The leading financial centers in the world

[magellan1]

This forum is focused mostly on banking and finance in the UK but I believe that it is important for people who want to work in the financial industry to have a global mindset. There is a ranking called The Global Financial Centres Index that is published every year and shows the most powerful financial cities in the world.
The 2023 ranking shows that most of the top 20 financial cities are located in the US, China and Germany - 30% are in the US, 20% in China and 10% in Germany. London has consistently been ranked 2nd just behind New York in the last few years.
Young professionals should take into account this ranking given that 95% of the top 20 financial centers are located outside of the UK. It is true that London is one of the most important cities but one could apply for jobs/internships outside of the UK as well.

Rank	Change (+/-)	City	Rating	Region
1	0	New York	760	North America
2	0	London	731	Western Europe
3	0	Singapore	723	Asia/Pacific
4	0	Hong Kong	722	Asia/Pacific
5	0	San Francisco	721	North America
6	1	Los Angeles	719	North America
7	-1	Shanghai	717	Asia/Pacific
8	4	Chicago	716	North America
9	5	Boston	715	North America
10	1	Seoul	714	Asia/Pacific
11	4	Washington DC	713	North America
12	-3	Shenzhen	712	Asia/Pacific
13	-5	Beijing	711	Asia/Pacific
14	-4	Paris	710	Western Europe
15	-2	Sydney	709	Asia/Pacific
16	3	Amsterdam	708	Western Europe
17	1	Frankfurt	707	Western Europe
18	6	Munich	706	Western Europe
19	2	Luxembourg	705	Western Europe
20	2	Zurich	704	Western Europe

Source: Z/Yen Group - GFCI 33

Here are a few questions that can help to start the conversion on the topic.
1. What are your thoughts on this topic?
2. How do you expect this ranking to change in the future?
3. What is more likely to happen in the near future - London to move to the first or third position?
4. Can you share any interesting experiences in financial centers other than London ?
5. Which locations do you prefer?
6. Do you agree or disagree with this ranking? Why?

 

[JustAnotherHuman1]

Thanks for sharing. I see London declining further and becoming less important, not sure to what extent exactly but Brexit didn’t do any favours to its standing.

That being said, there’s a lot of infrastructure that had been amassed over the years so that obviously won’t just disappear. As you can see, the difference between London and Paris is a mere 20 points. I see this gap closing further between Amsterdam and other continental hotspots.

Finance, similarly for other industries, like fashion, law and probably some others (except for tech, which is the Valley) I feel like NYC is really where big opportunities are. London isn’t bad either of course, but Europe is a lot more socialist than capitalist in general and that shows.

I think one should also consider transferring to a different office of their employer, just for broadening horizons, even if only for a year or less. Having the right to work overseas is usually not just there unless you have relatives or some sort of connection to that specific country. So taking advantage of such a sponsorship opportunity while you can is quite worthwhile.

 

[LondonFinance1]

This forum is focused mostly on banking and finance in the UK but I believe that it is important for people who want to work in the financial industry to have a global mindset. There is a ranking called The Global Financial Centres Index that is published every year and shows the most powerful financial cities in the world.
The 2023 ranking shows that most of the top 20 financial cities are located in the US, China and Germany - 30% are in the US, 20% in China and 10% in Germany. London has consistently been ranked 2nd just behind New York in the last few years.
Young professionals should take into account this ranking given that 95% of the top 20 financial centers are located outside of the UK. It is true that London is one of the most important cities but one could apply for jobs/internships outside of the UK as well.

Rank	Change (+/-)	City	Rating	Region
1	0	New York	760	North America
2	0	London	731	Western Europe
3	0	Singapore	723	Asia/Pacific
4	0	Hong Kong	722	Asia/Pacific
5	0	San Francisco	721	North America
6	1	Los Angeles	719	North America
7	-1	Shanghai	717	Asia/Pacific
8	4	Chicago	716	North America
9	5	Boston	715	North America
10	1	Seoul	714	Asia/Pacific
11	4	Washington DC	713	North America
12	-3	Shenzhen	712	Asia/Pacific
13	-5	Beijing	711	Asia/Pacific
14	-4	Paris	710	Western Europe
15	-2	Sydney	709	Asia/Pacific
16	3	Amsterdam	708	Western Europe
17	1	Frankfurt	707	Western Europe
18	6	Munich	706	Western Europe
19	2	Luxembourg	705	Western Europe
20	2	Zurich	704	Western Europe

Source: Z/Yen Group - GFCI 33

Here are a few questions that can help to start the conversion on the topic.
1. What are your thoughts on this topic?
2. How do you expect this ranking to change in the future?
3. What is more likely to happen in the near future - London to move to the first or third position?
4. Can you share any interesting experiences in financial centers other than London ?
5. Which locations do you prefer?
6. Do you agree or disagree with this ranking? Why?

The ranking is a good first stop, but it will differ depending on which area of finance/(investment) banking you are looking at, e.g. London has not seen a major IPO for a couple of years now, but has strenghts in other areas. Some of the places in the lower ranks can be dominated by very few players or maybe even a single one, so I would take the ranking with a pinch of salt when making career decision.