Post #21807

Financial Times: The Pentagon chief's broker tried to invest in defense companies before an attack on Iran According to the publication, in February, Hegseth's representative from Morgan Stanley approached BlackRock with a proposal to invest millions of dollars in the Defense Industrials Active ETF (IDEF) fund, which invests in the largest US defense corporations, including Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman. “According to BlackRock, the $3.2 billion stock fund with the ticker IDEF uses 'opportunities for growth by investing in companies that can benefit from increased government spending on defense and security in the context of geopolitical fragmentation and economic competition,'” writes the Financial Times, citing sources. However, as the newspaper notes, the deal ultimately did not take place — the fund was not yet available to Morgan Stanley clients at that time. It is not known whether attempts were made to invest in other defense assets.