Friday, March 23, 2012

Sectors of Financial Services Industry

The categories that fall under the horizon of financial services are: Banking, Insurance, Securities and others.

Banking has become the important sector in the financial services industry which includes all depository institutions from commercial banks to credit unions. Banks use funds which they receive from depositors to give loans and mortgages to individuals and businesses, seeking to earn more in their lending activities than the cost of attracting their depositors. Many banks have diversified for expanding their business and started new business lines such as credit cards, stock brokerage and investment management services and recently they have also moved into the insurance business, selling annuities and life insurance products.

The U.S has large number of banks and branches in the world. Due to its geographical dispersion and regulatory structure, the small to medium sized institutions are involved in its banking system. The U.S commercial banking industry defined as FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) has said that - insured commercial banks experienced robust increases due to number of factors including financial modernization, industry consolidation, globalization, deregulation, rapidly developing technology and the rise of new institutions.

Insurance consists of many categories like life insurance, health insurance, property insurance, etc. It is unique in financial services as it is regulated primarily at the state level while banking and investments are regulated primarily by the federal agencies like securities and exchange commission. Today life insurance premiums are growing more due to the rise in the demand for annuity and pension products. The premium income of United States alone has accounted for half of the world insurance.

The securities include capital markets, derivatives, exchanges, mutual funds, hedge funds, asset backed securities, separately managed accounts, etc. Today's generation is more interested to invest in these securities as they reap huge returns in high markets. The other categories of financial service firms include finance companies, mortgage companies, real estate and investment trusts, funding companies, etc.

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