LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - BlackRock ( BLK ) and BNP

Paribas have become the latest asset managers to

launch exchange-traded funds focused on funnelling cash into

Europe's defence industry, with at least nine new funds created

in the last seven months.

European governments are ramping up spending on ammunition,

tanks and other arms in response to deepening geopolitical

tensions and U.S. President Donald Trump's warnings that they

should not rely so much on Washington.

This has prompted money managers to tap into growing

investor demand to profit from the region's rearmament drive.

Asset managers offer more than 50 defence industry ETFs

globally, but Europe-focused products are a recent trend, with

nine launched since late last year, according to company

releases and data from Morningstar Direct.

The world's largest asset manager BlackRock ( BLK ) and the fund arm

of French bank BNP Paribas said their launches were in response

to increased demand. Amundi and WisdomTree ( WT ) had earlier launched

similar products.

ETFs are a fast-expanding part of the investment market,

offering investors exposure to an index of stocks or bonds

without having to pick individual assets.

Investors globally have ploughed an additional $8.4 billion

into defence ETFs so far this year, of which $2.7 billion has

been put into the new European-focused products, according to

Morningstar data.

The overall $8.4 billion is more than double the $4.1

billion added over the whole of 2024, the data shows.

The BlackRock European product, launched under its iShares

platform, listed in Amsterdam and Frankfurt on Wednesday,

according to a statement from the product index provider STOXX.

BNP Paribas' asset management arm said in a statement on

Tuesday that it had listed in Paris an ETF focused on European

defence and would soon list it in Germany, Italy and

Switzerland.

The fund will focus on financing defence companies within

European NATO member states, BNP said.

Defence stocks have soared in value this year, helping to

attract money managers offering new investment products. Fund

managers including Allianz and UBS have also ditched some prior

exclusions on investing in defence.