Financial services

Financial services is the largest industry (or category of industries) in the world in terms of earnings (20% of market cap in the S&P 500 in 2004). Financial services is a term used to refer to the services provided by the finance industry. Banks, insurance companies, investment banks, and brokerages, are examples of the types of firms forming this industry: They provide money and investment and related services.

Market

Financial services is the largest group of companies in the world in terms of earnings and equity market cap. It is not the largest category in terms of revenue or number of employees. Financial services, while as a whole industry is slow growing, is also extremely fragmented, with the largest company (Citigroup), only having a 3 percent US market share. See page 11, "The Opportunity: Small Global Market Share", of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Strategic Decisions Conference - 6/02/04 for the 2003 market shares of Citigroup.

Related Topics:
Citigroup - Market share

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In contrast, the largest home improvement store in the US, Home Depot, has a 30 percent market share, and the largest coffee house Starbucks has a 32 percent market share, etc. Despite this fragmentation, these companies are as a group by far the most profitable in the world, and if any grew to the same market share percentages as any other retail industry, the potential profit would be enormous.

Related Topics:
Home Depot - Starbucks

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