Australia’s Future Fund invested in SpaceX and weapons manufacturers — ABC News Australia
Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Future Fund, disclosed investments in SpaceX, Palantir Technologies, weapons manufacturers and semiconductor industry companies in its new half-year report. The fund, established 20 years ago, increased its initial capital of $60 billion, formed in 2006, to $290 billion and also manages another $66 billion across six smaller funds, ABC News Australia reports.
SpaceX and technology companies
The Future Fund began investing in SpaceX, Elon Musk’s aerospace company, this year. At the end of June, the fund held 40,185 SpaceX shares valued at $9.9 million. At the same time, it sold 152,363 Tesla shares, leaving 617,352 shares of the company in its portfolio.
The fund also increased its position in Palantir Technologies: the number of shares rose from 620,169 in December to 680,569 in June. Despite this, the value of the stake declined from $165.3 million to $114.6 million.
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The total value of the fund’s investments in seven technology companies known as the “Magnificent Seven” — Tesla, NVIDIA, Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Apple and Amazon — fell by $1.4 billion, from $11.1 billion to $9.7 billion. The Future Fund sold shares in all of these companies except Microsoft.
Chips and the defense sector
The value of the Future Fund’s shareholdings in nine semiconductor industry companies rose by 73% over six months, from $4.8 billion to $8.3 billion. In particular, the value of its investment in SK Hynix increased by 199%, to $837.3 million, although the fund sold 74,000 shares in the company. Investments in Micron Technology rose by 304%, to $1.9 billion, after the purchase of another 42,000 shares.
In the defense sector, the Future Fund acquired additional shares in France’s Thales, and the value of its stake rose by 64%, from $13.4 million to $22.1 million. The fund also bought another 8,000 shares in Israel’s Elbit Systems; the value of this position increased by 128%, from $8.6 million to $19.7 million. A number of companies in which the Future Fund invests, including Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, Caterpillar, Elbit Systems and General Dynamics, are included on the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund’s exclusion list.
