New Zealanders are being urged to question their KiwiSaver provider if they don't want their money invested in the weapons industry.
Barry Coates founded Mindful Money, an ethical investment charity.
The organisation's site lets Kiwis check how their KiwiSaver money is being invested. It shows that about $60 million of New Zealanders' money is invested in companies supplying weapons or components used by the Israeli military for the conflict in Gaza.
"There's 3.3 million Kiwis with a KiwiSaver account and most people, when they sign up, have no idea what they're invested in and they're never told," Coates said. "People should be told, because where your money is invested has consequences.
"Consequences for people, for workers, for the environment, for climate change.
"You should be asking questions about where your money is invested through KiwiSaver."
He said funds typically tended to chase short-term returns.
"Often those short-term returns are in companies that do things that are pretty terrible.
"We survey the public each year to find out what people want to avoid – and they want to avoid things like weapons but also human rights violations, animal cruelty, fossil fuels, and social harm like tobacco and gambling and so on.
"It's information we think every Kiwi should know when they get a KiwiSaver," Coates said.
He referenced the expression that "money makes the world go round".
"Well, it makes the world go round for good or for bad," he continued. "If you don't pay attention then your money's often going into things that you would feel really unhappy about and that don't align with who you are as a person."
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