HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
The two primary sections of this book are devoted first to the
banking industry as a whole and then to the “Individual
Data Listings” for THE BANKING & LENDING 350.
If time permits, you should begin your research in the front
chapters of this book. Also, you will find lengthy indexes in
Chapter 4 and in the back of the book.
THE BANKING INDUSTRY
Glossary: A short
list of banking, mortgages and credit industry terms.
Chapter 1: Major Trends Affecting
the Banking, Mortgages & Credit Industry. This
chapter presents an encapsulated view of the major trends that
are creating rapid changes in the banking and lending industry
today.
Chapter 2: Banking, Mortgages
& Credit Industry Statistics. This chapter presents
in-depth statistics on banking, lending, credit, mortgages and
more.
Chapter 3: Important Banking,
Mortgages & Credit Industry Contacts – Addresses,
Telephone Numbers and World Wide Web Sites. This chapter
covers contacts for important government agencies, professional
organizations and trade associations. Included are numerous
important World Wide Web sites.
THE BANKING & LENDING
350
Chapter 4: THE BANKING
& LENDING 350: Who They Are and How They Were Chosen. The
companies compared in this book (the actual count is 331) were
carefully selected from the banking industry, largely in the
United States. 60 of the firms are based outside the U.S. For
a complete description, see THE BANKING & LENDING 350 indexes
in this chapter.
Individual Data Listings:
Look at one of the companies
in THE BANKING & LENDING 350’s Individual Data Listings.
You’ll find the
following information fields:
Company Name: The
company profiles are in alphabetical order by company name.
If you don’t find the company you are seeking, it may
be a subsidiary or division of one of the firms covered in this
book. Try looking it up in the Index by Subsidiaries, Brand
Names and Selected Affiliations in the back of the book.
Ranks:
Industry Group Code:
An NAIC code used to group companies within like segments. (See
Chapter 4 for a list of codes.)
Ranks Within This
Company’s Industry Group: Ranks, within this
firm’s segment only, for annual sales and annual profits,
with 1 being the highest rank.
Business Activities:
A grid arranged into six major industry categories and several
sub-categories. A “Y” indicates that the firm operates
within the sub-category. A complete Index by Industry is included
in the beginning of Chapter 4.
Types of Business:
A listing of the primary types of business specialties conducted
by the firm.
Brands/Divisions/Affiliations:
Major brand names, operating divisions or subsidiaries of the
firm, as well as major corporate affiliations—such as
another firm that owns a significant portion of the company’s
stock. A complete Index by Subsidiaries, Brand Names and Selected
Affiliations is in the back of the book.
Contacts: The
names and titles up to 27 top officers of the company are listed,
including human resources contacts.
Address: The firm’s full headquarters
address, the headquarters telephone, plus toll-free and fax
numbers where available. Also provided is the World Wide Web
site address.
Financials:
Annual Sales (2005
or the latest fiscal year available to the editors, plus up
to four previous years): These are stated in thousands
of dollars (add three zeros if you want the full number). This
figure represents consolidated worldwide sales from all operations.
2005 figures may be estimates or may be for only part of the
year—partial year figures are appropriately footnoted.
Annual Profits (2005
or the latest fiscal year available to the editors, plus up
to four previous years): These are stated in thousands
of dollars (add three zeros if you want the full number). This
figure represents consolidated, after-tax net profit from all
operations. 2005 figures may be estimates or may be for only
part of the year—partial year figures are appropriately
footnoted.
Stock Ticker: When
available, the unique stock market symbol used to identify this
firm’s common stock for trading and tracking purposes
is indicated. Where appropriate, this field may contain “private”
or “subsidiary” rather than a ticker symbol.
Total Number of Employees: The approximate
total number of employees, worldwide, as of the end of 2004
(or the latest data available to the editors).
Apparent Salaries/Benefits:
(The following descriptions
generally apply to U.S. employers only.) A “Y” in
appropriate fields indicates “Yes.”
Due to wide variations in the manner in which corporations report
benefits to the U.S. Government’s regulatory bodies, not
all plans will have been uncovered or correctly evaluated during
our effort to research this data. Also, the availability to
employees of such plans will vary according to the qualifications
that employees must meet to become eligible. For example, some
benefit plans may be available only to salaried workers—others
only to employees who work more than 1,000 hours yearly. Benefits
that are available to employees of the main or parent company
may not be available to employees of the subsidiaries. In addition,
employers frequently alter the nature and terms of plans offered.
NOTE: Generally, employees
covered by wealth-building benefit plans do not fully own (“vest
in”) funds contributed on their behalf by the employer
until as many as five years of service with that employer have
passed. All pension plans are voluntary—that is, employers
are not obligated to offer pensions.
Pension Plan:
The firm offers a pension plan to qualified employees. In this
case, in order for a “Y” to appear, the editors
believe that the employer offers a defined benefit or cash balance
pension plan (see discussions below).The type and generosity
of these plans vary widely from firm to firm. Caution: Some
employers refer to plans as “pension” or “retirement”
plans when they are actually 401(k) savings plans that require
a contribution by the employee.
-
Defined Benefit
Pension Plans: Pension plans that do not require
a contribution from the employee are infrequently offered.
However, a few companies, particularly larger employers in
high-profit-margin industries, offer defined benefit pension
plans where the employee is guaranteed to receive a set pension
benefit upon retirement. The amount of the benefit is determined
by the years of service with the company and the employee’s
salary during the later years of employment. The longer a
person works for the employer, the higher the retirement benefit.
These defined benefit plans are funded entirely by the employer.
The benefits, up to a reasonable limit, are guaranteed by
the Federal Government’s Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
These plans are not portable—if you leave the company,
you cannot transfer your benefits into a different plan. Instead,
upon retirement you will receive the benefits that vested
during your service with the company. If your employer offers
a pension plan, it must give you a summary plan description
within 90 days of the date you join the plan. You can also
request a summary annual report of the plan, and once every
12 months you may request an individual benefit statement
accounting of your interest in the plan.
-
Defined Contribution
Plans: These are quite different. They do not guarantee
a certain amount of pension benefit. Instead, they set out
circumstances under which the employer will make a contribution
to a plan on your behalf. The most common example is the 401(k)
savings plan. Pension benefits are not guaranteed under these
plans.
-
Cash Balance Pension
Plans: These plans were recently invented. These
are hybrid plans—part defined benefit and part defined
contribution. Many employers have converted their older defined
benefit plans into cash balance plans. The employer makes
deposits (or credits a given amount of money) on the employee’s
behalf, usually based on a percentage of pay. Employee accounts
grow based on a predetermined interest benchmark, such as
the interest rate on Treasury Bonds. There are some advantages
to these plans, particularly for younger workers: a) The benefits,
up to a reasonable limit, are guaranteed by the Pension Benefit
Guaranty Corporation. b) Benefits are portable—they
can be moved to another plan when the employee changes companies.
c) Younger workers and those who spend a shorter number of
years with an employer may receive higher benefits than they
would under a traditional defined benefit plan.
ESOP Stock Plan (Employees’
Stock Ownership Plan): This type of plan is in wide use.
Typically, the plan borrows money from a bank and uses those funds
to purchase a large block of the corporation’s stock. The
corporation makes contributions to the plan over a period of time,
and the stock purchase loan is eventually paid off. The value
of the plan grows significantly as long as the market price of
the stock holds up. Qualified employees are allocated a share
of the plan based on their length of service and their level of
salary. Under federal regulations, participants in ESOPs are allowed
to diversify their account holdings in set percentages that rise
as the employee ages and gains years of service with the company.
In this manner, not all of the employee’s assets are tied
up in the employer’s stock.
Savings Plan, 401(k):
Under this type of plan, employees make a tax-deferred deposit
into an account. In the best plans, the company makes annual matching
donations to the employees’ accounts, typically in some
proportion to deposits made by the employees themselves. A good
plan will match one-half of employee deposits of up to 6% of wages.
For example, an employee earning $30,000 yearly might deposit
$1,800 (6%) into the plan. The company will match one-half of
the employee’s deposit, or $900. The plan grows on a tax-deferred
basis, similar to an IRA. A very generous plan will match 100%
of employee deposits. However, some plans do not call for the
employer to make a matching deposit at all. Other plans call for
a matching contribution to be made at the discretion of the firm’s
board of directors. Actual terms of these plans vary widely from
firm to firm. Generally, these savings plans allow employees to
deposit as much as 15% of salary into the plan on a tax-deferred
basis. However, the portion that the company uses to calculate
its matching deposit is generally limited to a maximum of 6%.
Employees should take care to diversify the holdings in their
401(k) accounts, and most people should seek professional guidance
or investment management for their accounts.
Stock Purchase Plan: Qualified
employees may purchase the company’s common stock at a price
below its market value under a specific plan. Typically, the employee
is limited to investing a small percentage of wages in this plan.
The discount may range from 5 to 15%. Some of these plans allow
for deposits to be made through regular monthly payroll deductions.
However, new accounting rules for corporations, along with other
factors, are leading many companies to curtail these plans—dropping
the discount allowed, cutting the maximum yearly stock purchase
or otherwise making the plans less generous or appealing.
Profit Sharing: employees
are awarded an annual amount equal to some portion of a company’s
profits. In a very generous plan, the pool of money awarded to
employees would be 15% of profits. Typically, this money is deposited
into a long-term retirement account. Caution: Some employers refer
to plans as “profit sharing” when they are actually
401(k) savings plans. True profit sharing plans are rarely offered.
Highest Executive Salary: The highest executive
salary paid, typically a 2004 amount (or the latest year available
to the editors) and typically paid to the Chief Executive Officer.
Highest Executive Bonus: The apparent bonus,
if any, paid to the above person.
Second Highest Executive Salary: The next-highest
executive salary paid, typically a 2004 amount (or the latest
year available to the editors) and typically paid to the President
or Chief Operating Officer.
Second Highest Executive Bonus:
The apparent bonus, if any, paid to the above person.
Other Thoughts: Apparent Women Officers or Directors:
It is difficult to obtain this information on an exact basis,
and employers generally do not disclose the data in a public way.
However, we have indicated what our best efforts reveal to be
the apparent number of women who either are in the posts of corporate
officers or sit on the board of directors. There is a wide variance
from company to company.
Hot Spot for Advancement for Women/Minorities:
A “Y” in appropriate fields indicates “Yes.”
These are firms that appear either to have posted a substantial
number of women and/or minorities to high posts or that appear
to have a good record of going out of their way to recruit, train,
promote and retain women or minorities. (See the Index of Hot
Spots For Women and Minorities in the back of the book.) This
information may change frequently and can be difficult to obtain
and verify. Consequently, the reader should use caution and conduct
further investigation where appropriate.
Growth Plans/ Special Features:
Listed here are observations regarding the
firm’s strategy, hiring plans, plans for growth and product
development, along with general information regarding a company’s
business and prospects.
Locations:
A “Y” in the appropriate field indicates “Yes.”
Primary locations outside of the headquarters,
categorized by regions of the United States and by international
locations. A complete index by locations is also in the front
of this chapter.
