News & Research

European defense and AI stocks were the focus of discussion during a breakout session at this year’s gathering in Frankfurt. ETF experts from Amundi and BlackRock weighed in on the drivers and outlook for two of the market’s strongest investment themes this year.

In a recent webinar, Lukas Ahnert, Senior Product Specialist at Xtrackers by DWS, and Arun Singhal, Head of Product Management and Client Success at STOXX, discussed the drivers behind Europe’s stock rally and the latest investment strategies designed in collaboration by both firms.

The underlying index combines revenues- and patent-based stock selection methodologies, capturing companies across the spectrum and life cycle of the targeted themes.

Large-scale investments in the area of AI infrastructure — such as semiconductors and cloud computing — herald gains in company efficiencies and profits in coming years. The iShares AI Infrastructure UCITS ETF, which tracks a STOXX index, has topped USD 100 million in assets only nine months following its launch in December last year.

Amid strong demand for European defense stocks this year, seeking ‘pure’ exposure to the theme through military equipment revenues has enabled investors to outperform.

Seismic shifts in the environment, technology and socio-demographics — known as megatrends — as well as geopolitical drivers are transforming our world and creating investable themes such as artificial intelligence, defense, digital assets and energy transition metals. Thematic indices offer investors a chance to target the beneficiaries of these trends.

AI is a vast and complex theme that covers multiple conceptual areas and technologies. How do patents help identify the AI innovators that are selected into STOXX thematic indices? We asked EconSight’s Kai Gramke and STOXX’s Ladi Williams.

Ladi Williams, Head of Thematics and Strategy Index Product Management at STOXX, explains how the index provider has catered to the specific needs and objectives of ETF managers in devising a series of indices targeting the defense sector.

Ladi Williams, Head of Thematics and Alternative Strategies at STOXX, explains in an article on ETF Stream how we have catered to the specific needs and objectives of ETF managers in devising a series of indices targeting the defense sector.

The world is in immediate need of vast amounts of data centers, chips and energy. Omar Moufti, Thematics & Sectors Product Strategist at BlackRock’s iShares, explains how to harness the upside from the infrastructure supporting the AI revolution.

The new iShares fund offers precise exposure to European companies expected to benefit from the region’s historic ramp-up in military investments. The launch marks another collaboration in thematic ETFs between BlackRock and STOXX.

The index selects European companies from ICB’s Aerospace and Defense Sector that have revenues from specific defense activities, seeking a focused strategy on the military re-equipment theme.