Tap into expanding military spending

Article Excerpt

Global military spending reached an all-time high of $2.44 trillion U.S. in 2023, spurred by major regional wars and large-scale investments by several countries. That spending might slow in the coming years as governments are forced to re-examine their military budgets in the wake of massive stimulus spending to deal with COVID-19. Still, rising military tensions should keep spending at high levels. Here are two ETFs that provide exposure to companies benefiting from military spending (see also the supplement on page 9). ISHARES US AEROSPACE & DEFENSE ETF $155.24 (New York symbol ITA; TSINetwork ETF Rating: Aggressive; Market cap: $6.05 billion) tracks the Dow Jones Aerospace and Defence Index. The ETF holds a portfolio of 35 stocks; the top 10 contribute 76% of the assets; its main holdings include GE Aerospace (17.9%), RTX Corp. (14.8%), Lockheed Martin (9.9%), Axon Enterprise (6.7%), Howmet Aerospace (5.0%), L3 Harris Corp. (4.7%), Boeing (4.4%), General Dynamics (4.3%), and TransDigm Group (4.2%). The portfolio is heavily concentrated in the top three…