Pete Hegseth's broker attempted to make defense investments before Iran war: Financial Times

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A broker for U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to make a large investment in major defense companies in the lead up to the Iran war, according to the Financial Times. The Pentagon has denied the report.

The Financial Times reported Tuesday that Hegseth’s broker at banking giant Morgan Stanley contacted BlackRock in February about making a multimillion-dollar investment in its iShares Defense Industrials Active ETF.

The ETF, which has about $3.1 billion in assets, counts companies such as RTX Corp, — formerly known as Raytheon — Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman among its largest holdings, Blackrock data showed.

The Defense Industrials Active ETF has lost 12.4% in the past one month, about the time when the Iran war started, according to LSEG data.