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Smoke billows after an Israeli raid on Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip in May.
photo: AFP
*This story has been updated to correct the name of the ethical investment firm
New Zealanders invested about $60 million in Gaza conflictThe latest data shows.
An ethical investing charity has called on fund managers to be more transparent.
Mindful Money found that some KiwiSaver providers have invested in global weapons manufacturers, whose share prices have surged since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023.
Chief Executive Barry Coates said most people don’t want to invest in weapons, but they don’t realize their money is going to be spent on them.
Suppliers pursue short-term profits and fail to thoroughly research their investments, he said.
“This is how the financial industry has traditionally operated, seeking short-term returns without considering the consequences of its investments.
“I think what we are seeing now is a continuation of that, which has ultimately resulted in thousands of deaths and injuries in Gaza.”
He said suppliers needed to tell people whether their money was being invested in weapons.
“There needs to be more transparency so people understand where their money is being invested. Fund managers are required by law to provide some information, but … most of it is meaningless and doesn’t really tell the public this information.”
Mr Coates said account holders had called on social media to withdraw money from KiwiSaver accounts invested in weapons in Gaza.
“People are moving their investments. In some cases, investment providers are seeing the level of public attention and saying ‘oh, we’re going to pull our money out of these companies’.”
“So you know, a good thing people should do is not only switch funds but also go back to the fund provider and say ‘this is not what I want to invest in’.”
Mindful Money provides KiwiSaver fund information on its website so account holders know where their money is invested.
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