Developed and managed within DECALIA’s Asset Management platform, the Aegis Defense strategy builds on the firm’s long-standing expertise in active equity management and its proven ability to design innovative investment strategies.
STRUCTURAL THEME
Defense as a long-term structural theme
The new environment shaped by :
- Rising and sustained defense budgets worldwide
- The return of great-power competition and sovereign priorities
- A profound technological transformation of warfare, from AI and data fusion to unmanned systems, space and missile defense
is creating a distinct global investment universe characterised by greater visibility into long-term needs.
RATIONALE
Business Rationale
Defense is no longer a cyclical or tactical allocation.
It is a structural, multi-decade investment theme increasingly recognised as a prerequisite for sovereignty and economic stability, including within ESG and responsible investment frameworks.
STRATEGY
Description of the Aegis strategy
Aegis Defense is one of the leading active global defense strategies offering investors differentiated access through high-conviction selection rather than index replication.
This strategy is led by Roberto Magnatantini who brings more than 20 years of expertise in defense investments. A former officer in the Swiss Armed Forces, he combines operational understanding with financial expertise, supported by DECALIA’s broader investment team and in-house analysts.
This approach has delivered solid results over the past two years, highlighting the value of active management in a highly specialised and rapidly evolving sector.
Launched in March 2024, Aegis Defense is now available in a UCITS format, offering daily liquidity.
The strategy invests across the global defense value chain, with a “pure play” approach focused on companies directly exposed to defense and security needs. The portfolio typically comprises 30 to 40 high-conviction holdings, selected through a fundamentally driven process.
The team’s expertise enables the identification of:
- Established leaders in critical defense systems
- Innovative specialists and emerging players
- Leading providers essential to modern defense technologies
Exposure to civilian aviation and non-defense activities is deliberately limited.
BENEFITS
Key Benefits for Investors
- Access to a structural growth theme driven by long-term visibility on orders and investment programs
- High-conviction, actively managed portfolio, unconstrained by index composition
- Strong diversification across regions, sub-themes and technologies
- Institutional robustness, with UCITS structure, daily liquidity and disciplined risk management
This strategy of investing in the defense sector is applied in the DECALIA Aegis Defense UCITS fund.
Please contact info@decalia.com for more information.