Israel had been “Promoted” in may and is no longer considered an emerging economy. This was simply a technical adjustment by Harvard Asset Management – to adjust for the fact that Israel was no longer classified by MSCI as a developing economy.( index maker MSCI moved Israel from emerging country to developed country back in May). The sell-off was just part of a re-balancing between their emerging economy to their developing economy accounts.
John Longbrake, Sr. Communications manager at the Harvard Management Company emailed the following confirming that it was not a divestment.
the Management Company’s most recent S.E.C. filing details changes in holdings, as is routine, but no change in policy. The University has not divested from Israel. Israel was moved from the MSCI, our benchmark in emerging markets, to the EAFE index in May due to its successful growth. Our emerging markets holdings were rebalanced accordingly. We have holdings in developed markets, including Israel, through outside managers in commingled accounts and indexes, which are not reported in the filing in question”.
I hate to say it, but I’m not sure I trust Harvard’s answer. As one commenter said: “I see. When Israel was reclassified as a developed nation, Harvard adjusted its balance between developing and developed economies, not by a balanced reduction from the latter to the former, not by a thoughtful reduction of selected investments in developed countries but by disposal of every single one of its investments in Israel.
Similarly supporters of Israel might decide to react to present hard times not by proportionally cutting all their charitable contributions, but simply by cutting out all contributions to Harvard.”