iShares Defense Industrials Active ETF

IDEF

Market cap $3.36B

The first quarter of 2026 was the moment the market stopped treating technology as a monolith. Beneath the big tech selloff grabbing headlines, a violent dispersion has been bubbling beneath.

Hegseth's broker at banking giant Morgan Stanley contacted BlackRock in February about making a multimillion-dollar investment in its iShares Defense Industrials Active ETF. However, the investment discussed by Hegseth's broker did not ultimately go ahead.

The defense industry is transforming into one of the most interesting areas of the market, particularly for investors seeking a stable growth alternative to higher-beta sectors like technology.

Actively managed ETFs in the U.S. gathered $73 billion of new money in February and, thanks to model allocation changes made by BlackRock last week, are poised for another strong month. BlackRock's strategy of increasingly leaning into active ETFs via its model portfolios has become a powerful catalyst.

One of the most persistent themes this year has been global defense. Historically, it has been an industry that tends to shine when geopolitics drives the macro narrative.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, BlackRock announced the launch of the iShares Defense Industrials Active ETF (NASDAQ:IDEF), an actively managed thematic ETF offering precise exposure to companies at the center of shifting geopolitical dynamics, national defense strategies, and global security priorities. Long-term forces such as geopolitical fragmentation, supply chain reorientation, and rising competition over critical technologies are redefining national priorities and the global economy. I.