In December 2024, Kazakhstan’s Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (UAPF) sold approximately $14.86 million worth of Israeli government bonds from two separate issuances. The decision to divest came after Israel agreed to a truce with Hezbollah at the end of November 2024.
The bonds were part of two 10-year issuances (out of eight held by the UAPF as of Dec. 1), maturing in 2033 and 2034. The fund purchased the first issuance, with a 4.5% coupon rate, for about $5 million in April 2023. It invested approximately $20 million in the second issuance, which carried a 5.5% coupon, in March 2024.
In December 2024, the UAPF fully sold the 4.5% coupon bonds and offloaded half of the 5.5% coupon issuance. The exact transaction dates were not disclosed. The fund had purchased the 2033-maturing bonds on April 14, 2023, when they closed at $1,004.31 per bond. By the time of the sale in December 2024, their price had dropped to a range of $917.35 to $940.65, according to TradingView data, reflecting a decline of 6.3% to 8.7% in value.
Despite the drop, the UAPF noted that as of Dec. 1, 2024, the market value of the bonds still exceeded their purchase price by 5.5% or more than $260,000. Additionally, between April 2023 and December 2024, the fund collected at least three rounds of coupon payments, totaling $45 per bond.
As for the 5.5% coupon bonds, the UAPF purchased them at approximately $986 per bond. In the month of the sale, bond prices fluctuated between $972.01 and $1,001.40. According to TradingView data, this means that during UAPF’s holding period, the bond price could have increased by as much as 1.6% or declined by up to 1.4%, depending on the exact timing of the sale in December.
Meanwhile, the UAPF stated on its website that as of Dec. 1, 2024, its investments in this bond issuance had grown by 1.4% or approximately $2.6 million. Since these bonds were held for less than a year, the fund received only one coupon payment of $55 per bond.
Notably, UAPF’s December report did not mention the sale of Israeli government bonds. Instead, the document listed transactions involving securities from the governments of Kazakhstan and the U.S., as well as financial institutions such as Baiterek, Halyk Bank, Development Bank of Kazakhstan and Bank CenterCredit.
Since Israel and Hezbollah reached a truce agreement in late November 2024, the ceasefire has been violated multiple times. Final approval of the truce only came in December. On Jan. 15, 2025, Hamas also reached a temporary agreement with Israel for a cessation of hostilities in the Gaza Strip.
