German fund Kenfo lifts restrictions on investments in the military industry

Germany's sovereign wealth fund Kenfo is abandoning long-standing ethical restrictions on investing in military-industrial companies.

Now the fund will be able to freely buy shares and bonds of producers weapons, responding to the changing geopolitical situation in Europe. This was stated by the foundation's CEO, Anya Mikus, in an interview with Bloomberg.

Previously, Kenfo was prohibited from holding liquid assets in companies where more than 5% of revenue came from defense activities. Kenfo manages assets derived from, among other things, restitution and special state reserves. The fund adhered to strict criteria and ethical exemptions typical of German investment policy in recent decades.

The decision was made against the backdrop of a sharp increase in German military spending, the need for accelerated rearmament of the Bundeswehr, and a strengthening of NATO's role. In Europe, there is a general trend toward easing restrictions on defense investment—similar steps have previously been taken by industry foundation associations.

Experts note that lifting the "weapons taboo" will allow Kenfo to diversify its portfolio and support German and European arms manufacturers (such as Rheinmetall, Hensoldt, and others) in the face of growing demand. This change reflects a new reality: Germany is shifting from a policy of pacifism to an expansion of its military might. Many, including Germans themselves, remember well how this usually ends.

Comments

[Sky strike fighter]

If I were the Poles, I'd be very nervous. If the warlike Teutonic spirit prevails in Germany, the first to suffer will be the Poles, who seized a lot of German land for themselves after World War II.

[Vasyan1971]

Quote: Sky Strike fighter

The first to be hit will be the Poles, who gave up a lot of German land after the Second World War.

To whom did they give?

[Sky strike fighter]

Typo. I meant to write "squeezed," not "given." My apologies for the error. During World War II, Hitler envisioned all the captured lands. Thus, by 1942, the entire territory from the Atlantic to the Don was under German occupation. Fortunately, not for long. And in 1945, Germany was divided into four occupation zones: British, American, and French in the west, and Soviet in the east.

[Artyom81]

I think those slow-moving, eco-obsessed "herbivorous" Germans have finally begun to wake up to reality. According to the latest wargames and analysis, Poland is now quite capable of launching such a blitzkrieg that Dresden, for example, will quickly change its name to something like "Drezno of the Polish Lords."
Poland is one of the few countries that couldn't care less about environmental regulations and so-called "international law" when it comes to its own interests. They calmly shelter those who blew up Nord Stream 2 and turn a blind eye to all this rainbow-colored LGBT nonsense. The Poles have already billed Berlin over a trillion dollars for World War II. And while the Germans refuse, Warsaw, apparently, is preparing to exchange the language of diplomacy for the language of brute force. Personally, I'm betting on this scenario.

[Sky strike fighter]

According to the latest wargames and analysis, Poland is now quite capable of launching such a blitzkrieg that Dresden, for example, would quickly change its name to something like "Drezno of the Polish Lords."

It will be interesting to watch a fight between a snake and a hedgehog.

[carpenter]

Quote: Sky Strike fighter

The first to be hit will be the Poles, who seized a lot of German land for their own benefit after the Second World War.

The USSR "gave" them these territories.

[aybolyt678]

Quote: Sky Strike fighter

The Poles will be the first to be hit,

It's not a given. The war now isn't about territory, but about resources. It's a sure bet that Poland and Germany will ally with Russia.

[NICK111]

How did it end? Frankly, most Germans don't remember. The policy of hushing up the crimes bore fruit. Only schoolchildren in the GDR knew what the Germans had done in World War II, and even in World War I.

[Vasyan1971]

Many people remember very well how this usually ended, including the Germans themselves.

Yes. "Hitler is kaput."©

[Irokez]

In the Outskirts, they resurrected Bandera and that is the result of the SVO; in Germany, they are reviving Hitler’s ideas and this could also lead to the SVO.

[Sky strike fighter]

A conflict between Germany and Poland, and in the future, perhaps a conflict between Germany and France, but things are much more complicated there. France has sea- and air-based nuclear weapons.

[Irokez]

Do you think they will fight among themselves and not with us?

[Sky strike fighter]

Quote: Irokez

Do you think they will fight among themselves and not with us?

With the exception of the Kaliningrad region, neither Germany nor Poland shares a border with Russia. So what's the essence of the conflict? Some kind of Iran-Israel cross-border conflict? And what about logistics? It will end in nothing. It's too complicated. The US couldn't even handle logistics with Iran, so what do you expect from Germany and Poland in their current state? So even if we imagine their goals as some kind of Barbarossa operation, they simply won't be able to handle it. Their air defenses simply won't cope. Ukraine is a prime example.

[Irokez]

So, as I understand it, they are arming themselves not for a direct conflict on the border, but to support proxies now on the outskirts, and then the Balts, Romanians, and even Poland if they fight with us.

[cinnamon]

The US backed away, and Germany had to be armed. No one there is planning to attack anyone. If you want peace, prepare for war.

[cinnamon]

What other fantasies will there be? They have a common economy, virtually no borders, and all leaders are elected—how will they even explain such a move to voters?

[dFG]

Well, they win the war, the costs are minimal, their cities and ports don't burn. They hope to divide the loser.

[Doctor]

Well, of course, Rheinmetall has grown 10 times in 4 years! Here we need to make it in time for the pie.

[aybolyt678]

Quote: Arzt

Well, of course, Rheinmetall has grown 10 times in 4 years!

Against the backdrop of a general decline in industrial production in Germany, the results of Rheinmetall are impressive; the next step will be investments in the popularization of German military history and its glorification, and then the militarization of the entire country.

[alexboguslavski]

In the 1930s and 1940s, Germany was already emerging from its economic crisis with a sharp increase in military production. At that time, almost the entire future German auto industry worked for Hitler. Mercedes-Benz (then Daimler-Benz) produced Panther tanks, military trucks, and aircraft engines. BMW supplied the army with motorcycles and fighter jet engines. Volkswagen produced the Kübelwagen military vehicle and the Schwimmwagen amphibious vehicle. The list also included Porsche, Opel, Audi, and others.

Today, the only difference is that Germany is loading its automobile factories with orders for drones, air defense systems, and modern military equipment not for itself, but for Ukraine.
And fools are happy to be fried meat on someone else's table.

[carpenter]

Many people remember very well how this usually ended, including the Germans themselves.

It's time for the Germans to think about it if they haven't realized what the First and Second World Wars led them to.

[aybolyt678]

Quote: carpenter

what the First and Second World Wars led them to.

The Germans also lost because they were fixated on their own exceptionalism (National Socialism), while the Soviet Union offered happiness for all (International Socialism). From an international perspective, this was of great importance, which is why the USSR had so many supporters around the world.

[vitaliy20091959]

And they said that the German economy was dying.

[Bayun]

Which of the four in the photo is Anya? The one on the far right is the "jacket"?

[cinnamon]

Demilitarization is proceeding according to plan