Weeks before the US-Israeli attack on Iran, a broker working for Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth tried to invest in leading defense companies, The Financial Times reported, citing sources.
According to sources, in February Hegseth’s broker at Morgan Stanley contacted BlackRock about a multimillion-dollar investment in the Defense Industrials Active ETF (IDEF, owned by BlackRock) shortly before the start of US military action against Iran. The request, on behalf of a high-profile client, escalated internally at BlackRock.
The discussed investment ultimately fell through because the fund was not available for purchase by Morgan Stanley clients. It is not known whether the broker has found an alternative defense investment fund, the newspaper noted.
All three organizations - BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and the Pentagon - declined to comment, the newspaper said.
According to BlackRock, the IDEF fund, with assets of $3.2 billion, is focused on companies that benefit from increased defense spending. Among the largest holdings are RTX, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Palantir.