Vision Super to be questioned on Israel divestment

Vision Super will be asked to show cause for its decision to disinvest from two banks listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

The AJN understands that the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is investigating whether the industry superannuation fund has acted for its members, as it is bound to do under Prudential Standard SPS 530.

The standard obliges a Registrable Superannuation Entity (RSE) licensee “to act in the best financial interests of beneficiaries”.

The Australian reported in late October that Vision Super CEO Stephen Rowe announced during a meeting with Australian Services Union representatives that the fund has offloaded its interests in Leumi and Hapoalim.

The union has been vocal in its criticism of Israel during the war in Gaza and supports the anti-Israel Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

According to The Australian, “as of June, Vision Super held stakes in just two Israeli banks – Leumi and Hapoalim – totalling barely $8m”. The masthead also reported that the two banks had trebled their share price in the last five years.

Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg wrote to Rowe last month questioning the fund’s reasons behind the decision to “begin an Israeli-focused divestment strategy”.

“It strikes me that to divest from firms that are providing strong returns, purely because of an ideological hatred, is a dereliction of duty,” Bragg wrote.

Rowe countered that “a fund’s investment strategy and investment holdings cannot be confined to historical returns. It must also consider forward-looking risks and opportunities”.

He said Vision Super’s Board was briefed in September 2025 of factors that included new targeted sanctions on Israeli individuals and “subsequent threats of retaliation”, the recent UN report accusing Israel of genocide, Australia recognising Palestinian statehood, the second anniversary of October 7 and rising regional tensions — all of which carried risks.

Bragg wasn’t buying it when he spoke to The AJN this week.

“It’s a cover for I think what the unions are wanting here, which is to damage Israel. And that’s just not what superannuation is for,” he said.

“The super industry has become a plaything for the extreme left and for the unions, they think they can get away with it, but we will hold their feet to the fire on this.”

Bragg spoke of the hypocrisy of super funds investing in Russian oil despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, noting he had raised the comparison with APRA representatives in Senate Estimates earlier this month.

“I just think it’s an unbelievable double standard,” he said.

Vision Super is the second fund to divest from Israel, after Hesta Superannuation announced a similar move in September.