Edward Jones provides investment advice and financial services for individual investors in the United States and, through its affiliates, in Canada and the United Kingdom. Every aspect of the company’s business, from the types of investment options offered to the location of branch offices, is designed to cater to the individual investor in the communities in which they live and work. The firm’s 10,000 investment representatives work directly with more than 7 million clients to understand their personal goals — from college savings to retirement — and create a long-term strategy for their investments that emphasizes a well-balanced portfolio and a buy-and-hold strategy. Edward Jones embraces the importance of building long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients, helping them to understand and make sense of the investment options available today.

Edward Jones categorizes its revenues as trade revenue (revenue from buy or sell transactions of securities) or net fee revenue (sources other than trade revenue including asset fees, account and activity fees; and net interest income).

The firm has about 8500 local branches in the US. It also has offices and branches across Canada and the UK. Each of these offices has one investment representative and one branch office administrator. These offices serve customers, brokers, dealers, clearing organizations, depositories and banks.

The firm focuses on customers interested in relatively high-quality but low-risk long-term investments. Its product offering includes certificates of deposit; government, municipal and corporate bonds; mutual funds; common stocks; retirement plans and IRAs; and life insurance products including annuities. Its products provide solutions for various life stages and requirements; including, retirement planning, saving for college fees, reducing tax bills or generating extra income.

The Edward Jones Investment Policy Advisory Committee, established in 1987, consists of 13 industry experts. The committee provides strategic guidance on individual investing. It identifies areas of investment opportunity and risk created by current market and economic conditions.

In September, due to the plunge in the stock market, Goldman Sachs converted into a bank holding company so it could accept deposits from bank customers. The move will mean more regulation overseeing the company and also reduces risk from using leverage.

Goldman Sachs’ business activities are divided into three segments:

Investment Banking. The firm provides a broad range of investment banking services to a diverse group of corporations, financial institutions, governments and wealthy individuals.

Trading and Principal Investments. The firm facilitates client transactions with a diverse group of corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals and takes proprietary positions through market making in, trading of and investing in fixed income and equity products, currencies, commodities and derivatives on such products. In addition, the firm engages in specialist and market-making activities on equities and options exchanges and clears client transactions on major stock, options and futures exchanges worldwide. In connection with the firm’s merchant banking and other investing activities, the firm makes principal investments directly and through funds that the firm raises and manages.

Asset Management and Securities Services. The firm provides investment advisory and financial planning services and offers investment products across all major asset classes to a diverse group of institutions and individuals worldwide, and provides prime brokerage services, financing services and securities lending services to mutual funds, pension funds, hedge funds, foundations and high-net-worth individuals worldwide.

Many prominent people in the financial world have worked at Goldman Sachs including Robert Rubin, former Treasury Secretary, John Thain, current Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, and Jim Cramer, host of CNBC’s Mad Money. Cramer was a trader at Goldman.

Fiscal 2007 was another record year for the company. It reported record revenues of $45.9 billion and net income of $11.59 billion. Trading and investments accounted for a lion’s share of revenue at $27.9 billion for 2007.

Partners and top employees at this prestigious company are some of the best-paid workers in New York. Average pay for all workers at Goldman Sachs was $661,000 in 2007 with a record $20.17 billion set aside for salaries, bonuses and benefits, up 23% from the previous year.

The firm was founded in 1869 when Marcus Goldman set up a commercial paper dealership in New York. He was joined by his son-in-law, Samuel Sachs, in 1882. The company would play a lead role in the market for Initial Public Offerings in the 1900s.Goldman Sachs went public on the NYSE in 1999.

Baird is an employee-owned wealth management, capital markets, asset management and private equity firm with client assets of more than $73 billion. Leveraging our deep expertise and broad skills, we’re dedicated to providing the best advice and service to our individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients.

Employee-owned Robert W. Baird & Co. brings midwestern sensibility to the high-flying world of investment banking. A subsidiary of Baird Holding Company (along with London-based sibling Robert W. Baird Ltd.), the company offers wealth management, asset management, and middle-market investment banking services to corporate, institutional, and wealthy individual clients in the US, Europe, and Asia.

Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated, established and still based in the heart of the Midwest, extended its reach throughout the United States and into Europe while under the wing of giant insurer Northwestern Mutual.

The First Wisconsin Company–forerunner of Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated–was founded in 1919 as the securities arm of the First Wisconsin National Bank. Robert Wilson Baird was named lead partner and then served as president for nearly three decades.

Baird marked its 75th year in 1994, a time when the stock market was experiencing huge mood swings–rising then falling then rising again. Kasten, meanwhile, had increased the number of office locations, the number of financial advisors, and the number of financial advisors serving institutions by more than four times. Baird had become the leader of its marketplace for corporate and public finance.

Baird is divided into five business units: asset management, which includes Baird Advisors and Baird Investment Management; equity capital markets, which consist of investment banking, institutional equity services and research; fixed income capital markets, which is divided between fixed income sales and trading and public finance; private equity and private wealth management.

Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement savings, investment, and insurance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates in four segments: U.S. Asset Accumulation, Global Asset Management, International Asset Management and Accumulation, and Life and Health Insurance. The U.S. Asset Accumulation segment offers defined contribution pension plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit pension plans, nonqualified executive benefit plans, and employee stock ownership plan consulting services to small and medium-sized businesses; investment-only products, such as guaranteed investment contracts and funding agreements to large institutional clients; and the ability to accumulate funds for retirement and savings through mutual funds, individual annuities and bank products to employees of businesses and other individuals.

The Global Asset Management segment provides asset management services covering a broad range of asset classes, investment styles, and portfolio structures to its other segments and third-party institutional clients. This segment principally offers investment advisory services across three asset classes comprising equity investments, fixed income investments, and real estate investments; and commercial real estate niche financing opportunities, including bridge/mezzanine loans and land loans. The International Asset Management and Accumulation segment offers retirement products and services, annuities, mutual funds, life insurance, and institutional asset management products and services in Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, and Mexico.

The Life and Health Insurance segment provides individual life insurance and group health insurance products and services, as well as other specialty benefits consisting of dental and vision, group life, group disability, and individual disability insurance services. The company was founded in 1879 and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.

The company serves more than 13 million customers worldwide and operates from more than 250 locations. It has offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Principal Financial is developing products to meet those critical needs of employees and employers looking for cost-effective benefits programs. Through Principal Funds and the asset management expertise of Principal Global Investors, the group is offering institutional quality investments to the individual investor.

 Indiabulls Financial Services is an integrated financial services powerhouse providing Consumer Finance, Housing Finance, Commercial Loans, Life Insurance, Asset Management and Advisory services. Indiabulls Financial Services Ltd is amongst 68 companies constituting MSCI – Morgan Stanley India Index. Indiabulls Financial is also part of CLSA’s model portfolio of 30 Best Companies in Asia. Indiabulls Financial Services signed a joint venture agreement with Sogecap, the insurance arm of Societé Generale (SocGen) for its upcoming life insurance venture. Indiabulls Financial Services in partnership with MMTC Limited, the largest commodity trading company in India, is setting up India’s 4th Multi-Commodities Exchange.

Since its founding in 1935, Morgan Stanley and its people have helped redefine the meaning of financial services. The firm has continually broken new ground in advising our clients on strategic transactions, in pioneering the global expansion of finance and capital markets, and in providing new opportunities for individual and institutional investors. Click below to see a timeline of Morgan Stanley’s growth, which parallels the history of modern finance.

The Group’s principal activities are carried out through four divisions: Institutional Securities: Underwrites and distributes securities, provides financial advisory services and full-service brokerage services, conducts trading activities in equity securities and invests in private equity activities and aircraft financing activities. Individual Investor Group: Provides comprehensive financial services to individual investors through financial advisors. Investment Management: Provides global asset management advice and services to investors through a variety of product lines and brand names. Credit Services: Offers Discover Platinum Card, the Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Card, Private Issue Card and other general purpose credit cards. It conducts business in New York, and has branches throughout the United States.The group provides brokerage services, investment and asset management services and consumer credit card products