PLUS Korea Defense Industry Index ETF

KDEF

Market cap $162M

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.

PLUS Korea Defense Industry Index ETF (KDEF) has outperformed peers, tripling in price since inception and delivering 1.5-1.9x higher returns than unleveraged Korean ETFs. KDEF targets South Korean defense stocks poised to benefit from rising global military spending, leveraging advanced manufacturing and rapid order fulfillment capabilities. Despite strong growth prospects, KDEF trades at a significant valuation premium (24x earnings, 10.1x cash flow) versus diversified peer EWY, with higher volatility and liquidity risks.

2025 was a significant year for international investing. Many portfolios keep international exposure in a core sleeve.

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.

In June, KDEF surged 21.7% as Korean defense exports gained steam, while PLTM soared 23.2% on platinum's tightening supply.

Crypto, defense, uranium, and AI-linked ETFs delivered big Q2 gains as markets rebounded from near bear territory. Winning ETFs include the likes of CRPT, KDEF, URA and PLTM.

Wall Street delivered mixed-to-downbeat performance last week thanks to Powell's warning of stagflation, rise of auto stocks on policy hopes, NVIDIA's $5.5B hit on export curb and upbeat retail sales.

Wall Street was downbeat last week.

Today, Exchange Traded Concepts has announced that Hanwha Asset Management's PLUS Korea Defense Industry Index ETF (KDEF) has begun trading on the NYSE Arca.  KDEF looks to provide similar results to the total return performance of the Korea Defense Industry Index.