Jared Kushner's Affinity Fund Sells Phoenix Insurance Shares for Over NIS 1 Billion

Jared Kushner's Affinity fund, which became the largest shareholder in Israel's Phoenix Insurance about a year and a half ago, has sold a quarter of its shares for approximately NIS 1.05 billion. The sale, led by American investment bank Jefferies, involved offloading around 2.5% of Phoenix's shares to several U.S. institutional investors at a roughly 4% discount to the stock's base price that morning. Following the transaction, Affinity's holding decreased to about 7.4%, but it remains the largest shareholder in Phoenix, with shares valued at around NIS 3.3 billion. This move represents a significant profit for Affinity, which initially acquired a 5% stake in Phoenix two years ago for NIS 470 million. In early 2025, the fund received regulatory approval to exercise options to purchase a similar stake, increasing its investment to about NIS 940 million. Since Affinity's entry, Phoenix's stock has surged nearly 420%, pushing the company's market value to approximately NIS 44 billion, driven by a broader rally in insurance stocks over the past two and a half years. Affinity emphasized its long-term commitment to Phoenix and expressed intentions to collaborate with management and new partners to create future value and explore growth opportunities in regional expansion, reinsurance, asset management, and other initiatives.