Norway Sovereign Wealth Fund Freezes Ethical Rules Over Israel Linked Tech Investments

Norway has decided to freeze its ethical investing framework for its colossal $2.1 trillion (£1.6 trillion) sovereign wealth fund, allowing it to retain investments in technology giants with close ties to the Israeli government. The move comes after the fund’s ethics council considered a wider review that could have forced divestment from major players such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet, the parent company of Google.

Jens Stoltenberg, Norway’s finance minister, stated that stepping back from some of the world’s largest companies could undermine the oil fund’s status as a diversified global index fund, threatening its core purpose of supporting the Norwegian welfare state. The wealth fund, derived from the country’s oil revenues, had previously taken action on ethical grounds, selling holdings in 11 Israeli companies and exiting US manufacturer Caterpillar in August following reports of its equipment being used by the Israeli military in Gaza, a move which strained relations with Washington.

The proposed scrutiny from the fund’s ethics council was said to focus on the extent of Amazon, Microsoft, and Google’s cloud, data, and AI services supplied to Israel. Collectively, these three companies represent almost $10 trillion in market value. Such a substantial divestment would mark a seismic shift away from the fund’s benchmark strategy and alter its approach to broad-based global investment.

Microsoft announced in September that it had restricted an Israeli military espionage unit’s access to its Azure cloud platform following allegations it had been used for mass surveillance of Palestinians, a breach of the company’s terms of service. This development highlights the growing challenge for sovereign investors in balancing ethical standards with pragmatic investment policy.

Mr Stoltenberg, who previously led NATO, suggested that the wealth fund may also revisit its exclusion of major defence contractors, including Boeing, Airbus, BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin, due to their ties to nuclear weapons manufacturing. He remarked that there are no simple solutions for one of the largest sovereign funds in the world, stressing the need to address these ethical dilemmas more effectively within the fund’s guidelines.

The Norwegian government’s latest approach signals a pragmatic, albeit controversial, prioritisation of financial stability and diversification over the sovereign fund’s established ethical rules, as the nation navigates increasing global political and economic complexity.