Holds defense and rare earth companies with a focus on income, as its name describes.
WEPN, the Nicholas Defense and Rare Earth Income ETF, is a $6 million ETF whose main story is the defense trade.
The narrative it carries
This is its only narrative.
The defense trade →
Defense contractors, defense technology and the industrial companies around them, paid from government budgets.
The band is where this narrative’s level sits among the 22 this week. QUIET means less talked about, not falling.
| # | ETF | SHARE | ASSETS | 1 YEAR | COST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | XLI | 38.8% | $29.83bn | +11.5% | 0.08% |
| 2 | ITA | 15.8% | $12.14bn | −0.5% | 0.37% |
| 3 | VIS | 11.1% | $8.52bn | +11.0% | 0.09% |
| 4 | PPA | 9.6% | $7.40bn | +0.1% | 0.58% |
| 5 | XAR | 7.2% | $5.54bn | −1.9% | 0.35% |
| 62 other ETFs | 17.5% |
Share is each ETF’s slice of the capital carrying this narrative. 1 year is market price total return; cost is the expense ratio. See all 67 ETFs on the narrative page →
FRI OCT 2MARKET PRICE TOTAL RETURN
| 1M | 3M | YTD | 1Y | 3Y* | 5Y* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WEPN | −1.3% | −1.7% | – | – | – | – |
| The defense tradeits narrative | −3.2% | −10.2% | +4.9% | +5.2% | +24.3% | +14.7% |
| The marketbroad US ETFs | +0.8% | +2.6% | +14.6% | +16.8% | +22.9% | +12.9% |
1M, 3M, 1Y, 3Y, 5Y: one month to five years. YTD: year to date. * A year, annualised. A dash means the ETF has not traded for the whole period. Since it started trading on March 3, 2026: −8.3%.
$10,000 invested March 31, 2026
Total return on the market price, with each distribution reinvested on its ex-date. Not the NAV return the issuer publishes; the two differ when the ETF trades above or below the value of its holdings. The narrative is the asset-weighted return of the unlevered ETFs that carry it. The market is the asset-weighted return of broad US index ETFs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.
FRI OCT 2MARKET PRICE TOTAL RETURN
WEPN has traded for less than a year, so how it moves against the market is not shown yet.
Where it sits in The defense trade
Each dot is one of 25 unlevered ETFs whose main narrative is the defense trade, placed by its return (up) and how much it swung (right) over the last year.
Risk
How it is built
An unlevered long ETF. It counts toward Share of Narrative.
Narrative exposure
Common questions
What story is WEPN selling?
WEPN’s main story is the defense trade, which covers defense contractors, defense technology and the industrial companies around them, paid from government budgets.
Run an ETF in the defense trade? StoryVector shows issuers where their ETFs stand against the closest rivals, every week.
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