A healthy financial services sector helps people with their most fundamental needs. It allows them to get the money they need for mortgages, education, and vehicles. It safeguards their savings with insurance. And it gives them the ability to grow their businesses with loans and investment opportunities.
The financial services industry seems so all-encompassing today that it’s hard to remember when each sector was its own distinct entity. Banks once merely provided a place to hold your checking and savings account; loan associations focused on mortgages and personal loans; and brokerage companies only offered investment opportunities through stocks, mutual funds, and credit cards.
Now, however, most banks offer all of these services and more – providing deposit and lending opportunities along with wealth management, commercial banking, and investment advisory. Many of these companies even manage pensions, hedge funds, and insurance assets.
And for the millions of people who rely on them, financial services make life much easier and more enjoyable. Whether it’s helping families purchase cars or homes, allowing students to afford higher education, or safeguarding the savings of the elderly, financial institutions are there when they need them most. In fact, a recent survey found that professionals in financial services report the highest levels of job satisfaction – between 9.6 and 10.