University of New Mexico invests in funds with shares in Israeli companies

UNM students, alumni and community members protest in support of Palestine during the final Board of Regents meeting of the spring semester on May 16. (Photo by Leila Chapa / The Daily Lobo)

The University of New Mexico invests in at least two mutual funds that own shares in Israeli companies, according to a list of investments within the funds obtained by the Daily Lobo through a public records request. UNM also holds bonds in a weapons manufacturer that supplies the Israel Defense Forces — the national military of Israel.

This information comes amidst calls by pro-Palestine activists for UNM to divest from companies based in Israel or companies that indirectly aid the Israeli military.

The mutual funds — Axiom International Small Cap Equity Fund and BlackRock ACWI ex USA Index — together own shares in 15 companies based in Israel, including defense company Elbit Systems Ltd.

UNM holds bonds in Honeywell International, according to an April 2024 Asset Summary Statement obtained by the Daily Lobo through a public records request. Though based in the United States, Honeywell produces missile parts used by the IDF, according to Al Jazeera . IPRA 24-254_responsive documents_Redacted (1)

In total, Axiom and BlackRock have about $18.1 million in shares in Israeli companies. It is unclear how much money from UNM goes to each fund — and how much goes directly to Israeli companies — from the documents obtained.

On June 12, a United Nations commission declared Israeli authorities responsible for war crimes in Gaza, including “crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or wilful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity.”

Mutual funds

Mutual funds consolidate the assets of investors, including the University, and pool the assets into a fund.

Mutual funds are directed by fund managers who, for actively-managed funds, make changes to the fund on behalf of its investors, according to Investopedia . Investors, like the University, have no control over the investments a mutual fund has. But investors can withdraw from mutual funds by selling their assets within them.

BlackRock owns shares in 14 Israeli companies, including Elbit Systems Ltd.

Elbit is a defense company that develops and supplies technology such as military aircraft and helicopter systems, according to its website . Elbit manufactures and supplies about 85% of the Israeli military’s drones, according to the Database of Israeli Military and Security Export .

In May, Elbit wrote that since Oct. 7, 2023, the company has experienced “a material increased demand for (its) products and solutions from the Israel Ministry of Defense (IMOD)” and heightened its support for the IMOD, according to an earnings release .

BlackRock and Axiom both own shares in Israeli technology company Nice Ltd . Axiom also owns shares in Camtek Ltd., an Israel-based company that develops and manufactures equipment for the semiconductor industry, according to its website .

Bonds

Bonds are a type of investment in which the investor lends money to a corporation in exchange for regular interest payments and a return of the investor’s money once the bond reaches maturity, according to Forbes .

The University has over $400 million in assets managed by the UNM Foundation, according to its website . This includes about $195 million in taxable bonds, according to the April 2024 Asset Summary Statement.

Honeywell manufactures HG1930 — a measurement unit used in missiles, according to Honeywell’s website . On June 6, fragments of HG1930 were recovered from a missile that targeted a UN-run school in Gaza, killing 40 Palestinians, according to Al Jazeera .

The UNM Foundation has direct control over the bonds it chooses to invest in, unlike the investments within mutual funds.

In April, UNM held 88 bonds in corporations mostly headquartered in the United States, according to the Asset Summary Statement.

None of the corporations UNM held bonds in are headquartered in Israel, but many of these corporations, like Honda, operate in Israel.

UNM students’ call to dump Israel investments inspired by struggle against apartheid South Africa

In the Asset Summary Statement, the UNM Office of the Custodian of Public Records redacted UNM’s shares in each bond and their associated market values. The office cited “ trade secrets ” within the documents as the reason for the redactions — making them exempt from public disclosure per the Inspection of Public Records Act .

Because of this, it is unclear how much money UNM invests in each bond.

Melanie Majors, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said she was uncertain why UNM redacted the shares in the bonds and their market values.

“I don’t know in what universe these are trade secrets,” Majors said.

The UNM investment policy

As delegated by the Board of Regents, UNM’s investments are overseen by the UNM Foundation Investment Committee , housed by the UNM Foundation — a nonprofit separate from the University that aims to provide it with financial support.

The UNM Foundation Investment Committee manages UNM’s investments in accordance with its Consolidated Investment Fund Investment Policy , according to its website. The policy is approved by the UNM Foundation Board of Trustees and the Board of Regents, both of which review it annually. The policy was last updated in February 2023.

The policy reads that the UNM Investment Committee must factor in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations when making investment decisions. The committee must consider how an entity they invest in “manages relationships with employees, vendors, stakeholders and locales in which they operate,” according to the policy. This includes considerations about ethics and human rights, the policy reads.

When ESG considerations were initially added to the investment policy, several of UNM’s investments were sold and replaced, according to Gabe Gomez, the managing director for marketing and communications at the UNM Foundation. UNM and its investment advisors regularly review the University’s investments — including mutual funds — to ensure they align with the investment policy and performance goals, Gomez wrote.

“Investment changes are made as often as necessary to ensure this alignment,” Gomez wrote.

In a campus-wide email on May 14, University President Garnett Stokes announced UNM’s commitment to publicly disclosing the results of research into its investment portfolio by this August. UNM declined to comment on its investments until then, Cinnamon Blair, chief marketing and communications officer, said.

Individuals from the UNM Foundation, Health Sciences Finance & Administration, the Office of the President and Financial Services will contribute to this research, according to Blair.

In the May 14 email, Stokes wrote that a public university should not serve as a “political tool” to express opinions on complex social and geopolitical matters.

“In the face of such distressing global challenges, we can all agree that violence and resulting human suffering are antithetical to our values and mission,” Stokes wrote in the email.

The Investment Committee considers UNM investments to be “an economic resource in advancing UNM’s mission,” according to its policy.

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