When discussing the financial industry, it’s only natural for one’s thoughts to gravitate towards the bustling heart of American finance, New York City’s Wall Street. Though Wall Street itself may span a mere eight blocks, the financial institutions lining those streets and the surrounding areas encapsulate the entirety of the American financial landscape. From the iconic New York Stock Exchange to the influential Federal Reserve Bank of New York, they touch almost every facet of our financial lives. As such, for both aspiring financial professionals and novice investors looking to grow their wealth, it’s an ideal starting point.
New York City is a vast metropolis, squeezing over 8.8 million people into just over 300 square miles, making it the most densely populated city in the United States and a thriving hub for the financial industry. Given this backdrop, it makes perfect sense to begin by exploring the largest American financial firms, as measured by assets under management (AUM), that maintain a significant presence in the Big Apple.
AUM represents the market value of assets managed by a financial firm for its clients and is a pivotal factor in assessing financial companies. Moreover, compensation structures in the industry often hinge on a fee determined by an advisor’s AUM. Firms with higher AUM generally offer a broader spectrum of services, giving clients a wider array of options and prospective advisors a more diverse career path.
Although not all financial institutions have their headquarters in New York, the most substantial ones boast a significant presence in the city. It’s worth noting that among these American firms, there are four additional entities headquartered abroad: Credit Agricole (France), Allianz Group (Germany), Amundi (France), and UBS Group (Switzerland).
The financial industry has its own set of complex terminology and differentiations, which can be daunting for newcomers or those seeking a career in the sector. For the purposes of this article, we’ll focus on ranking the largest asset management firms in America, primarily engaged in activities such as investing pooled client funds, employing personal money managers to handle high-net-worth individual accounts, and offering services like ETFs, mutual funds, brokerage accounts, and financial advisory services for smaller investors.
Below, we present the top 7 American asset management firms, ranked by AUM, all of which maintain a significant presence in New York City:
1. BlackRock Inc. (BLK)
- Headquarters: New York City
- AUM: $9 trillion
2. Vanguard Group
- Headquarters: Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
- AUM: $7.6 trillion
3. Fidelity Investments
- Headquarters: Boston
- AUM: $4.2 trillion
4. State Street Global Advisors
- Headquarters: Boston
- AUM: $3.6 trillion
5. Morgan Stanley (MS)
- Headquarters: New York City
- AUM: $3.1 trillion
6. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)
- Headquarters: New York City
- AUM: $3 trillion
7. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)
- Headquarters: New York City
- AUM: $2.6 trillion
1. BlackRock Inc. (BK)
- Headquarters: New York City
- AUM: $9 trillion
The largest firm in our ranking, BlackRock, is fittingly headquartered in New York City. It occupies a substantial footprint at 50 Hudson Yards, an area formerly known as Hell’s Kitchen, which is undergoing significant reconstruction—a parallel to BlackRock’s ascendancy in the financial world since its inception in 1988 and successful IPO in 1999. Led by Chairman and CEO Larry Fink, BlackRock operates in 30 countries with 70 offices, serving clients in 100 countries worldwide. It’s renowned for iShares, the largest issuer of ETFs in the U.S. and globally.
BlackRock Solutions, a subsidiary, tracks investment portfolios for major financial institutions, and the firm emphasizes environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) practices. In 2020, BlackRock became the first global asset manager to commence operations in China. The firm has also been entrusted by the U.S. government to lead critical efforts during times of national crisis, such as corporate bond-buying programs during the COVID-19 pandemic and asset management during the 2023 regional banking crisis.
2. Vanguard Group
- Headquarters: Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
- AUM: $7.6 trillion
Like Fidelity, Vanguard focuses on individual investors and is the largest provider of mutual funds. Vanguard consistently dominates the top funds in the Lipper Index, benchmarking performance. It is the second-largest provider of ETFs globally, following BlackRock. Vanguard offers a full suite of individual services, including brokerage, financial planning, asset management, and trust services. Founded by John C. Bogle in 1975, Vanguard pioneered index investing with the Vanguard 500 Index Fund. Vanguard’s low-cost investing philosophy has made it a leader in the industry, appealing to buy-and-hold investors and retirement savers. Vanguard also offers the Vanguard Digital Advisor robo-advisor, with a $3,000 minimum account and lower AUM fees compared to Fidelity.
3. Fidelity Investments
- Headquarters: Boston
- AUM: $4.2 trillion
Founded in 1946, Fidelity offers a vast array of individual investment options, including mutual and index funds, brokerage services, retirement plan solutions, wealth management advisory, asset custody, and life insurance. Fidelity’s roots trace back to the Great Depression when the “Fidelity Fund” was the only new fund approved by Massachusetts securities director John Hull. Abigail Johnson, the firm’s CEO since 2014, is one of the world’s wealthiest and most influential women, with personal wealth of around $25 billion. Fidelity introduced cryptocurrency investment in 2018, enabling Bitcoin and Ethereum trading by institutional investors. The firm also offers the robo-advisor Fidelity Go, with no minimum account requirements.
4. State Street Global Advisors
- Headquarters: Boston
- AUM: $3.6 trillion
State Street Global Advisors (SSGA), the investment management division of State Street Corp., was founded in 1978. SSGA gained prominence for creating the first exchange-traded fund (ETF), the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), designed to track the S&P 500 in 1993. SSGA offers 46 different ETFs for individual U.S. investors, alongside institutional asset management. Notably, SSGA commissioned Kristen Visbal’s “Fearless Girl” statue in 2017, which faces the iconic Wall Street “Charging Bull.”
5. Morgan Stanley (MS)
- Headquarters: New York City
- AUM: $3.1 trillion
Morgan Stanley has been a stalwart in the financial community for nearly 90 years. The firm was established following the Glass-Steagall Act and has since offered three main services: institutional securities, wealth management, and investment services. Morgan Stanley’s online brokerage subsidiary, E-Trade, resonates with individual retail investors. Additionally, the firm provides advanced investing and wealth management solutions through a 2021 partnership with Eaton Vance.
6. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM)
- Headquarters: New York City
- AUM: $3 trillion
JPMorgan traces its roots to 1799 through the Chase Manhattan Bank lineage. The merger of JPMorgan and Chase in 2000 created the largest bank in the U.S. and the world’s largest bank by market capitalization, a position it holds under the leadership of CEO Jamie Dimon. JPMorgan primarily serves institutional clients, including large corporations and sovereign governments, providing corporate advisory services, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, and private asset management. The firm also conducts institutional research on a wide range of topics and offers retail banking and credit card services through Chase Bank.
7. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)
- Headquarters: New York City
- AUM: $2.6 trillion
Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs has become a global financial conglomerate with regional headquarters in Dallas, Salt Lake City, and international offices in the U.K., Poland, India, Hong Kong, and Japan. By revenue, it ranks as the world’s second-largest investment bank and holds the 55th position on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations. Goldman Sachs is known for its venture capital funding in startup businesses, including Twitter, Spotify Technology SA, and Dropbox Inc. It has also earned a spot on Forbes’ “100 Best Companies to Work For” list.