Financial Services

​This sector includes companies that are engaged in the provision of financial services, in investing money in predominantly financial assets, in providing services to lenders, borrowers and investors, and in providing insurance coverage of all types. They are primarily engaged in financial transactions and/or in facilitating financial transactions. Companies represented in this sector are involved in activities such as banking, mortgage finance, consumer finance, specialized finance, investment banking and brokerage, asset management and custody, and corporate lending and financial investment. Pension funds are also represented, as are companies that provide services to insurance underwriters. Other financial institutions are primarily engaged in long-term financing. What, in most cases, sets them apart from banks is that their claims and debts predominantly have long maturities. Examples include lease companies, venture capital and development capital companies, holdings exclusively engaged in managing and controlling a group of subsidiaries whose main function is financial intermediation and/or the provision of financial assistance, securities brokers, and stock exchange institutions. Collective investment schemes (excluding money market funds) also form part of 'other financial institutions'.