in aeronautics, space and the military – to raise 400,000 euros to accelerate its development.
Target yield (IRR): 30%
Risk level of 7/7.
A new structured product, with capital guarantee at maturity
The latest solution for investing in European defense, the fintech Mon petit placement launched on October 7 a structured product accessible in the life insurance contracts that it distributes, or via its securities account. It allows direct investment in three European defense giants: Rheinmetall, Safran and Thales. On this product, your savings are blocked for a period of 10 years (until 2035), and the return will depend on different scenarios:
If the issuer of the structured product (BNP Paribas) terminates it before maturity, the investor recovers 100% of the initial capital, plus a gross coupon of 6.5% per year elapsed; if the product goes through to the end, and the price of these three shares has increased, the maximum return will be limited to 250%.
Risk level: 2/7
