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

Skip Navigation Markets Business Investing Tech Politics Video Watchlist Investing Club PRO Livestream Menu Key Points 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. However, the investment discussed by Hegseth's broker did not ultimately go ahead. In response, Pentagon Chief Spokesman Sean Parnell dismissed the report in a post on X, calling it "entirely false and fabricated," In this article IDEF Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth holds a briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 19, 2026. Evan Vucci | Reuters 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. …