The world’s largest wealth management fund, Norges Bank Investment Management, continued to remove Israeli firms from its portfolio on Aug. 12, said an Anadolu report. On Aug. 11, the $2.2-trillion fund announced that it excluded 11 Israeli firms from its portfolio as of June 30.
The fund’s statement to Anadolu showed that there are only 44 Israeli firms in the fund’s portfolio, as the fund said: “Eleven of the divestments are related to the decision made last week. The remainder (of six firms) are regular investment decisions made by our portfolio managers.”
CEO of the fund Nicolai Tangen said: “These measures were taken in response to extraordinary circumstances. The situation in Gaza is a serious humanitarian crisis. We are invested in companies that operate in a country at war, and conditions in the West Bank and Gaza have recently worsened. In response, we will further strengthen our due diligence.”
Tangen also said the measures the fund is taking will simplify the management of its investments in this market and reduce the number of companies that the fund and the Council on Ethics monitor.
The fund said it has been in dialogue with many firms operating in war and conflict zones, noting: “Since 2020, we have been in contact with more than 60 companies to raise this issue. Of these, 39 dialogues were related to the West Bank and Gaza.”
“In the autumn of 2024…. we have sold our investments in several Israeli companies,” it added.