The financial sector is the pillar of the American economy and day-to-day business operations. Banks, insurance, and financial services companies power key financial activities, payment and saving solutions, credit and capital availability, risk mitigation, and financial information accuracy.
The top American financial companies are engaged in a wide array of operations all along with the flows of money and capital in the economic cycle. Providing high value-added financial products and services that yield large returns on investments, it is no surprise that finance companies also face very stiff competition from both American and foreign actors of the financial sector.
The fight for market share between the diverse types of banks, insurance companies, financial services companies, and broader financial actors creates a dynamic environment where companies specialize, diversify and acquire others in search of higher yields, reduced costs, better risk hedging, and safer investments.
American Express
Image credit : Google
Industry: Credit Services
The American Express Company, also known as Amex, was founded in 1850. Originally involved in freight forwarding, American Express has later engaged in travel services and become a leader in cards and payments technology before expanding further to innovative digital products and services.
Charles Schwab
Image credit : Google
Industry: Capital Markets
The Charles Schwab Corporation is a bank and stock brokerage company headquartered in San Francisco, California. Focused on investing, wealth management, banking, and trading, Charles Schwab provides an electronic trading platform for stocks and other financial assets, margin lending, cash management services, and registered investment advisers services. It operates more than 300 branches in 46 states, Puerto Rico and London.
S&P Global
Image credit : Google
Industry: Financial Data & Stock Exchanges
S&P Global Inc. (S&P meaning “Standard and Poor’s”) is a financial information and analytics company. Through its subsidiaries, it is involved in investment research and rating, with S&P Global Ratings, multi-asset class, and real-time data, research, news and analytics through S&P Global Market Intelligence. It operates global resources for index-based concepts, data, and research with its majority ownership of S&P Dow Jones Indices, which produces the S&P 500 and Dow Jones indices. And it also provides information and price assessments for a wide range of commodities through S&P Global Platts.
Capital One
Image credit : Google
Industry: Credit Services
Capital One Financial Corporation is a financial service and banking holding headquartered in McLean, Virginia. With more than 700 branches and 2,000 ATMs, Capital One consumer and commercial bank is especially present in Northeastern and Southern United States, and also operates in Canada and the United Kingdom. Especially involved in the issuance of credit cards, Capital One is also a key provider of auto loans, and savings accounts.
Blackstone
Image credit : Google
Industry: Asset Management
The Blackstone Group Inc. is a company dedicated to alternative investment management. It operates in four key businesses areas: private equity with minority investments in companies, corporate partnerships, and some startups; real estate, with investments in multiple real estate companies; hedge funds, through funds of hedge funds and other funds segments; and credit, through its acquisition of GSO Capital Partners, a credit-oriented alternative asset manager.
Marsh & McLennan
Image credit : Google
Industry: Insurance Brokers
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. is a global professional services company operating in insurance brokerage, risk management, reinsurance services, talent management, investment advisory, and management consulting. Tracing its origins to 1905 and headquartered in New York City, Marsh & McLennan operates in insurance through its subsidiaries, Marsh, Guy Carpenter, and Jardine Lloyd Thompson, and in consulting with Mercer and Oliver Wyman Group.
Intercontinental Exchange
Image credit : Google
Industry: Financial Data & Stock Exchanges
Intercontinental Exchange, often referred to as ICE, is a financial and commodity market operator. It owns financial and commodity markets exchanges and operates 12 regulated exchanges and marketplaces, including the New York Stock Exchange, futures exchanges in United States, Canada, and Europe, equity options exchanges and over-the-counter instruments markets. ICE also owns and operates 6 central clearing houses in the US, Europe, and Asia.
The financial companies listed hereafter are ranked by market capitalization in United States Dollars, as of effective close on Friday, January 29, 2021. They are defined as belonging to specific sub-industries of banking, insurance, credit services, and financial conglomerates.
For more information on other world-leading companies, check our series of posts on Top Companies, and for more information on the country, read our articles on Top Business Resources for the US.
Note that if you are searching for information on these companies to invest in their stocks, make sure you know what you are doing as your investment will be subject to significant risks with the evolution of stock prices.
Read also : Financial Inclusion Champions: Best Microfinance Institutions in the USA
Read also : Legal Support for Asbestos Victims: Canada’s Best Law Firms