Types of Financial Services Companies
Companies in this sector include:
- Investment banking firms
- Money managers
- Brokerage houses
- Banks
- Lenders
- Insurance companies
- Tax and accounting firms
- Credit card companies
- Payment processing companies
- Real estate companies
- Fintech companies
Financial services firms serve retail and commercial consumers alike. What Companies are in the Finance Field?
- Major Names in Financial Services
- Berkshire Hathaway
- Founded: 1839 (as Valley Falls Company)
- Headquarters: Omaha, Nebraska
- Chief Executive Officer: Warren Buffett
Market Capitalization (as of August 2022): $645.66 billion
Many people have heard of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A), the company headed by Warren Buffett, one of the world’s richest individuals. The company’s stock is one of the most expensive in the world and trades on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Berkshire Hathaway was founded in 1839 as the Valley Falls Company in Rhode Island and was originally a textile manufacturing company. Buffett’s involvement began in 1962 when he started buying shares in the company before assuming full control a few years later What Companies are in the Finance Field?
Berkshire Hathaway has an established record of financial success with companies that it has acquired over the years. The multinational conglomerate owns insurance companies GEICO, National Indemnity, and General Re. The assets of these three companies combined make parent Berkshire Hathaway one of the biggest insurance companies in the U.S.
Berkshire Hathaway has expanded
Its holdings to include companies involved in real estate, transportation, the furniture industry, and several jewelry companies—notably Helzberg Diamonds.
- American Express
- Founded: 1850
- Headquarters: New York, New York
- Chief Executive Officer: Stephen Squeri
American Express (AXP) is one of the oldest financial firms in America, dating back to 1850. Originally, it offered freight forwarding services. It became one of the first companies in the world to offer charge cards and is commonly recognized by its signature gladiator logo adopted in 1958. Today, American Express, or Amex as it’s more commonly known, is a Fortune 100 company and a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).
American Express continues to prosper despite competition from major rivals Visa and MasterCard, which have more aggressive credit card marketing strategies. The company has focused its attention on its credit card offerings, creating a number of co-branded cards with hotels. It provides other travel services such as traveler’s checks and has ventured into the prepaid card business. The elite status of American Express is demonstrated by its ability to offer a premium Centurion card that can be had for a hefty $10,000 initial fee and a $5,000 annual fee.
- Wells Fargo
- Founded: 1852
- Headquarters: San Francisco, California
- Chief Executive Officer: Charles Scharf
- Market Capitalization (as of August 2022): $169.345 billion
Wells Fargo (WFC) is a global bank and financial services company with retail and commercial banking locations across the U.S. It also has a presence in Hong Kong, London, Singapore, and Tokyo. The company is one of the largest banks by market capitalization in the United States and is among the largest 100 corporations in the United States What Companies are in the Finance Field?
Wells Fargo has the distinction
Of holding the first-ever bank charter issued in the U.S. The company acquired Wachovia Bank in 2008, winning out over one of its major competitors, Citigroup (C).
Despite its success and position within the sector, the company has had its fair share of scandals. One of the most notable involved branches opening 1.5 million checking, savings, and credit card accounts without the consent of customers. This was widely reported in 2016 and, as a result, Wells Fargo was slapped with $185 million in fines.
- Charles Schwab
- Founded: 1971
- Headquarters: Westlake, Texas
- Chief Executive Officer: Walter Bettinger
- Market Capitalization (as of August 2022): $138.40 billion
In 1975, Chuck Schwab helped launch the revolution in discounted brokerage commissions. So welcome was this change by individual investors that, within a decade, his company opened approximately 100 branches, began offering 24-hour quotes and extended customer service hours, and even started researching what would become online services. Schwab became known as America’s Largest Discount
Broker What Companies are in the Finance Field?
Bank of America bought Charles Schwab in 1983. Chuck Schwab engineered a buy back in 1987 and then took the company public. Schwab started offering financial services for independent financial advisors as well as financial products such as the Schwab 1000 Fund®, the No-Fee IRA, and Schwab Mutual Fund OneSource® service. Schwab went live with web trading in 1996.
Today, Charles Schwab has $7.3 trillion in client assets, 33.9 million brokerage accounts (and averages 5.22 million daily trades), 1.7 million banking accounts, and serves approximately 15,000 independent advisor firms. It employs 35,200.
