The financial services industry continues to be a powerhouse in today’s world economy. While no longer the masters of the universe of the late 1980s and mid-2000 —  that torch has arguably passed on to technology companies — global banks, hedge funds, asset managers, and other financial institutions still sit in the engine room of global capitalism.
Investment banks help companies go public and arrange multi-billion dollar mergers and acquisitions. Asset managers allocate trillions of dollars in capital from the world’s pension funds. Hedge funds try to leverage the capital market’s inefficiencies and generate above market returns. And private banks help the rich manage, and sometimes hide, their wealth.
Then there is commercial banking, providing loans in various forms, cash management facilities and foreign exchange services to large, medium and small enterprises. And the more mundane retail business of savings, personal loans, credit cards and unit trusts, plus maintaining the world’s financial system’s plumbing by facilitating international wire transfers.
