London, 23 September 2026 – BNP Paribas Asset Management (BNPP AM) has launched the BNP Paribas Europe Strategic Autonomy Bond fund, investing in issuers from the Euro aggregate universe designed to harness the evolving geopolitical landscape and Europe’s growing emphasis on security, resilience, and self-sufficiency.
Following EU commitments of more than €1.8 trillion to support Europe’s autonomous push, the fund will focus on four key investment pillars – Defence, Infrastructure, Resilience and Cybersecurity & Digital.
Strengthening Europe’s strategic sectors has become a priority as the region seeks to reinforce its resilience and reduce external dependencies. This requires targeted investment across defence capabilities, European-made equipment, critical infrastructure — including electricity networks, cables, pipelines and energy systems — as well as crisis response capabilities and technological independence.
Around these pillars, BNPP AM has developed a rigorous selection process designed to identify issuers whose financing needs are directly linked to Europe’s transition towards greater resilience and strategic autonomy. The investment approach combines top-down macroeconomic allocation, used to position the bond portfolio across duration, maturity, sector, country and rating, with in-depth bottom-up issuer analysis to identify companies with the strongest exposure to this structural shift.
Fadi Berbari, Senior Euro Aggregate Portfolio Manager at BNP Paribas Asset Management, said: “Europe needs to focus on its strategic priorities. This new fund offers a unique opportunity for investors to help support the transition to a more secure and resilient Europe through a liquid, actively managed, fixed income solution with a diversified thematic approach, taking advantage of our expert team’s experience in assessing fundamentals and bond selection.
“With strong corporate backing from BNP Paribas Group, we are currently the first asset manager to offer a complete European strategic autonomy proposition spanning both equities and bonds.”
The launch follows the success of the BNP Paribas Europe Strategic Autonomy fund, launched just over a year ago, which has raised €975 million [1] in assets and is one of the largest actively managed funds in the space.
Lazare Hounhouayenou, Lead Portfolio Manager at BNPP AM, added: “The equity fund’s first year of trading has underlined its offering as a unique opportunity for investors to tap into the move to increase European resilience against geopolitical shocks and supply chain disruption. Our forward-looking, fundamentals-driven approach allows us to identify companies that are critical to Europe’s strategic autonomy.”
Across the respective asset classes, portfolio managers are closely aligned and express a unified view on the strategic relevance of this theme. This enables BNPP AM to demonstrate its commitment to supporting investment in European sovereignty through a range of complementary investment approaches.
The fund is classified as Article 8 under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).
Investment risks: Investments in this fund are subject to market fluctuations and the risks inherent in investments in securities. The value of investments and the income they generate may go down as well as up and it is possible that investors will not recover their initial outlay, the fund described being at risk of capital loss.
Footnotes
[1] Morningstar: Equity Europe Strategic Autonomy (EUR)
[2] As of 25/6/2026: https://www.bnpparibas-am.com/en-offshore/fundsheet/equity/europe-strategic-autonomy-classic-c-lu3051940263 ↑
