BlackRock gives foreign investment a bad name in NZ

BlackRock executives jetted in to trumpet a fairytale climate change fund before the 2023 election. (Image: NZME)

Mon, 13 Jan 2025

New Zealand’s brief and unhappy relationship with the multi-trillion-dollar US-based BlackRock investment empire sends three awful signals, one of which matters far more than the others.The first signal stems from BlackRock’s decision to stop funding local rooftop solar company, SolarZero, which it turns out had a great business model as long as interest rates remained low.SolarZero turned out to be a bottomless pit of cash demands. The decision to quit after pouring nearly $260 million into the business looks commercially rational....

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