Industry funds investing in Saudi arms deal

26 March 2019
| By Hannah Wootton |
image
image
expand image

Some industry super funds are investors of a major arms company trading with Saudi Arabia, with AustralianSuper the only one thus far to confirm it has no exposure to such stocks.

The $6.4 million share holding of Electro Optic Systems (EOS), the company at the centre of a controversial deal to supply weapons technology to Saudi Arabia, by Industry Super Holdings was uncovered in disclosures triggered by a restructure in AusSuper’s investments last year.

This investment could prove at odds with both popular and political opinion, as a growing number of governments move to suspect arms deals with the state after a United Nations investigation accused a Saudi-led coalition of committing war crimes in Yemen.

At the time of writing, over 10,000 Australians had petitioned the Morrison Government to take a similar stance and a study by consumer group SumOfUs found that 64 per cent of Australians believed we should stop arms trading with the Saudi state.

Consumers also seemed willing to vote with their feet where arms deals were concerned, with 60 per cent of those surveyed by SumOfUs saying that they would consider switching super funds as a result of this arms investment.

The alleged war crimes by the coalition included an indiscriminate bombing campaign that had targeted civilian-occupied areas such as medical facilities, weddings and school buses.

Read more about:

AUTHOR

Recommended for you

sub-bgsidebar subscription

Never miss the latest news and developments in wealth management industry

MARKET INSIGHTS

GG

So shareholders lose a dividend plus have seen the erosion of value. Qantas decides to clawback remuneration from Alan ...

2 months 1 week ago
Denise Baker

This is why I left my last position. There was no interest in giving the client quality time, it was all about bumping ...

2 months 1 week ago
gonski

So the Hayne Royal Commission has left us with this. What a sad day for the financial planning industry. Clearly most ...

2 months 1 week ago

A Sydney-based financial adviser has been banned from providing financial services in the interest of consumer protection after failing to act on conduct concerns. ...

3 weeks 3 days ago

ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of a $250 million Sydney fund manager, one of two AFSL cancellations announced by the corporate regulator....

3 weeks 1 day ago

Having divested its advice business in August, AMP is undergoing restructuring in at least four other departments amid a cost simplification program....

2 weeks 5 days ago