The European defense fund DNB European Defence has risen by approximately 30 percent since its launch in April last year. In an interview with Affärsvärlden, fund manager Stian Melhus Ueland highlights Kongsberg, Thales, and Saab as particularly interesting holdings.
He believes that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East could further benefit European defense companies.
“The longer the US is at war with Iran, the less opportunity the US has to sell weapons to Europe, as they will need them for themselves. This should increase the need for Europe to build up its own capacity,” he told the publication.
At the same time, European supply chains are expected to become increasingly important. “'Made in Europe' will become very important, especially for defense,” he added.
The fund also has investments in smaller companies such as Mildef, Hanza, and Norbit. Meanwhile, it maintains an overweight position in European defense stocks, with Swedish and Norwegian companies carrying significant weight.
Kongsberg Gruppen ASA specializes in the development, manufacturing and marketing of technological equipment and systems for the defence, aerospace, security and critical technology industries. Net sales (excluding discontinued operations) break down by product family as follows:
- defence and aerospace systems (79.6%): command and control, surveillance and reconnaissance, tactical communication, remotely operated weapon stations, long-range missile systems, avionics structures and composite materials products, etc.;
- solutions for the sustainable management of marine resources and climate change monitoring (15.9%): primarily for offshore operations, fisheries, marine research, maritime operations, ocean-based energy production;
- other (4.5%): including digital solutions for the oil, gas and maritime sectors.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Norway (28.2%), Europe (30.2%), North America (31.3%), Asia (5.6%), Australia (4%), South America (0.4%) and Africa (0.3%).
The extraordinary general meeting held on 22 January 2026 approved the demerger of Kongsberg Maritime (merchant vessel systems and offshore drilling systems).
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