Best Investment Banks

Investment banking is a vast field upon which modern businesses operate, and financially thrive. There are investment banks in every corner of the world and, there are bound to be several banks having several unheard names. Here is a general list of investment banks that depicts the size and economic power of such financial institutions. It must be noted that the following is a list, and not a rankings. But the names are provided due to their sheer size, reputation and upward propelling graphs.

What is an Investment Bank

The basics of investment banking also involves marketing shares and securities of companies and effectively popularizing them in markets. Other functions such as mergers, acquisitions, foreign exchange, commodity and equity securities are also executed by investment banks. An important characteristic of investment banks, is that it, principally assists corporate clients. There are very less, or almost no, individual clients. In some cases government corporations and companies and government departments have also relied on the services of investment banks.

List of the Top Investment Banks

The following are some of the best investment banks.

Bank of America
The Bank of America, is a combination of two banks Bank of Italy (founded 1904) and Nationsbank (founded 1847). This bank is one of the oldest banks in the world and is also reputedly the second largest bank holding company in the United States, not to mention its second largest market capitalization capacity as well. The bank is reputed to be the largest wealth manager in the investment banking industry. The Bank of America is among the 'big four banks' of United States.
(Revenue: $150.45 billion, Net income: $6.276 billion, Total assets: $2.223 trillion, Total equity:$231.444 billion, Employees: 282,408)

Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo is one among the big four ones. This bank is the fourth largest bank in United States and has the third largest market capitalization. Founded in 1852, this bank has violently fought against ill effects of the economic recession. As of 2007 it was the only bank to carry the AAA rating which, unfortunately, has dropped as a result of the recession.
(Revenue: $98.636 billion, Profit: $12.275 billion, Total assets: $1.243 trillion, Total equity: $111.786 billion, Employees: 267,300)

JPMorgan Chase
The bank is the largest one in the United States by virtue of market capitalization, and is the third largest custodian of deposits. JPMorgan Chase is also known for its operations in hedge funds and a highly versatile service base of asset management, private wealth management and banking that is spread well over 60 countries.
(Revenue: $100.434 billion, Operating income: $48.082 billion, Profit: $11.728 billion, Total assets: $2.031 trillion, Total equity: $165.365 billion, Employees 232,939)

Citigroup
Citigroup which is popularly known as 'Citi', is the world's biggest financial service network which is spread over 140 countries. The company is also a prominent primary dealer in US treasury securities.
(Revenue: $80.285 billion, Total assets: $2.002 trillion, Total equity: $152.700 billion, Employees: 263,000)

Some other really big banks, which cater to investments include,

• Barclay's
• Royal Bank of Scotland
• BNP Paribas
• Goldman Sachs
• Deutsche Bank
• HSBC
• UBS (UBS Investment Bank)
• Credit Suisse
• Morgan Stanley
• Royal Bank of Canada (RBC Capital Markets)
• Nomura Holdings

It must be noted that facts and figures are subject to change, but the information on the investment banks, aforementioned, is true to date.