What Is EUAD? Select STOXX Europe Aerospace & Defense ETF

EUAD is the Select STOXX Europe Aerospace & Defense ETF, a passive fund that tracks the STOXX Europe Total Market Aerospace & Defense Index. The index screens for companies headquartered in Europe that generate at least 50% of their revenue from civil or military aerospace and defense, then weights them by market value.

Launched in October 2024 and advised by Tuttle Capital Management, EUAD was one of the first US-listed funds to offer a pure play on European defense. It has grown to roughly $1.2 billion in assets, riding a wave of investor interest tied to rising NATO defense budgets and Europe's push to rebuild its own military-industrial base.

Approximate weights as of mid-2026; refresh quarterly from Tuttle Capital Management (Select ETFs)'s fund page. Each ticker links to its individual stock guide in Walnut.

EUAD holds a focused basket of roughly 30 to 40 European names. The largest positions are Airbus, Safran, Rheinmetall, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems, Thales, Saab, MTU Aero Engines, Leonardo, and Hensoldt. Together the top ten make up a majority of the fund, so a few large primes drive most of its performance.

The mix spans aircraft engines (Rolls-Royce, Safran, MTU), airframes (Airbus, Leonardo), land systems and munitions (Rheinmetall, Saab), and electronics and sensors (Thales, Hensoldt). That gives broad coverage of Europe's defense supply chain while keeping the fund entirely outside US contractors.

The obvious US alternatives, iShares ITA and Invesco PPA, are dominated by American contractors such as RTX, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and General Dynamics. EUAD holds none of those. It is built entirely from European companies, so it captures the region's rearmament theme that US-focused funds largely miss.

The trade-off is cost and concentration. EUAD's 0.50% expense ratio is higher than ITA's 0.40%, and its narrower universe means heavier single-stock weights and added currency risk. Some investors pair EUAD with a US defense fund to get global coverage of the sector.

European defense stocks have rallied sharply since 2022 as governments raised military spending, and EUAD has benefited from that trend since its 2024 launch. Names like Rheinmetall and Hensoldt have posted large gains on order backlogs for artillery, air defense, and armored vehicles.

The outlook hinges on whether elevated European defense budgets persist. Sustained spending commitments would support the holdings, while a de-escalation or budget pullback could pressure them. Because the fund is concentrated and currency-exposed, its swings can be larger than a broad equity index.

EUAD suits investors who specifically want European defense exposure and understand they are taking on concentration and currency risk. It works best as a thematic satellite alongside a diversified core, not as a standalone portfolio. Position sizing matters because a handful of stocks drive returns.

Walnut is not an investment adviser. We describe what EUAD holds, how it is structured, and how it compares with peers so you can decide whether it fits your own goals and risk tolerance. Whether to buy, hold, or avoid it is your call, ideally made with a licensed professional if you need advice.

EUAD trades on US exchanges, so you can buy it through Robinhood, Fidelity, Schwab, Public, or almost any brokerage the same way you buy a stock. Brokers that support fractional shares let you invest a set dollar amount rather than buying whole shares.

You can also connect your broker to Walnut to track EUAD inside a basket alongside your other positions, monitor how its weight shifts over time, and see it in the context of your overall defense or thematic exposure.

ETFs are passive bundles; thematic baskets in Walnut let you concentrate within them. If you hold EUAD as a core position, these are the themes you might layer on as satellites.

EUAD is a pure play on Europe's defense buildup, a slice most US-listed defense ETFs barely touch. At 0.50% it costs more than broad US defense funds, and it is concentrated and currency-exposed. Treat it as a thematic satellite position, not a core holding.

Whether EUAD is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, concentration, and what would have to be true for it to outperform from here in is EUAD a buy?

EUAD yields ~0.8% as of mid-2026, paid by passing through the dividends of its underlying holdings. For the payout schedule, history, and how the distributions are taxed, see EUAD dividend: yield and schedule.