[The Wrap] The Oscars of funds management gets heckled

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[UPDATED with ASB's response] Funds management's big night is, arguably, the fund manager of the year awards, but it's not exactly as glittering as the Oscars, but at least last night's event had a good twist.

Friday, March 7th 2025, 2:50PM 1 Comment

by Philip Macalister

Even if it wasn't planned by the organisers - Morningstar.

Attendees arriving at the Maritime Museum on a beautiful Auckland autumn afternoon were greeted not with paparazzi and a red carpet, but protesters.

The protesters from a group called Don't Bank on Apartheid were rallying against ASB - a finalist for the KiwiSaver of the Year Awards. 

Their concern was that ASB's KiwiSaver had $14 million invested in Motorola, a firm, it says, supports the Israeli Defence Force which is causing overwhelming damage in Gaza and against the Palestinian people.

It says Motorola provides telecommunications, surveillance and technology to the Israel Defence Force and illegal Israeli settlements.

We understand the group wanted to target a bank rather than an investment firm as that approach would get more impact.

A spokesman said Westpac was the original target, but it divested from various firms after concerns were raised. We approached Westpac for confirmation. They promised to come back with an answer.

Don't Bank on Apartheid's protest has revealed some interesting feedback as we dug into it. There is a view that research houses are not looking into the issues surrounding companies which support the IDF - partly one suggests, is that when companies are targeted powerful Jewish lobby groups swing into action opposing organisations like Don't Bank on Apartheid.

Also the Morningstar awards have no ESG overlay in their criteria - even though the firm owns ESG research house Sustainalytics.

The awards are pretty much on performance.

It's a shame as houses, like Harbour which took out the top award, are strong and leaders in the ESG realm.

Whether Don't Bank on Apartheid got a win last night is a moot point.

But ASB was not a winner. KiwiSaver of the Year went to NZX-owned QuayStreet.

ASB's Response

The way we invest goes beyond looking at a company’s financial performance.  We follow a responsible investing approach taking into account a range of environmental, social and governance considerations.

The frameworks we have in place guide our investment decisions and ensure we're being transparent and consistent and it's important we consider our holding in Motorola Solutions in the same consistent way.  This means everyone invested with ASB knows what to expect from us and we meet our commitments to them.

We have heard a range of views on this issue and have taken our time to learn as much we can through a thorough review, meeting and seeking information from our underlying fund manager, ESG research provider, Motorola Solutions, the United Nations and other NZ fund managers. We’ve also met with campaign organisers.

We continue to have constructive engagement with Motorola Solutions, which is primarily a provider of products and services to first-responder services around the world, and past assessments by our ESG research provider has assessed Motorola Solutions as “compliant”.

To date our review has not shown any evidence that Motorola Solutions is intentionally or directly involved in either establishing or maintaining illegal settlements.

The majority of other large KiwiSaver fund providers, based on disclosed holdings as of 30 September, also continue to hold Motorola Solutions in their KiwiSaver funds.

We continue to manage our investments in line with our disclosed obligations to all customers and this includes regularly reviewing the investments we hold on behalf of our customers.

Tags: ASB Fund manager of the year Morningstar Opinion

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