Norway's sovereign wealth fund sells its shares in 11 Israeli companies

Norway's sovereign wealth fund has sold its shares in 11 Israeli companies, its managers said Monday, a move they said reduces its holdings in the country against the backdrop of the “serious humanitarian crisis” in Gaza.

The management of the fund, which invests Norway's profits from oil and gas, said in a statement that it had investments in 61 Israeli companies at the end of the first half of this year. It said it decided last week to sell all its investments in 11 firms that are not in the Norwegian Finance Ministry's equity benchmark index, and has spent recent days completing those sales.

It did not identify the companies concerned. The fund also said it will move all investments in Israeli companies that have been run by external managers in-house and is terminating contracts with external managers in Israel.

“These measures were taken in response to extraordinary circumstances. The situation in Gaza is a serious humanitarian crisis," said Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages what is widely known as the Oil Fund. "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 added in a statement that the latest move "will simplify the management of our investments in this market" and reduce the number of companies that the fund's council on ethics monitors.

The fund's management noted that it intensified its monitoring of investments in Israeli companies last fall and sold its holdings in "several" firms as a result.

Officially known as the Government Pension Fund Global, the Oil Fund owns nearly 1.5% of all shares in the world's listed companies, with holdings in about 9,000 firms, according to its management's website.