how is the financial services industry changing?
81015
They're going more into online-centric services.
1092892
There are changes in the online banking field of both concern and excitement.  Concern because of privacy issues and loss of jobs if they replace typical branch banks.  Excitement because of convenience and the higher interest rates that they are able to offer which is causing growth and in turn confidence in the online banking industry.
568765
Banks are under-regulated.  One need only look back in the mid 1980's with the failure of S & L's due to deregulation.  Basically, financial services need to be regulated (i.e., deposit insurance, capital requirements, staff reductions at the FHLBB, et. al.) to solve "moral hazard" problems (i.e., taking sub-optimal risks to generate higher returns for investors).  Here's a link to an article below which expounds upon my point above - good luck!
111364
This is something you'll need to look for from Standard and Poors. They have industry ratio information. You might also want to check out the bls.gov
612936
Ab-so-fricken-lutely. There's a but. You need to have educated friends in the fiancial arena because the markets change just when you least expect them too. And timing the market ain't easy. Here's an article by Jim Jubak at moneycentral which includes a tidbit on these contracts.
46802
Financial restructuring is the process of analyzing an organization's current financial structure, and determining the best capital structure to meet current and future needs.
404796
banking is huge in London...financial services is huge there. Get a Financial Times and read the want ads...or go to Bloomberg.com and go to the help wanteds...or, grab Economist magazine and read their ads. If nothing else, you will be able to find names of recruitment firms that can help you. Also- get your CFA and maybe some classes in international tax law...London is pretty cosmopolitan and you wouldn't be dealing with only Brits.
1013648
Pretty crappy. After the Enron and Worldcom scandals, the Sarbanes-Oxley act has made things a heck of a lot more difficult. There is so much paperwork its not funny. You've also got people looking at large companies for being monopolies (Microsoft a few years back) and for unethical business practices including cheap foreign labor. All in all, not so great.\n\nEDIT\nAs for how it affects me today...\nI think that the move in business has been even more towards customer centric marketing as well as owner centric ideals: give the customer what they desire while at the same time upholding whatever values your brand stands for and keep ethical practices. I think that anti-trust stuff is a joke personally but thats just me.
1017135
Since the internet bubble burst in 2001, the IT market has been down and out until recently. Currently, it's picking up again and is very hot in most countries such as USA and India. But from experience,  the IT market is very volatile and changes every 4 yrs. like a yo-yo. So it's quite risky to be in this line of work.\nCurrently, there's also a great global demand for wealth/fund managers (asset management) by most major banks esp. in Singapore. If you have a degree in economics and commerce, then this would be the right time to get into this market.
1180985
About 45 billion dollars and some changes.
846495
Nothing.  They haven't demutualised.  They've merged with another Building Society.
197317
Well, according to The Wall Street Journal Eastern Edition, March 17, 2006, St. Paul Travelers Cos. is in negotiations to acquire Zurich Financial Services.\n\nHere is the article:\n-------------------------------------------------\n\n"The insurance industry has seen many big European insurers buy U.S. companies in recent years. Now there are hints that a U.S. company could make a big move in the other direction.\n\nSt. Paul Travelers Cos., of St. Paul, Minn., is discussing the possibility of a merger with Zurich Financial Services of Switzerland, one of Europe's largest insurers and a bigger company in terms of market capitalization, according to people familiar with the matter. The effort is preliminary and may go nowhere, these people said. A potential deal faces several significant hurdles, and even if successful could take months to complete, they cautioned.\n\nStill, the talks, however preliminary, are the latest sign of ferment in insurance. The industry has been slowly consolidating around the globe in recent years as insurers aim to follow in the footsteps of banks by transforming themselves from regional or national fixtures into global players.\n\nAmong recent big deals in the industry, Swiss Re in November acquired General Electric Co.'s insurance business for $6.8 billion, while this month Old Mutual PLC of South Africa closed a deal to acquire Skandia AB of Sweden, also for $6.8 billion.\n\nSo far, European companies, some of which have substantial operations in the U.S., have played a central role in global consolidation. But U.S. companies increasingly are turning their attention to growth opportunities overseas, particularly given that the U.S. is in many ways a mature market for the products insurers here specialize in. Besides the Swiss Re acquisition, recent deals include the 2004 acquisition by AXA Financial Inc., a unit of French insurer AXA SA, of U.S. insurer MONY Group Inc. in a deal valued at $1.5 billion.\n\nCombined, St. Paul and Zurich Financial could create a rival in size to American International Group Inc., the only U.S. insurer with big international operations. A purchase by St. Paul would be one of the largest European acquisitions ever by a U.S. company. Zurich Financial has a $33.6 billion stock-market value, compared with a stock-market value of $29.9 billion for St. Paul Travelers. Together, the companies racked up more than $90 billion in revenue last year and employed more than 85,000.\n\nPulling off such a deal would be a coup for St. Paul's ambitious chief executive, Jay Fishman, a former top Citigroup executive and protege of Sanford I. Weill, the executive who helped create Citigroup through the merger of insurance giant Travelers Group and Citicorp in 1998. In 2004, Mr. Fishman helped arrange the deal that brought Travelers to St. Paul after it had been spun out of Citigroup.\n\nZurich Financial has businesses in 50 countries and already ranks as one of the top U.S. property and casualty insurers, for both businesses and individuals. St. Paul Travelers operates primarily in the U.S.\n\nA Zurich spokesman declined to comment. A spokesman from St. Paul Travelers said the company "doesn't discuss speculation."\n\nFor both companies, a trans-Atlantic insurance merger could help spread risks more evenly around the globe, industry experts said. In addition, the large overlap in the U.S. businesses of the two companies provides a potential opening for considerable cost-cutting.\n\nNeither company has an especially strong stock price at play in the preliminary talks. Though Zurich Financial's stock has climbed strongly this year, it had long lagged behind its peers as the company struggled to emerge from the aggressive expansion strategy of former chief executive Rolf Hueppi. Current management has written down many of Mr. Hueppi's acquisitions in an attempt to wipe the slate clean.\n\nSt. Paul's share price, meanwhile, trades at a little less th
1152579
In the US here's the top job prospects for the future in my humble opinion.  \n\nHealth Care, especially Registered Nurses -   Americans are aging and the use of Health Care facilities and services are increasing as a result.  \n\nCollections - The debt load of Americans has increased over the last few years and as Interest rates rise there will be more and more accounts entering into the Collections phase.  \n\nSocial Workers, especially in the Mental Health field - As the problems noted above increase, people are going to get more stressed out and seek the use of Counselors and Therapists.  \n\nHome Contractors / Construction - More and more Americans will be building an addition on to their homes to care for their aging parents.  It's cheaper than a Nursing Home and allows a relative to ensure care is being provided in the standard that they wish.  In addition, if there is a move to remove illegal workers from the US it will also add to the need for qualified individuals to practice in this field.
677376
The demand for fully qualified actuaries is increasing in many specialties.  The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is creating more requirements of a publicly held business than ever.\n\nMore and more small companies are hiring their first actuary instead of relying on consultants.\n\nThe demand for actuaries in some specialties is not increasing.\n\nAlso, the supply of recent college graduates looking for beginning actuarial jobs is high, so it is not easy to get your first job.\n\nA CPA is not an actuary, by the way.  CPAs do valuable functions, but actuarial is not one of them.
79329
LOL..\nUnlikely! I have never heard of them. The UK banking industry is tightly regulated and most of the banks are national or international groups such as HSBC, Natwest, Barclays, Abbery, Bank of Scotland etc.\nThe FSA regulates banking in the UK: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/
653093
fortis securities has undergone a name change..\n\npls dnt ask incomplete questions
783082
During the last mortgage boom, there were a bunch of mortgage companies hiring loan officers and having them throw 2/28s and pay-option ARMs at people, not explaining the details of such things.  This was 2 years ago.  Since then, the market has slowed, such that the successful mortgage broker has relationships with realtors and builders to feed them clients, and the number of mortgage companies has decreased dramatically.  If you're going to go into the biz, now would be a good time, because we're about to boom again.  Just keep in mind that it takes a while to start, but the money is great when it's good.