Jared Kushner Sells 2.5% of Phoenix Shares to Foreign Investors for 1 Billion Shekels

The American investment fund Affinity Partners, led by Jared Kushner, has signed a deal to sell 2.5% of Phoenix Finance shares to two international entities that are among the largest asset managers in the world for approximately 1 billion shekels. Affinity is currently the largest shareholder in Phoenix, with a holding of about 9.9%, and after the deal, it will decrease to a holding rate of 7.4%. According to the fund's announcement, it will continue to hold the remaining shares for the long term, while the buyers, whose identities were not disclosed, are also long-term investors.

Calcalist revealed about two months ago the examination being conducted at Affinity regarding the possibility of selling part of the Phoenix shares. In a statement published by Affinity, it said:

«Affinity is proud to continue to be the largest shareholder in Phoenix, and expresses great confidence in the company's management team, its strategy, and its future growth path. Affinity welcomes the joining of these leading institutional entities to the next stage of Phoenix's exciting growth plans.»

Phoenix, which is traded without a controlling core, is currently the largest institutional body in Israel, both in terms of market value (about 44 billion shekels) and in terms of asset volume. From the company's perspective, the sale of shares by Kushner is a matter of expanding the circle of foreign investors, who already hold about 40% of its shares today.

The deal reflects a total profit of 3.6 billion shekels for Affinity Partners on the investment in Phoenix that began two years ago. In July 2024, Affinity acquired 4.95% of Phoenix shares for 466 million shekels from the American funds Centerbridge and Gallatin Point, as part of their distribution of holdings and their reduction from control of the company. Affinity received an option to purchase an identical stake for the same amount after receiving the appropriate regulatory approvals, which were given in January 2025, when the fund increased its holding to 9.9% in Phoenix, with a total investment of 932 million shekels. In other words, the sale of shares now returns to Affinity all of its investment, and more.

Since Affinity entered Phoenix, the company's stock has soared and its market value has doubled by 5 times, so that the market value of Affinity's share stake in Phoenix after the sale stands at about 3.3 billion shekels. To this must be added dividends of 230 million shekels that it received during the period. The surge of Phoenix stock, which is managed by Eyal Ben Simon, occurred against the backdrop of the sharp growth in its business activity and against the backdrop of the decrease in Israel's risk premium, which gave a tailwind to insurance stocks. Thus, at the end of June 2024, before Affinity's entry into Phoenix, the company managed assets in a total volume of 480 billion shekels, whereas as of the end of the first quarter of 2026, the managed assets had already reached a volume of 623 billion shekels.