The boss of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, will attend the new government’s flagship investment summit next month amid suggestions that it is struggling to attract large numbers of high-calibre international business figures. Sky News has learnt that Larry Fink, BlackRock's chairman and chief executive, will attend the 14 October gathering, which will be held at a prominent central London venue.
The event, which Labour vowed during the general election campaign to hold within 100 days of coming to power, is being seen as a key test of its economic credibility. Whitehall officials are keen to announce investment deals worth tens of billions of pounds on 14 October, although whether they will hit this target is unclear. Some corporate bosses, including the heads of Blackstone and JP Morgan, have declined the invitation, citing diary commitments.