The National Insurance Institute in Israel, according to the state plan, deposits NIS 57 per month into a savings account for each child from birth to age 18. Parents can choose from banks or licensed investment funds and have the option to contribute an additional equal amount.
This Thursday, a new digital platform developed by the company ENVA was launched that will allow parents to assess the environmental and social impact of the state funds in which they invest their children's savings.
What the system does is rank investment options based on their financial returns and their level of investment in polluting industries, fossil fuels, gambling, and other controversial sectors.
This new tool is crucial because, according to an analysis by the startup, in the third quarter of 2024, of the NIS 23 billion invested in these plans, more than NIS 1.1 billion went to fossil fuel companies and NIS 144 million to the country's 20 most polluting companies.
Furthermore, ENVA's analysis revealed that investing in companies with negative impacts does not necessarily equate to higher returns, as the funds with the highest returns on high-risk investments during the last quarter of 2024 were Mor Analyst, which allocated only 6.2% and 5.3% of their investments, respectively, to sectors with harmful environmental and social impacts.