25/03/25 13:28:51

ETFs: “European shares are being bought heavily”

German and European equities are still in high demand. This is also reflected in the strong demand for defense/defense ETFs. The banking sector is also on the shopping lists.


25. März 2025. FRANKFURT (Börse Frankfurt). Traders on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange are reporting strong buying interest in the exchange-traded funds (ETFs) segment. “We had more than twice as many buys as sells,” explains Holger Heinrich. According to the Baader Bank AG trader, the usually dominant US and global ETFs “only played a subordinate role” in the past week. The iShares MSCI World ex-USA (IE000R4ZNTN3), an index fund without US equities, was bought in this segment. Frank Mohr from Société Générale sees regular purchases of classic MSCI World ETFs via savings plans. 

US ETFs, on the other hand, are sold somewhat more frequently, according to Mohr. He cites the Amundi Russell 1000 Growth (IE0005E8B9S4) and the UBS MSCI USA Socially Responsible (LU0629460089) as examples of this. Heinrich reports purchases in the area of American second-line stocks. The focus is on the Amundi S&P SmallCap 600 Screened (IE000XLJ2JQ9). In contrast, the actively managed JPM US Research Enhanced Index Equity ESG (IE00BF4G7076) is predominantly sold.

Mohr

Frank Mohr

“Europe has been heavily loaded”

Investors' new favorites are shares from the eurozone. “The majority of turnover took place in European ETFs,” says Heinrich. Mohr confirms this trend: “Europe and Germany are being traded more and more”. Baader Bank's books mainly contain index funds on the MSCI Europe from iShares (IE000MAO75G5) and Xtrackers (LU1242369327). The Amundi MSCI EMU (LU1646360971), the Xtrackers DAX (LU1349386927) and mid-cap products such as the iShares MSCI EMU Mid Cap (IE00BCLWRD08) and the iShares MDAX (DE0005933923) are also being purchased. In Germany, the Amundi SDAX (LU2611732475) is also on the buy list. “In short: in Europe, there has been a lot of buying across the board,” summarizes Heinrich.

Société Générale clients currently prefer the Amundi Stoxx Europe 600 (LU0908500753), the iShares STOXX Europe 600 (DE0002635307) and the Amundi DAX (FR0010655712). According to Mohr, the iShares Edge MSCI Europe Momentum Factor (IE00BQN1K786) is also being “heavily bought”. The trader also reported an increase in demand for the Xtrackers MSCI Japan (LU0274209740). “Basically, investors have spread out a little more into the other regions again”.

“Banks are clearly being bought”

In the sector ETF segment, Mohr continues to see the technology sector far ahead with a market share of 50%. However, with a “slight buying overhang”, “both sides are now regularly played”. The iShares Digital Security (IE00BG0J4C88) is being bought, while the iShares Automation & Robotics tends to be sold. (IE00BYZK4552). In second place in this category this time are the financials, which Mohr has “not seen this high for a long time”. Index funds such as the Amundi Euro Stoxx Banks (LU1829219390) and the Amundi STOXX Europe 600 Banks (LU1834983477) have a clear buying overhang. “Banks are clearly being bought at the moment”.

Mohr

Frank Mohr

Focus on European defense companies

According to Heinrich, the “absolute sales star of the last few weeks” were the defense ETFs. Initially, the globally investing ETFs such as VanEck Defense (IE000YYE6WK5) and Han Future of Defense (IE000OJ5TQP4) were once again in demand. According to the trader, when it then became known that the European states wanted to order mainly from European manufacturers, massive purchases of the WisdomTree Europe Defense (IE0002Y8CX98) began. “As it is an ETF that invests exclusively in European defense stocks, the choice was not difficult for investors.”

Frank Wollnitz, trader at ICF Bank, had the same experience. The Global X Defense Tech (IE000JCW3DZ3) was also ordered here. “ETFs that relate to defense stocks/defence in the broadest sense were always bought on our books, both when prices were rising and falling. It felt like there was no selling pressure at all during the entire period.” According to Wöllnitz, apart from the equity index funds, one ETN stands out that is bought exclusively. This is the WisdomTree Short USD Long EUR (JE00B3SBYQ91). With this security, investors could benefit from a further rise in the EUR/USD exchange rate.

By Thomas Koch, 25. March 2025, © Deutsche Börse AG

Thomas Koch is a CEFA investment analyst, investment specialist for structured products and certified certificate consultant. He has been a freelance journalist covering events on the capital markets since the beginning of 2006.

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