War stocks demand soars as defence ETFs flood ASX

Simmering geopolitical tensions and a boom in military spending are fuelling investor demand for defence-related stocks, prompting the world’s largest exchange-traded fund providers to list a flurry of products on the Australian Securities Exchange.

This week Global X and BetaShares both launched defence ETFs on the ASX to compete with rival VanEck, which listed its version last month in what it described as an “Australian first”.