What is your KiwiSaver fund doing in Palestine?

At a time of widespread public support for recognition of a Palestinian state, many New Zealanders would be shocked to know their savings were supporting the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements and occupation of Palestine. New research from the charity Mindful Money shows an almost doubling of KiwiSaver and managed fund investment in companies supporting severe human rights violations on Palestinian territory.

This increased investment has occurred despite growing concern across New Zealand over violations of international law through aggressive expansion of Israeli control of Palestinian land, as well as the atrocities committed in the bombing and occupation of Gaza.

Barry Coates, Mindful Money co-CEO commented, “Few New Zealanders are told where their hard-earned savings in KiwiSaver and other investments are invested. Many are appalled to realise their funds have been part of a huge increase in New Zealand investments supporting illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land.

“Earlier this year, 91% of Kiwis said they want to avoid investing in companies that violate human rights. Yet their KiwiSaver and investment funds are doing the opposite, ramping up the amount of investment in companies facilitating breaches of human rights in Palestine.”

“Over the past two years, Mindful Money has informed fund managers about the companies that are undertaking those activities, and repeatedly called for all KiwiSaver and managed funds to avoid investing in those companies. However, far from avoiding harm, they have invested even more over the past year to chase short term profits, despite the suffering of the Palestinian people.”

New Zealand investment trends

The amount of New Zealand investment in companies supporting Israeli settlements in Palestinian occupied territories virtually doubled from March 2024 to March 2025 to a total of $323 million.

There is $179 million of KiwiSaver invested in companies supporting the Israeli settlements and $144 million managed investment funds.

New Zealand KiwiSaver and Managed Retail Fund investment in companies supporting Israeli Settlements

	31 March 2024	31 March 2025	% change
KiwiSaver funds	$92,263,695.73	$179,178,231.39	94.20%
Managed funds	$70,261,430.88	$143,909,055.54	104.82%
Total retail funds	$162,525,126.61	$323,087,286.93	98.79%

Mindful Money analysis of the data shows that the increase in investment in these companies far exceeded the increase in their share price, showing there was an specific allocation of a larger share of the investment portfolio to these companies.

Finding out about where your money goes

More than 3.3 million Kiwis have a KiwiSaver fund and many more have retail investment funds. Few of those people are told which companies their money is invested in, and even fewer are told what those companies do.

Mindful Money has now made it easier for members of the public to see where their KiwiSaver and managed retail funds are invested. The website has an OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories) tag for the companies that invest in illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories and the companies providing weapons that are destroying Gaza and causing suffering to its people.

It is now even quicker and easier for members of the public to see where they are invested by going to www.mindfulmoney.nz. It is entirely free.

Mindful Money co-CEO, Kate Vennell observed, “In a situation of war and conflict, companies have duties to ensure their activities do not contribute to severe violations of human rights of civilians. Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem face restrictions on their freedoms, the loss of land and higher risk of death and injury. New Zealand investors should be able to avoid investing in companies whose activities support this harm. Fund managers need to up their game on human rights.”

Kiwis should take responsibility for their investments

In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories is unlawful, its settlement policies violate international law, and it must end the occupation, cease new settlement activities, and remove existing settlers.

Governments are currently meeting at the United Nations in New York and calling for a two state peace plan to end the suffering of millions of Palestinians and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas. But securing a just peace will be a long and tortuous process.

In the meantime, there are important steps that anyone with a KiwiSaver of investment fund can take themselves. They can see where their funds are invested and stop their hard-earned savings from supporting the expansion of Israeli settlements and occupation of even more Palestinian land.

ENDS

Contact:
Barry Coates
barry@mindfulmoney.nz
021 365 165

Notes for Editors:

Anyone can check their funds for free at https://www.mindfulmoney.nz/kiwisaver/checker/

The investment data is from Mindful Money portfolio analysis of holdings at 31 March 2025. See methodology here https://www.mindfulmoney.nz/learn/mindful-money-methodology/.

Identification of the companies comes from an analysis of a range of sources including:

• UN Human Rights Council database of companies supporting illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, focusing on companies providing the most direct support for the illegal Israeli settlements
• American Friends Service Committee and the UK-based Action on Armed Violence (AOVC) for companies supplying the conflict in Gaza

Notes on the largest companies with New Zealand KiwiSaver and retail fund investment:

Palantir is involved in the development and deployment of surveillance systems. Palantir's software has been accused of enabling mass surveillance, data mining, and AI enabled profiling of individuals. Predictive policing tools with AI capability, have been used by Israeli security forces in the surveillance of Palestinian citizens. Activities such as these are in violation of international law and enabling potential abuse of power and erosion of personal freedoms. Source: Investigate AFSC.

Motorola Solutions: Motorola is a US provider of communication products, video equipment, telecommunications equipment, software, systems, and services. The 2023 United Nations Human Rights Council Report identified Motorola as a company supporting the maintenance and existence of these settlements. Motorola Solutions and its subsidiary, Motorola Israel, have been accused of complicity in human rights violations by selling communication products to the Israeli Ministry of Defence for use in occupied Palestinian territories.

Alstom SA: Alstom is a French multinational transport and energy infrastructure corporation which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. Alstom is a major partner in the Jerusalem Light Rail (JLR), a project that will help cement Israel's hold on occupied East Jerusalem and tie the surrounding settlements even more firmly into the State of Israel. The JLR will link west Jerusalem to illegal Israeli settlements in Occupied East Jerusalem and will facilitate travel between West Jerusalem and the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Alstom is on the UN Database of companies whose activities support illegal occupation and settlement in breach of UN conventions and resolutions.

Caterpillar: Caterpillar equipment has been supplied to the Israeli military. Their bulldozers and heavy equipment have been used extensively for the unlawful demolition of Palestinian communities, and for building Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. Armoured D9 bulldozers produced by Caterpillar have been crucial for Israel's ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, accompanying combat troops and paving their way by clearing roads and demolishing buildings. Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, divested in August 2025 after undertaking research into this issue.

Lockheed Martin: Lockheed Martin supplies the Israeli government with a wide variety of weapons, including fighter jets, attack helicopters, and missiles, which have been supplied to Israel through the United States government's Foreign Military Financing program. These weapons have been consistently employed targeting Palestinian civilians, leading to extensive casualties and widespread destruction of homes, essential civilian infrastructure like hospitals, schools, and vital systems such as water and electricity.