COMPANYHISTORIES
SIC 6282

Investment Counselors, Advice

How the companies in this industry began, and the forces that shaped them.

27companies1803–1996founding years27still active0no longer operating
§ 01

The industry over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironmentHistory
FoundedCoreStates Financial Corp
1803
FoundedMidland Bank plc
1836
FoundedHSBC Holdings plc
1865
FoundedThe Royal Bank of Canada
1869
FoundedSunAmerica Inc.
1890
FoundedThe John Nuveen Company
1898
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
FoundedLincoln National Corporation
1905
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedNomura Securities Company, Limited
1925
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
FoundedThe Nikko Securities Company Limited
1944
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long global expansion begins.
FoundedFidelity Investments Inc.
1946
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented.
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
FoundedMerrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
1959
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
FoundedSmith Barney Inc.
1964
FoundedPaineWebber Group Inc.
1970
FoundedThe Charles Schwab Corporation
1974
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins.
FoundedEaton Vance Corporation
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
FoundedShearson Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
1983
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
1989
HistoryThe Berlin Wall falls; global markets open up.
FoundedBank Austria AGFoundedOrkla A/S
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

CoreStates Financial Corp →
Active · founded 1803
CoreStates Financial Corp is a major, Philadelphia-based regional bank holding company whose basic banking services are…
Midland Bank plc →
Active · founded 1836 · United Kingdom
Midland Bank plc is one of the leading deposit banks in the United Kingdom.
The St. Paul Companies, Inc. →
Active · founded 1853
The St.
HSBC Holdings plc →
Active · founded 1865 · United Kingdom
A significant force in international banking, HSBC Holdings plc (also referred to as the HSBC Group) operates in some…
The Royal Bank of Canada →
Active · founded 1869 · Canada
The Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest financial institution.
Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc. →
Active · founded 1887
Kansas City Southern Industries, Inc.
SunAmerica Inc. →
Active · founded 1890
SunAmerica Inc., among the nation's largest life insurers, is also a financial services company, offering retirement…
The John Nuveen Company →
Active · founded 1898
A longtime operator in the investment industry, The John Nuveen Company concentrates on the sponsorship, marketing, and…
American National Insurance Company →
Active · founded 1905
American National Insurance Company is one of the 100 largest life insurance companies in the United States in terms of…
Lincoln National Corporation →
Active · founded 1905
With origins in life insurance, Lincoln National Corporation has evolved into a financial services company whose…
Nomura Securities Company, Limited →
Active · founded 1925 · Japan
The Nomura Securities Company, the largest securities firm in Japan, has long been recognized as an industry pacesetter.
Value Line, Inc. →
Active · founded 1931
Value Line, Inc.
The Nikko Securities Company Limited →
Active · founded 1944 · Japan
The Nikko Securities Company Limited is one of the largest securities companies in the world, and--along with Daiwa…
Fidelity Investments Inc. →
Active · founded 1946
Fidelity Investments Inc.
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. →
Active · founded 1959
Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc.
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. →
Active · founded 1959
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
Smith Barney Inc. →
Active · founded 1964
From its unprepossessing beginnings in Philadelphia more than a century ago, Smith Barney has grown into a financial…
Franklin Resources, Inc. →
Active · founded 1969
California-based Franklin Resources, Inc.
PaineWebber Group Inc. →
Active · founded 1970
PaineWebber Group Inc.
The Charles Schwab Corporation →
Active · founded 1974
The Charles Schwab Corporation, through its operating subsidiary Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., is the largest discount…
New Street Capital Inc. →
Active · founded 1976
Since its incorporation in 1976, Drexel Burnham Lambert Incorporated (reorganized as New Street Capital Inc.), once a…
Eaton Vance Corporation →
Active · founded 1981
The origins of Eaton Vance Corporation date to the activities of Charles F.
Shearson Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. →
Active · founded 1983
Shearson Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited →
Active · founded 1984 · Bermuda
Jardine Matheson is one of the oldest names in East Asia, and Jardine Matheson Holdings Limited is an international…
Bank Austria AG →
Active · founded 1991 · Austria
With over one-fifth of the nation's banking business, Bank Austria AG is Austria's largest and most profitable banking…
Orkla A/S →
Active · founded 1991 · Norway
Orkla A/S is the largest branded consumer goods group and food and beverage producer in Scandinavia and one of the five…
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd. →
Active · founded 1996 · Japan
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd., the world's largest bank, was formed in April 1996 from the merger of The Mitsubishi…
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