Financial services

Sydney, the capital of New South Wales (NSW) and Australia’s global city, is one of the world's major financial centres.

Download NSW Financial Services Sector Profile

Today the World Economic Forum rates Australia as one of the world’s best performing global financial centres. It’s ranked number one in Asia and number two in the world - above places like Hong Kong and Singapore. This is in large part due to our performance, efficiency, stability and low-risk profile.

Leading strengths

With a highly educated multilingual workforce, a time zone bridging the close of US and London markets, strong links with Asia, and an exceptional lifestyle, Sydney offers the perfect location for an Asia Pacific base.

Finance and insurance is the largest industry in NSW, contributing $57 billion to the State’s economy in 2008-09. NSW makes up 46 per cent of Australia’s finance and insurance industry.

It is also the second fastest growing industry in NSW, recording annual average growth of 3.6 per cent per annum in real terms between 1998-99 and 2008-09.

Sydney’s highly educated and multilingual financial services workforce is growing. In 2009-10, about 167,000 people were employed in NSW’s finance and insurance services industry, representing 42 per cent of the Australian industry.

International drawcard

Banking here continues to grow, with the recent establishment of several offshore banks in Sydney including China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, Bank of Baroda, and Australia’s first foreign central bank, The People’s Bank of China.

NSW recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Shanghai Municipal Government to develop a financial services partnership.

Australia has the fourth largest pool of investment fund assets in the world and the largest in Asia.

As a result of compulsory superannuation (pension) fund contributions, total consolidated funds under management grew to almost A$1.4 trillion as at the end of March 2010, up almost 60 per cent on five years ago.

Inspiring the future of finance

Barangaroo, a 22 hectare site on Sydney's harbourfront, is poised for development as one of the first CBD districts in the world to be carbon neutral, water positive and generate zero waste, providing a leading location for 21st century financial services businesses.

www.barangaroo.com