NZ Superfund must divest of weapons company RTX in the wake of massive criminal offending

“The NZ Superannuation Fund must divest from weapons company RTX in the wake of its widespread criminal offending including 750 violations of the US Arms Export Control Act and International Traffic in Arms Regulations resulting in a US $200 million fine,” said Valerie Morse, spokesperson for Peace Action Wellington.

The NZ Superfund holds approximately $4.4 million in shares in RTX, formerly known as Raytheon, according to their most recent public disclosure.

“The NZ Superfund must invest in a way that is consistent with public expectations. It should not have been invested in RTX prior to this scandal because it profits from the death and destruction of human beings. But these revelations provide new impetus for the NZ Superfund to sell up its shares now.”

The NZ Superfund abides by a Sustainable Investment Framework, and companies may be excluded because of the products they make or because of their environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices.

“RTX supplies key parts for the F35 jets that are massacring the civilian population of Gaza. The company actually brags that it ‘makes the precision weapons [the F35] uses for air-to-ground strikes.’”

“The reality is that the Superfund’s Investment framework is inadequate in addressing the harm of the global arms trade. On one hand, the industry profits from war and killing. Most of that harm is from conventional weapons, not cluster munitions or nuclear weapons that are prohibited by the Superfund’s framework. The other side of the story is less well understood. Global weapons companies are involved in money laundering, tax evasion and arming terrorist groups. These are not lawful industries carrying out normal business; they produce machines of mass murder which they attempt to sell to anyone who is buying. This RTX scandal is just a case in point.”

“Only two weeks ago, the NZDF signed a contract with weapons company BAE Systems, a company that was also convicted of massive violations of US arms export law and fined US $400 million, illustrating that this is the norm for these companies - not the exception.”

“NZ Superfund must divest now.”

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