MINUMAN SEHAT INFUSED WATER MENTIMUN ATAU AIR MENTIMUN DAPAT MENGATASI BATU GINJAL

MINUMAN  SEHAT INFUSED WATER  MENTIMUN ATAU AIR MENTIMUN 
DAPAT MENGATASI BATU GINJAL

Ilustrasi infused water mentimun 

RAJA SASTRA- Minum  Infused Water Mentimun atau air mentimun  bermanfaat untuk mencegah penyakit batu Ginjal. Batu Ginjal Batu ginjal termasuk penyakit yang menyakitkan. Penyakit ini   ditandai dengan terbentuknya objek asing yang menyerupai batu di dalam ginjal atau saluran kemih. Batu tersebut merupakan zat kimia, seperti asam urat, kalsium fosfat dan kalsium oksalat, yang mengkristal lalu mengeras seiring waktu.

Minum  Infused Water Mentimun atau air mrntimun  dapat  mengatasi masalah batu ginjal, selain itu penderita batu ginjal perlu menyesuaikan pola makan dan gaya hidup. Air mentimun ini bisa dibuat dengan memasukkan potongan mentimun, lemon, atau bahan lain untuk direndam beberapa jam atau semalaman di kulkas dan dinikmati setiap hari.

Minum  Infused Water Mentimun atau  air mrntimun termasuk salah satu minuman yang direkomendasikan karena dalam minuman tersebut karerna sebagian besar kandungan pada mentimun ini dapat membantu meluruhkan hingga mencegah pembentukan batu pada ginjal. Batu ginjal merupakan massa padat yang terdiri dari berbagai mineral dan garam yang menumpuk di organ ginjal. Ukurannya dapat bervariasi, mulai dari butiran kecil hingga berukuran besar dan sering kali terdiri dari kalsium oksalat, asam urat atau senyawa lainnya.

Penyakit yang satu ini tak cuma mengganggu kinerja ginjal sehari-hari, tapi juga menimbulkan rasa nyeri atau sakir yang mengganggu. Bahkan, dalam kasus tertentu, endapan dapat semakin keras dan membesar seiring waktu bisa menimbulkan masalah serius pada kesehatan ginjal dan tubuh secara keseluruhan.

Pada kasus yang ringan hingga sedang, para ahli mengatakan, infused water mentimun dapat memperbaiki hingga meluruhkan batu ginjal secara alami.

Beberapa Manfaat konsumsi Infused Water Mentimun

Melansir Only My Health, berikut ini beberapa manfaat konsumsi infused water mentimun untuk batu ginjal.

1. Menghidrasi tubuh

Mentimun adalah buah yang sehat dan menyegarkan serta dapat membantu memenuhi kebutuhan cairan tubuh.

Mentimun sendiri, secara alami memiliki kandungan air tinggi yang dapat dijadikan pilihan sehat untuk tetap terhidrasi.

Ahli Gizi dari Dayanand Medical Collage, Ludhiana, India, Arushi Gupta mengatakan, tetap terhidrasi dengan baik sangat penting untuk mencegah pembentukan batu ginjal.

"Hidrasi yang tepat dapat membantu mengencerkan mineral dan garam pada urine, sehingga mengurangi pembentukan batu ginjal," jelasnya.

2. Kandungan sitrat

Clinical Nutrition Research menyebutkan, mentimun mengandung sitrat dalam jumlah sedang, senyawa ini dapat menghambat pembentukan beberapa jenis batu ginjal, terutama batu kalsium oksalat.

Sitrat juga mencegah pembentukan endapan yang saling menempel untuk membentuk batu yang lebih besar.

3. Sifat antioksidan

Mentimun juga kaya akan antioksidan, seperti flavonoid dan tanin yang bersifat antiinflamasi.

Kandungan tersebut bisa membantu mencegah peradangan, karena peradangan dapat memperburuk gejala batu ginjal.

"Antioksidan pada air mentimun bisa meringankan ketidaknyamanan yang berhubungan dengan batu ginjal," ungkap dokter Gupta.

BACAAN LAINNYA

• 7 MANFAAT BIJI DURIAN UNTUK KESEHATAN GIGI
• 5 BAHAN DAPUR MENYINGKAP RAHASIA MENGHILANGKAN FLEK HITAM DI WAJAH
• 7 BUAH PENURUN DARAH TINGGI YANG ENAK DIKONSUMSI

4. Kandungan Oksalat Rendah

Sejumlah batu ginjal dapat terdiri dari kalsium oksalat.

Sementara itu, mentimun memiliki kandungan oksalat yang rendah, dan itu berarti kecil kemungkinannya berkontribusi  KLIK DI SINI

Types of Finance and Financial Services

FINANCE – Finance is a broad term that describes activities associated with banking, leverage or debt, credit, capital markets, money, and investments.

Essentially, finance represents money management and the process of acquiring needed funds. Finance also encompasses the oversight, creation, and study of money, banking, credit, investments, assets, and liabilities that make up financial systems.

Many of the basic concepts in finance originate from microeconomic and macroeconomic theories. One of the most fundamental theories is the time value of money, which states that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar in the future.

Types of Finance

Individuals, businesses, and government entities all need funding to operate. Therefore, the finance field includes three main subcategories:

1. Personal finance
2. Corporate finance
3. Public (government) finance

1. Personal Finance

Personal finance is specific to an individual’s situation and activity. Therefore, related financial strategies depend largely on a person’s earnings, living requirements, goals, and desires. Financial planning involves analyzing the current financial position of individuals to formulate strategies for future needs within financial constraints.

For example, individuals must save for retirement. That requires saving or investing enough money during their working lives to fund their long-term plans. This type of financial management decision falls under personal finance.

Personal finance covers a range of activities, including using or purchasing financial products such as credit cards, insurance, mortgages, and various types of investments.

Banking is also considered a component of personal finance because individuals use checking and savings accounts as well as online or mobile payment services such as PayPal and Venmo.

2. Corporate Finance

Corporate finance refers to the financial activities related to running a corporation. A division or department usually is set up to oversee those financial activities.

For example, a large company may have to decide whether to raise additional funds through a bond issue or stock offering. Investment banks may advise the firm on such considerations and help it market the securities.

Startups may receive capital from angel investors or venture capitalists in exchange for a percentage of ownership. If a company thrives and decides to go public, it will issue shares on a stock exchange through an initial public offering (IPO) to raise cash. In other cases, to budget its capital properly and effectively, a company with growth goals may need to decide which projects to finance and which to put on hold.

All of these types of decisions fall under corporate finance.

3. Public Finance

Public finance includes taxing, spending, budgeting, and debt-issuance policies that affect how a government pays for the services it provides to the public. It is a part of fiscal policy.

The federal and state governments help prevent market failure by overseeing the allocation of resources, the distribution of income, and economic stability. Regular funding is secured mostly through taxation. Borrowing from banks, insurance companies, and other nations also helps finance government spending.

In addition to managing money in day-to-day operations, a government body also has social and fiscal responsibilities. A government is expected to ensure adequate social programs for its taxpaying citizens. It must maintain a stable economy so that people can save and be assured that their money will be safe.

Financial Services

Financial services are the services that allow consumers and businesses to acquire financial goods. One straightforward example is the financial service offered by a payment system provider when it accepts and transfers funds between payers and recipients. This includes accounts settled via checks, credit and debit cards, and electronic funds transfers.

The financial services sector is one of the most important segments of the economy. It helps drive a nation’s economy, providing the free flow of capital and liquidity in the marketplace.

The financial services sector is made up of a variety of financial firms, including banks, investment houses, finance companies, insurance companies, lenders, accounting services, and real estate brokers.

When this sector and a country’s economy are strong, consumer confidence and purchasing power rise. When the financial services sector fails, it can drag down the economy and lead to a recession.

What Are Financial Activities?

Financial activities are the initiatives and transactions that businesses, governments, and individuals undertake as they seek to further their economic goals.

They are activities that involve the inflow or outflow of money. Examples include buying and selling products (or assets), issuing stocks, initiating loans, and maintaining accounts.

When a company sells shares and makes debt repayments, it is engaging in financial activities. Similarly, individuals and governments are involved in financial activities when they take out loans and levy taxes, which further specific monetary objectives.

What Is Finance?

The term “finance” refers to financial activities that support the lives of individuals, businesses, and governments. Some of those activities include banking, borrowing, saving, and investing. Finance also refers to the study of money and financial tools that are part of a country’s financial system.

Is the Financial Services Industry Important?

Yes. Companies that offer financial services have always been important because they help facilitate for individuals and businesses transactions that involve money. The financial services industry is also important for its role in the health of a country’s economy. From a global standpoint, the financial services industry was expected to represent around 24% of the global economy by the end of 2021.

What Is Personal Finance?

Personal finance involves planning, implementing, and managing financial activities that impact individuals. These activities can include earning an income, spending money, saving and investing, and borrowing.

How to Land a Finance Job with a Bachelor’s Degree

FINANCE – Landing a finance job with just a bachelor’s degree isn’t impossible but is highly competitive. The inboxes, both digital and physical, of industry professionals and HR folks at banks and brokerages are stuffed with the resumes of students who have dreams of big money, lavish lifestyles, and getting on the path to being Masters of the Universe by the time they are 30.

If that weren’t enough, the financial and investment services job market is cyclical. When the stock market is booming, finance jobs boom as well. But when returns dwindle, so do the listings and openings.

Of course, even when the market is flush with jobs, they’re not all jobs that you would want. Follow these five tips to dramatically increase your chance of landing a finance gig with a bachelor’s degree—possibly even before graduation.

1. Seek Internships, Early and Often

An internship can be ideal between college years, during the college year, and even right after college year (if a program is open to graduates). It helps to fill in for the lack of full-time experience and is not as difficult to get as a real job.

Many finance internships are paid—so, no excuses if you need to earn some green—or offer academic credit. If you are going to get a summer job anyway, it is better to do something that will further your career instead of just flipping burgers. The same holds true for working during the academic year. Instead of a part-time gig at the local clothing store, offer to file papers or prepare PowerPoint presentations for a local investment advisor.

Most internships will likely feature plenty of routine tasks. Expect days of printing out documents, assembling materials for presentations, and similar chores. But they also provide learning experiences, references, networking opportunities, and something tangible to talk about in an interview. You’ll also get a sense of the atmosphere of different types of workplaces and how well this type of work might fit your interests and work style.

Don’t just stop after one: Doing several internships not only builds your experience and connections but also demonstrates a strong work ethic—a sought-after quality in the finance industry. Try to pick the jobs strategically. Don’t do five internships for equity traders unless you’re 100% sure that you want to trade stocks for a living. Try to switch it up a little and land internships around the industry. Not only will this will help you gain a better perspective, but exposure to the different sectors of finance also can give you an edge in the job market.

Above all, work very hard at any internship that you land. Try to arrive before your supervisors get there, and leave after they do. Always go the extra mile and volunteer for more if the opportunity arises. The finance industry is famously hard-charging, especially at the junior levels, and you need to show you can handle it and more. Good references are valuable no matter what, but, more importantly, impressing your bosses during an internship can be a great way to open doors for a future full-time job with that company. Many summer analyst/internship programs at big banks are created to look for entry-level hires for the next year.

2. Use Your Background

“Diversity” is a hot topic in the finance field these days. Highly conscious of its dominated-by-white-men ranks, the industry is trying hard to change and become more in step with a multicultural society. Part of its initiative is to offer internships, entry-level training programs, and symposia specifically for women, ethnic minorities, and other protected classes (as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC] calls them), at the undergraduate or even high school level.

Goldman Sachs, for example, mounts a four-week HBCU Possibilities Program for students and recent grads of historically Black colleges or universities.

Credit Suisse sponsors a Women’s Mentor Program for female sophomores, involving a multiday career conference and interviews for summer internships.

Morgan Stanley’s Richard B. Fisher Scholarship Program offers funds and internships to Black, Latinx, Native American, and LGBT college juniors and sophomores.

Students with disabilities are eligible for J.P. Morgan’s We See Ability—Undergraduate event, which outlines the firm’s different divisions and internship opportunities, plus a fast-track application process.

The dbAchieve Internship offered by Deutsche Bank wants diverse applicants who identify as veterans or as LGBTQI, as well as people of color and people with disabilities.

(And these are just a few programs—for other ideas, check out financial job boards or employment-resource sites like 10X EBITDA.

If you qualify for a diversity program, course, or scholarship, don’t be shy—apply. Many of your classmates will be tapping every family connection they can muster as they hunt for openings. In a competitive job market, play every card you have.

3. Target Your Studies

Many companies say your major does not matter, claiming, “We hire all types; we even have art history majors working here!” No doubt they do, but it is certainly better to apply for finance jobs with a finance-related degree. You should ideally concentrate in a numbers-oriented discipline: business, economics, applied mathematics, etc.

Other areas of study can be apropos, though. Concepts learned in physics and pure math offer good preparation for understanding currency swaps, derivatives trading, and structured investment products. A knowledge of science or engineering can be useful—even crucial—for becoming a research analyst, investment banker, or fund manager specializing in industries like natural resources, energy, biotech, communications, and pharmaceuticals. And in this era of robo-advisors, digital stock exchanges, and algorithmic trading, those with degrees in information technology or computer sciences find their skills welcome, especially on the support system or services side.

Still, all is not lost for art history majors or other humanities types. The ability to research, synthesize, and analyze information—and to write well—is valuable in any industry, finance included. Even so, if you are going to major in the liberal arts, try to minor in a more numbers-crunching discipline. At the very least, take a course or two.

4. Learn to Talk the Talk

Another great way to prep for a finance career is to make reading financial news part of your regular routine. Pick up a subscription (physical or digital) to The Wall Street Journal and/or the Financial Times and read it every day. Then there are periodicals like The Economist (good for an international point of view) or Barron’s or Bloomberg Businessweek that will help expand your knowledge as well. As a student, you can probably get discounted subscriptions.

Immersing yourself in financial literature will help you get used to the terms and jargon of Wall Street, which is one of the biggest hurdles to cross. Do you know what MBS, CDS, BPS, EBITDA, and the federal discount rate mean? Regularly reading the financial news throughout college will help you pick up the basics in due time. Even if you are studying this vocabulary in your courses, reading about real-world finance will help you to solidify that knowledge and feel more comfortable discussing it—and the topics and issues of concern to it (always good to do in an interview).

Other ways of picking up financial knowledge include reading investing books, from basic to advanced topics, and tutorials and guides from financial websites (the fact that you’re reading Investopedia proves you’re already on the right track). Treat learning a financial language the same as learning a foreign language.

5. Start Garnering Credentials

Many applicants will have high grade-point averages (GPAs) and degrees from good schools and will have done the things listed above. How else can you go above and beyond to differentiate yourself?

The CFA

One way is to take the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level I exam. The CFA is well-respected in the financial industry. You’ll need to pass three exams and have four years of eligible work experience to actually obtain the CFA designation, but the first exam can be taken in the final year of a Bachelor of Arts program.

As of 2021, it’s being offered four times a year. In 2022, it will be offered in the second month of every quarter.

Financial professionals know the amount of time and dedication that the program entails (a minimum of 300 hours of study is recommended per exam).

Coming out of an undergraduate program having passed the first exam will definitely make you stand out among other job candidates.

The SIE

In the United States, brokers, registered investment advisors—and others who plan to deal with investments and financial products—must take certain licensing exams. Traditionally, one had to be sponsored by a member firm or a self-regulatory organization to sit for these qualifying Series exams. However, in 2018, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) finalized a new test, the Securities Industry Essentials (SIE) Exam, which can be taken without sponsorship or association with a company.

Open to anyone age 18 or older, the 75-question, 105-minute SIE is ideal for “demonstrating basic industry knowledge to prospective employers,” the FINRA website states. It alone won’t qualify you to work in the securities industry, but it certainly demonstrates your familiarity with the field and the seriousness of your interest in it.

The Bottom Line

For entry-level positions, interviewers do not expect candidates to know the nitty-gritty of the industry; many companies have orientation and training programs that teach new recruits the specifics anyway. Still, the more background knowledge you have, the better. The competitive nature of the finance job market means that focusing your studies early, gaining experience with internships, and gleaning knowledge from following the financial press will help you stay at the front of the pack.

Finally, doing something to break away from the pack, such as earning a financial credential like the CFA or taking advantage of a diversity program, can increase your chances of landing that first job.

What Is International Finance, and Why Is It So Important?

FINANCE – International finance, sometimes known as international macroeconomics, is the study of monetary interactions between two or more countries, focusing on areas such as foreign direct investment and currency exchange rates.

Understanding International Finance

International finance deals with the economic interactions between multiple countries, rather than narrowly focusing on individual markets. International finance research is conducted by large institutions such as the International Finance Corp. (IFC), and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Furthermore, the U.S. Federal Reserve has a division dedicated to analyzing policies germane to U.S. capital flow, external trade, and the development of global markets.

International finance analyzes the following specific areas of study:

• The Mundell-Fleming Model, which studies the interaction between the goods market and the money market, is based on the assumption that price levels of said goods are fixed.
• International Fisher Effect is an international finance theory that assumes nominal interest rates mirror fluctuations in the spot exchange rate between nations.
• The optimum currency area theory states that certain geographical regions would maximize economic efficiency if the entire area adopted a single currency.
• Purchasing power parity is the measurement of prices in different areas using a specific good or a specific set of goods to compare the absolute purchasing power between different currencies.
• Interest rate parity describes an equilibrium state in which investors are indifferent to interest rates attached to bank deposits in two separate countries.

Example of International Institutions of International Finance

The Bretton Woods System

The Bretton Woods system was created at the Bretton Woods conference in 1944, where the 40 participating countries agreed to establish a fixed exchange rate system. The collective goal of this initiative was to standardize international monetary exchanges and policies in a broader effort to create post World War II stability.

The Bretton Woods conference catalyzed the development of international institutions that play a foundational role in the global economy. These include the International Monetary Fund (IMF), a consortium of 189 countries dedicated to creating global monetary cooperation, and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which later became known as the World Bank.

Special Considerations

International trade is arguably the most important influencer of global prosperity and growth. But there are worries related to the fact the United States has shifted from being the largest international creditor, to becoming the world’s largest international debtor, absorbing excess amounts of funding from organizations and countries on a global basis. This may affect international finance in unforeseen ways.

Project Finance: How It Works, Definition, and Types of Loans

What Is Project Finance?

Project finance is the funding (financing) of long-term infrastructure, industrial projects, and public services using a non-recourse or limited recourse financial structure. The debt and equity used to finance the project are paid back from the cash flow generated by the project.

Project financing is a loan structure that relies primarily on the project’s cash flow for repayment, with the project’s assets, rights, and interests held as secondary collateral. Project finance is especially attractive to the private sector because companies can fund major projects off-balance sheet (OBS).

Understanding Project Finance

The project finance structure for a build, operate, and transfer (BOT) project includes multiple key elements.

Project finance for BOT projects generally includes a special purpose vehicle (SPV). The company’s sole activity is carrying out the project by subcontracting most aspects through construction and operations contracts. Because there is no revenue stream during the construction phase of new-build projects, debt service only occurs during the operations phase.

For this reason, parties take significant risks during the construction phase. The sole revenue stream during this phase is generally under an offtake agreement or power purchase agreement. Because there is limited or no recourse to the project’s sponsors, company shareholders are typically liable up to the extent of their shareholdings. The project remains off-balance-sheet for the sponsors and for the government.

Off-Balance Sheet Projects

Project debt is typically held in a sufficient minority subsidiary not consolidated on the balance sheet of the respective shareholders. This reduces the project’s impact on the cost of the shareholders’ existing debt and debt capacity. The shareholders are free to use their debt capacity for other investments.

To some extent, the government may use project financing to keep project debt and liabilities off-balance-sheet so they take up less fiscal space. Fiscal space is the amount of money the government may spend beyond what it is already investing in public services such as health, welfare, and education. The theory is that strong economic growth will bring the government more money through extra tax revenue from more people working and paying more taxes, allowing the government to increase spending on public services.

Non-Recourse Financing

When a company defaults on a loan, recourse financing gives lenders full claim to shareholders’ assets or cash flow. In contrast, project financing designates the project company as a limited-liability SPV. The lenders’ recourse is thus limited primarily or entirely to the project’s assets, including completion and performance guarantees and bonds, in case the project company defaults.

A key issue in non-recourse financing is whether circumstances may arise in which the lenders have recourse to some or all of the shareholders’ assets. A deliberate breach on the part of the shareholders may give the lender recourse to assets.

Applicable law may restrict the extent to which shareholder liability may be limited. For example, liability for personal injury or death is typically not subject to elimination. Non-recourse debt is characterized by high capital expenditures (CapEx), long loan periods, and uncertain revenue streams. Underwriting these loans requires financial modeling skills and sound knowledge of the underlying technical domain.

To preempt deficiency balances, loan-to-value (LTV) ratios are usually limited to 60% in non-recourse loans. Lenders impose higher credit standards on borrowers to minimize the chance of default. Non-recourse loans, on account of their greater risk, carry higher interest rates than recourse loans.

Recourse vs. Non-Recourse Loans

If two people are looking to purchase large assets, such as a home, and one receives a recourse loan and the other a non-recourse loan, the actions the financial institution can take against each borrower are different.

In both cases, the homes may be used as collateral, meaning they can be seized should either borrower default. To recoup costs when the borrowers default, the financial institutions can attempt to sell the homes and use the sale price to pay down the associated debt. If the properties sell for less than the amount owed, the financial institution can pursue only the debtor with the recourse loan. The debtor with the non-recourse loan cannot be pursued for any additional payment beyond the seizure of the asset.

Investment Banking vs. Corporate Finance: What's the Difference?

FINANCE – A generally-accepted distinction between corporate finance roles and investment banking roles is that a corporate finance professional deals with day-to-day financial operations and handles short- and long-term business goals, while an investment banker focuses on raising capital in the public markets. An investment banker also runs private placements of equity and debt capital and conducts merger and acquisition (M&A) deals.

It could also be said that investment banking roles are tasked with growing a company from a capital perspective, while the corporate finance industry is employed in order to manage a company’s capital and strategic finance-related decisions.

Investment Banking

Investment banks raise capital for other companies through securities operations in the debt and equity markets. Investment banks also help coordinate and execute mergers and acquisitions (M&A). They offer advisory services to big clients and perform complex financial analyses.

Investment banking is considered one of the premier fields in the financial industry. There are two standard paths to an investment banking career: attend a noted undergraduate university and enter on the ground level as an analyst, or go to business school, earn a Master of Business Administration (MBA) graduate degree, and break through as an associate.

In their undergraduate studies, those individuals interested in becoming investment bankers should focus on degrees in finance, economics, banking, or investment analysis. Most people either accept internships or take low-level positions at large banks to gain experience, and many work as analysts before receiving their MBA.

Major investment banks, especially in New York and London, focus their recruiting efforts on the best-performing prospects from Ivy League schools—although it’s not unheard of for exceptionally analytical prospects with degrees in challenging subjects such as biopharmaceuticals or other medical fields to make their way into the industry.

Even junior investment banking analysts can expect compensation of $100,000 to $120,000 a year when signing bonuses and performance-based bonuses are factored in, according to data from Wall Street Oasis.

Corporate Finance

Corporate finance is a catch-all designation for any business division that handles financial activities for a firm. In some instances, it can be difficult to differentiate corporate finance roles from investment banking roles. For example, an investment banking firm might have a corporate finance division.

Many different viable career paths can be found in corporate finance because there are so many different kinds of jobs in the field. Individuals can find their niches as accountants, advisors, account managers, analysts, treasurers, business analysts, or any number of other jobs. There are a few necessary skills, such as an understanding of corporate finance and effective communication skills.

A financial analyst, technically involved in investment banking, could expect a median salary of $83,660 in 2020 (the latest data available), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Meanwhile, a chief financial officer and other top professionals in the corporate finance field enjoyed a median salary of $107,680 in 2020, according to the BLS.

According to the BLS, financial analyst positions are expected to grow at a rate of 6% between 2020 and 2030, while corporate finance executive positions are expected to grow at a rate of 8% between 2020 and 2030.

Special Considerations

Many choose to walk away from investment banking careers after a few years due to burnout. Investment banking deals tend to be executed by small teams—three to seven is standard—with one analyst, one or two associates, one vice president, and a lead managing director.

Workflow is bottom-up, and those lowest on the rungs are responsible for an exceptional amount of effort. Tales abound of investment analysts and associates working 80- to 100-hour weeks. An 80-hour week works out to five 16-hour days or seven 11.5-hour days.

Those debating a career in investment banking versus a career in corporate finance have two overriding considerations: workload and salary. The prestige and compensation of investment banking jobs are alluring to many, so intense working hours are a small hurdle to clear.

Corporate finance jobs aren’t easy to get, but they’re more plentiful and less competitive than investment banking jobs. Corporate finance still offers an excellent career in business analytics and corporate culture to those who value their weekends, holidays, and evenings.

When considering the future of these two jobs, it’s important to keep in mind that both of these professions are at risk of changing significantly, as a result of artificial intelligence, data science, and the power of computing. Many tasks might be performed by algorithms and only higher-level types of abstraction and communication skills will remain the privilege of human investment bankers and corporate finance professionals.

Is Corporate Banking Different From Investment Banking?

Yes, corporate banking is different from investment banking. Corporate banking involves providing corporations with a variety of financial services. Corporate banking is a long-term relationship that involves traditional banking, risk management, and financing services to corporations. Investment banking, on the other hand, is transactional, and assists corporations with one-time transactions, such as an initial public offering (IPO) or a merger or acquisition.

Is Corporate Finance a Good Pathway to Investment Banking?

In general, corporate finance is not a good pathway into investment banking. Corporate finance roles include budgeting, operations, cash management, planning, and accounting. Corporate finance roles do not involve the same skills required in investment banking, such as financial modeling and valuation.

What Does an Investment Banker Do?

There are two primary functions of investment banking: (1) to help companies raise capital through an initial public offering (IPO) and (2) to help companies with mergers and acquisitions. Investment bankers analyze companies, conduct valuations, perform financial modeling, and evaluate financial statements.

Trade Finance: What It Is, How It Works, Benefits

What Is Trade Finance?

Trade finance represents the financial instruments and products that are used by companies to facilitate international trade and commerce. Trade finance makes it possible and easier for importers and exporters to transact business through trade. Trade finance is an umbrella term meaning it covers many financial products that banks and companies utilize to make trade transactions feasible.

How Trade Finance Works

The function of trade finance is to introduce a third-party to transactions to remove the payment risk and the supply risk. Trade finance provides the exporter with receivables or payment according to the agreement while the importer might be extended credit to fulfill the trade order.

The parties involved in trade finance are numerous and can include:

• Banks
• Trade finance companies
• Importers and exporters
• Insurers
• Export credit agencies and service providers

Trade financing is different than conventional financing or credit issuance. General financing is used to manage solvency or liquidity, but trade financing may not necessarily indicate a buyer’s lack of funds or liquidity. Instead, trade finance may be used to protect against international trade’s unique inherent risks, such as currency fluctuations, political instability, issues of non-payment, or the creditworthiness of one of the parties involved.

Below are a few of the financial instruments used in trade finance:

Lending lines of credit can be issued by banks to help both importers and exporters.

Letters of credit reduce the risk associated with global trade since the buyer’s bank guarantees payment to the seller for the goods shipped. However, the buyer is also protected since payment will not be made unless the terms in the LC are met by the seller. Both parties have to honor the agreement for the transaction to go through.

Factoring is when companies are paid based on a percentage of their accounts receivables.

Export credit or working capital can be supplied to exporters.

Insurance can be used for shipping and the delivery of goods and can also protect the exporter from nonpayment by the buyer.

Although international trade has been in existence for centuries, trade finance facilitates its advancement. The widespread use of trade finance has contributed to international trade growth.

How Trade Financing Reduces Risk

Trade finance can help reduce the risk associated with global trade by reconciling the divergent needs of an exporter and importer. Ideally, an exporter would prefer the importer to pay upfront for an export shipment to avoid the risk that the importer takes the shipment but refuses to pay for the goods. However, if the importer pays the exporter upfront, the exporter may accept the payment but refuse to ship the goods.

A common solution to this problem is for the importer’s bank to provide a letter of credit to the exporter’s bank that provides for payment once the exporter presents documents that prove the shipment occurred, like a bill of lading. The letter of credit guarantees that once the issuing bank receives proof that the exporter shipped the goods and the terms of the agreement have been met, it will issue the payment to the exporter.

With the letter of credit, the buyer’s bank assumes the responsibility of paying the seller. The buyer’s bank would have to ensure the buyer was financially viable enough to honor the transaction. Trade finance helps both importers and exporters build trust in dealing with each other and thus facilitating trade.

Other Benefits to Trade Finance

Besides reducing the risk of nonpayment and non-receipt of goods, trade finance has become an important tool for companies to improve their efficiency and boost revenue.

Improves Cash Flow and Efficiency of Operations

Trade finance helps companies obtain financing to facilitate business but also it is an extension of credit in many cases. Trade finance allows companies to receive a cash payment based on accounts receivables in case of factoring. A letter of credit might help the importer and exporter to enter a trade transaction and reduce the risk of nonpayment or non-receipt of goods. As a result, cash flow is improved since the buyer’s bank guarantees payment, and the importer knows the goods will be shipped.

In other words, trade finance ensures fewer delays in payments and in shipments allowing both importers and exporters to run their businesses and plan their cash flow more efficiently. Think of trade finance as using the shipment or trade of goods as collateral for financing the companies growth.

Increased Revenue and Earnings

Trade finance allows companies to increase their business and revenue through trade. For example, a U.S. company that can land a sale with a company overseas might not have the ability to produce the goods needed for the order.

However, through export financing or help from private or governmental trade finance agencies, the exporter can complete the order. As a result, the U.S. company gets new business that it might not have had without the creative financial solutions that trade finance provides.

Reduce the Risk of Financial Hardship

Without trade financing, a company might fall behind on payments and lose a key customer or supplier that could have long-term ramifications for the company. Having options like revolving credit facilities and accounts receivables factoring can not only help companies transact internationally but also help them in times of financial difficulties.

Best Personal Finance Courses

FINANCE – Personal finance is all about properly saving, spending, investing, and protecting your money so you can live your ambition of a good life. But personal finance isn’t taught in school, and managing your money can be difficult. It’s often forced upon us to learn personal finance through trial and error, and it’s too easy to make mistakes that can have lifelong consequences. Mastering money management takes knowledge, skills, and the right mindset.

You can find dozens of personal finance books by top-selling authors to learn the fundamental principles of managing your money. But, if you’re the type of person who learns best through guided instruction with the opportunity to put what you learn into practice, a personal finance course may be a better option.

The best personal finance courses offer the opportunity to learn from experts who can guide you sequentially through the critical elements of personal finance while testing your knowledge along the way. While many good personal finance courses charge little or nothing at all, it’s essential to find the one that is well worth your time. In this roundup, we review the very best personal finance courses in six categories to help you narrow your search.

Smart Tools for Decision Making

It’s comprehensive, stacked with learning tools and resources, self-paced, university-developed and taught, and it’s free. That’s why we chose edX’s Finances for Everyone: Smart Tools for Decision Making as the best overall personal finance course.

Pros

• Comprehensive course
• College course structure but self-paced
• Expert instruction
• Discussion groups and community forum
• Free

Cons

Course perquisites include high school algebra and familiarity with mathematics terms

For a free course, edX’s Finances for Everyone is as comprehensive a course as there is. But what makes the course stand out is its college course structure, which keeps students moving forward with quality instruction and resources while providing them with a unique learning experience.

edX’s course is the creation of the University of Michigan and is taught by Gautam Kaul, Professor of Finance, Ross School of Business at UM. It’s a six-week course (five to six hours per week) consisting of weekly learning sequences comprised of short videos embedded with interactive learning exercises, allowing students to practice what they learn.

The course also includes tutorial videos similar to on-campus discussion groups. There’s an online discussion forum for students to post and review questions and share comments with teaching assistants and other students.

Generally, the course is designed for beginners, emphasizing improving financial literacy. It starts with an in-depth study of the time value of money as the foundation for understanding and appreciating the many applications of finance to analyze the personal decisions we make. The course provides a framework to help guide decisions in all aspects of money management.

The course is free unless you want to earn a certificate of completion, which costs $49.

Ramsey Solutions’ Ramsey+

Mastering your personal finances is about changing your behavior which can be difficult for some people. Ramsey+ is more than just a top-notch course; it’s also a massive community of like-minded people willing to support each other, making it our choice as the best personal finance course for a support system.

Pros

• Developed and taught by recognized personal finance guru
• Comprehensive course
• Community forum for additional support
• Includes useful money management apps
• 14-day free trial

Cons

Recurring cost of $129 annually

In addition to offering top-tier educational courses and resources, Ramsey+ is home to a massive community of Dave Ramsey’s students who are there to learn and lend their support to other students.

For those who like to learn from legitimate gurus, there’s no one more renowned than Ramsey. He has authored several best-selling books on personal finance and is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host, reaching millions of listeners. With financial counselors throughout the country, his Financial Peace University has tutored thousands of people who want to control their finances.

Ramsey+ is an expanded version of his Financial Peace University that adds extensive resources in addition to online courses. A membership with Ramsey+ costs $129 a year and includes several useful, mobile-optimized apps.

First is an app that carries all the Financial Peace University courses with on-demand videos. EveryDollar is a highly touted budgeting app (also sold separately for $99), and Baby Steps is based on Dave’s well-traveled steps to getting out of debt quickly. While the courses are world-class, the apps are well worth the $129 per year price of admission.

However, the real value of Ramsey+ is the extra motivation you get from community support to stick to your plan. When you join Ramsey+, you join an interactive online community of thousands of people who have completed or are taking the courses and make themselves available to support each other. In addition, you also have access to a money mentor. That’s the real value of the cost of membership.

Khan Academy

There are many free personal finance courses available, but the Khan Academy has a sterling reputation for delivering quality online education services which is why we chose it as the best free personal finance course.

Pros

• Global leader in online instruction
• Expert finance instructor
• Extensive course offering
• Free

Cons

No interaction with the instructor or other students

When it comes to any educational course, free is not really free if you’re committing your valuable time. With Khan Academy’s 15 years of experience developing high-quality courses, you can be sure it will be worth your time.

Khan Academy is a non-profit educational organization founded in 2008 by Sal Kahn, who has built it into a global leader in free online education.

The personal finance course was developed and taught largely by Sal, who has a finance background.

The course is built around video lectures, short readings, interactive quizzes, and comment threads. There are nine courses covering the essentials. A typical course is broken down into units containing lessons containing all the materials and resources you’ll need.

Sal’s courses are unique in that he uses a virtual blackboard upon which he writes out his notes while he talks and thoroughly explains the concepts, just like in a real classroom. The learning site tracks your progress as you work your way through the course, capturing time spent watching videos, reading texts, as well as your quiz scores.

As an additional resource, Khan has partnered with Visa to produce a 20-part YouTube series on personal finance.

Duke University

To master your personal finances, you need to understand how your behavior influences financial decisions. Duke University has put its academic heft behind the development of its Behavioral Finance Course, making it our pick as the best personal finance course for learning behavioral finance.

Pros

• University-based course
• Expert instruction
• Focus on behavioral aspects of personal finance
• Free

Cons

No interaction with instructors or other students

Your behavior, including your biases and attitude about money, influences your financial decisions, which can have lifelong consequences. Duke University offers a Behavioral Finance course that focuses squarely on how to control your biases to make better decisions.

Duke is a world-class university with one of the top personal finance departments. Its Behavioral Finance Course is very popular among its students, but it is also offered for free as an online course through Coursera.org, a learning platform that curates courses taught by university professors worldwide. While the course is free, you can pay a fee for course certification.

The five-hour course examines typical mistakes people make in their financial decisions and how to avoid them. It helps you discover your own biases, leading to poor decision-making. The course is taught by Economics Associate Chair and Professor Emma Rasiel, who provides detailed instruction through a series of online videos. The course includes supplementary readings and quizzes at the end of each segment.

Final Verdict

Personal finance is, well, personal. Everyone has individual needs, particular learning styles, and specific things they want to get out of a personal finance course. But at a minimum, look for a course with a comprehensive offering that covers the essential elements of personal finance in a user-friendly format and taught by an expert instructor.

For example, some people need more encouragement and motivation to stick with a plan. That’s where Dave Ramsey’s Ramsey+ course and membership can help. In addition to a top-caliber course, there’s a large community of current and former students to rely on.

For those who want to delve into the psychology behind personal finance, Duke University’s Behavioral Finance helps you deal with the typical biases that lead to poor decision-making. If you’re the kind of person who wants to dig as far and deep as you want to learn personal finance, the Smart About Money resource library is seemingly bottomless.

If you want a course that has it all—comprehensive offering, expert instruction, and helpful money management tools at no cost—then you can’t go wrong with edX’s Finances for Everyone: Smart Tools for Decision Making.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Do You Learn in a Personal Finance Course?

A personal finance course teaches you the basic skills to live a healthy, happy, and secure life. From balancing a checkbook to saving for retirement and making the right decisions about your money, you should expect to increase your level of understanding around the fundamentals of budgeting, saving, debt, and investing for better money management outcomes.

Who Should Take a Personal Finance Course?

Anyone who struggles with certain aspects of their financial life could benefit from a personal finance course. You’re never too young to learn the principles and applications of personal finance. Financial literacy advocates would like to see personal finance courses as part of high school and college curriculums. And you’re never too old to learn, especially if you are facing money troubles, such as debt or lack of savings.

Can I Teach Myself Personal Finance?

There are countless books and guides on personal finance you can study on your own. However, some people need the structure, guidance, and motivation of an instructor-led course to keep them moving forward in the learning process. Whether learning on your own or taking a course, it’s essential to put your knowledge into practice while learning. For some people, it takes the guidance of an instructor to ensure they follow through.

How Much do Personal Finance Courses Cost?

You can find many personal finance courses that don’t cost a penny. But your time is valuable, so it’s essential to find a free course that doesn’t sacrifice quality or quantity. The four free courses in this roundup have comprehensive offerings and expert instruction, which is critical for making it worth your time. And the classes here that charge a fee offer something you aren’t likely to find in a free course. For instance, the Ramsey+ program offers community support which could be invaluable for some people. The average fee for courses we found is around $50.

How We Chose the Best Personal Finance Courses

While there are many personal finance courses to choose from, on the flip side, there are so many that it makes it challenging to find the one that best fits your needs. We looked at 20 courses that met our criteria of comprehensive offerings, user-friendly format, expert instruction, and any unique value-add features. We then compared them to narrow the list to the best personal finance course in six categories.

7 Non-Finance Courses Finance Students Should Take

FINANCE – Most careers in finance involve finding effective ways to manage an organization’s money to create wealth and increase the organization’s value. Finance majors prepare for this career by studying planning, raising funds, making wise investments, and controlling costs. This knowledge sets them up for a wide array of career paths in all areas of financial services, including corporate finance and investing.

Increasingly, however, finance students who are also skilled in select non-finance areas may have the upper hand regarding job opportunities.

What Companies May Want to See in Finance Curricula

Executives in search of well-rounded finance students look for certain skills. Surveys have found that these executives want schools to place more emphasis on qualitative, strategic, critical decision-making, and communication skills, which are sometimes developed better in non-finance classes.

If you want to get the best possible preparation for the finance world from your undergraduate or even graduate education, think about classes that may fall outside of the finance curriculum.

Non-Finance Courses for Finance Majors

As business schools continue to revamp MBA curricula away from solely traditional courses, here are some classes finance majors might want to consider to round out their degrees to make themselves not only more appealing to future employees but also MBA admissions teams.

1. Accounting

Financial and managerial accounting courses teach finance students how to understand, record, and report financial transactions, monitor the company’s budgets, performance, and examine the costs of the organization’s products and services.

2. Advanced Mathematics

Courses in college algebra and calculus will help students learn how to solve equations in complex financial markets. Statistics courses can help learn to make decisions based on the likelihood of various outcomes. They would teach finance students to reach conclusions about general differences between groups and large batches of information. Courses in statistics would also help to explain the movements of a company’s stock.

3. Communications

A communications course, such as public speaking, helps finance students present financial reports and explain the meaning behind equations and numbers to colleagues in group settings.

Good communication also can help when managing people and organizations, such as delegating responsibilities to employees within a finance department. Business students also need courses in corporate communications, crisis communications, and public relations strategies.

4. Economics

Economics looks at how scarce resources are allocated to achieve needs and wants. A course in macroeconomics would teach finance students to understand the impact of financial market activities on the overall economy. Microeconomics would help them learn about the behaviors that occur within individual firms and among consumers and how various financial decisions can affect a firm’s success.

5. Ethics

The incidence of corporate scandals has encouraged some business schools, such as the University of San Francisco and Loyola University Chicago, to add ethics courses to their finance curricula. These courses focus on moral development in an attempt to stem future misconduct in business environments.

6. Psychology

Financial professionals need to understand the behaviors and thought processes that help drive movements in financial markets. Behavioral psychology can show finance majors how to examine human behavior and its impact within a financial environment.

Behavioral finance can help students explore why and how the financial markets aren’t working by examining how investors’ behaviors are associated with market anomalies.

7. Writing

Finance curricula miss the boat by not including basic courses in writing and grammar, including technical writing. More often than not, students graduate with a master of business administration (MBA) degree but cannot form their thoughts cogently in writing. Writing courses teach students to craft strong, clear, and organized ideas for memos, reports, and letters.

The Bottom Line

Students studying finance will be tasked with big responsibilities in their careers, like managing the flow of money at their companies and identifying financial risks and returns to make effective business decisions.

Those finance majors who want to have an edge over their competition, both during the initial post-graduate job search and throughout their careers, should consider taking advanced mathematics, accounting, economics, psychology, communications, and writing courses to gain deeper insight into their jobs and a better ability to work effectively with people.

Should Finance Majors Consider Taking Writing Courses?

Yes. Finance majors, along with most majors, can benefit from writing courses, as strong communication skills are an asset in most jobs.

What Does MBA Stand For?

An MBA is a Master in Business Administration and many undergraduate finance students continue their studies to earn one.

What Kind of Careers Do Finance Majors Have?

Finance majors work in all areas of the financial industry, from jobs at banks to investment firms.

10 Ways to Land a Finance Career Without a Finance Degree

FINANCE – A finance or business degree is a prerequisite for most jobs in the financial industry, but what if you don’t possess one and want to work in this field? While it is more difficult for someone with a non-finance degree to secure a job in finance, there’s still hope.

Every employer wants smart, committed, and motivated employees who can do the job well. A finance degree will impart skills such as financial modeling and analysis, but may not do much to provide other skills required for success in almost any profession, such as communication, problem-solving, and time management.

The following are 10 ways to demonstrate to potential employers that you possess the skills they desire in an employee, as well as the passion necessary for a successful career in finance.

We will rate each of these by the degree of difficulty to achieve (for example, signing up for a financial course is easier than obtaining an internship) as well as the positive impact it may have on your objective of embarking on a career in the finance industry.

1. Learn the Lingo

If you are interested in a career in finance, there’s no excuse for not knowing Wall Street lingo. If you don’t know the difference between dilution and dividend, or between NPV and DCF, consider learning financial terms and concepts by browsing the extensive dictionary of terms at sites like Investopedia or by reading The Wall Street Journal.

Not knowing the financial language may make it almost impossible to pass the preliminary interview stage for a non-finance graduate. An interviewer will generally assume that an applicant for a finance position is knowledgeable about finance, regardless of his or her educational background.

2. Round Off Your Education

What if you graduated with a degree in a subject other than finance? You can always redress the situation by taking relevant courses with an emphasis on finance or business at the undergraduate or post-graduate level.

At the undergraduate level, courses in economics, accounting, or financial analysis are great options. Many post-graduates go for an MBA since its substantial finance component serves to level the playing field between finance and non-finance graduates.

If the MBA’s stiff cost is a deterrent, other options such as enrolling in the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®) Program are certainly worth exploring. The CFA is awarded after passing a series of three rigorous exams that test a graduate-level of financial theory and practical knowledge on one’s own time.

3. Enroll in a Financial Boot Camp

Intensive courses by firms like Wall Street Prep and Training the Street can teach you valuable skills that are essential for a career in finance, such as advanced spreadsheet techniques and financial modeling.

These crash courses are quite expensive, typically a few thousand dollars, but have the advantage of not requiring a long-term time commitment since they are typically conducted over a few days. One drawback is that, due to these programs’ intensity, you may need to be already familiar with basic financial concepts to derive the maximum benefit.

4. Expand Your Knowledge Base

Relevant knowledge is not obtained only through a college degree. There are plenty of resources available, either through your local library or online, to deepen your financial knowledge. These resources may be free or available on a paid basis from course providers.

5. Use a Trading Simulator

A number of websites—including Investopedia—have trading simulators that can be used to construct mock portfolios. Using a trading simulator will force you to track the markets and keep abreast of market developments. This is a great way to impress a potential employer with your trading prowess, or at least your market knowledge, with very little investment on your part aside from a time commitment.

6. Complete Industry Courses

Completing a relevant industry licensing course, such as that offered by the Canadian Securities Institute, not only demonstrates your commitment to a career in finance but also gives you an edge on the competition in terms of job readiness.

This option may not be available in all jurisdictions, of course; for instance, in the United States, one has to be sponsored by a member firm or a self-regulatory organization to take most licensing exams.

However, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has created a new test called the Securities Industry Essentials Exam (SIE), which can be taken without sponsorship.

7. Maintain a Financial Blog

Starting and maintaining a financial blog is a great way to communicate your investment ideas to the world. It is an opportunity to convey to a potential employer a favorable impression of your diverse skill set, including financial acumen, communication skills, and technological dexterity. This mode of self-marketing is most suitable for those who already possess a measure of these skills.

8. Link Up With a Mentor

Linking up with a mentor is another way of jump-starting a financial career. A mentor can be anyone in a position of influence who thinks highly of your capabilities and is willing to help you achieve your goals. Possible mentors include your favorite college professor, a family friend or relation with a successful career in finance, or someone you know in a professional capacity, such as a supervisor during a previous internship. Don’t hesitate to approach a contact whom you think could help you in your job search.

9. Score an Internship

Scoring a summer internship still remains one of the best ways to lock in a prestigious full-time job in finance, as many Wall Street firms pick their new hires from the ranks of their summer interns. At the best business schools, an estimated one-third to one-half of MBA students go to work for their summer employer after graduation.

Since obtaining a paid internship in finance is likely to be very difficult for a non-finance graduate, one must consider other options, such as an unpaid internship or volunteer work with a broker. The opportunity cost that arises from doing unpaid internships or volunteer work may be offset in due course by the higher earning potential of a finance career.

10. Do Your Best to Get Your Foot in the Door

Target HR departments for résumés, expand your job search to other locations, and use your network to check for openings—in short, do everything you can to get your foot in the door of a financial institution. Scoring an entry-level position with a financial company, even in a non-finance role, may open doors to other career paths in finance down the line.

Can You Earn a CFA Charter Without Holding a College Degree?

No. The CFA Institute requires that charter holders have at least an accredited bachelors degree (in any field). However, you can apply as a candidate and begin the CFA program when you are still an undergraduate student, provided that you will successfully graduate within 11 months.

What Are the Top College Majors for Financial Professionals?

According to a recent survey, the top college majors among global financial professionals were:

• Finance (23%)
• Business/Management (19%)
• Economics (14%)
• Accounting (11%)
• Mathematics (7%)

Together, these five majors accounted for nearly 75% of all financial professionals.

How Many Banking Interns End Up Getting Hired?

According to industry research, roughly 70% of banking interns who fulfill all of their requisite duties will be offered a job.

That may seem like a favorable statistics, but keep in mind that just landing an (often unpaid) internship at a financial firm is highly competitive. In 2022, investment bank Goldman Sachs had a record 236,000 people apply for student internships globally, including 79,000 in the Americas. Only around 35,000 (~15%) are accepted.

The Bottom Line

Some non-finance degrees are certainly in demand on Wall Street for specific tasks, including:

Physics and mathematics for structured products, derivatives, and quantitative trading

Information technology for algorithmic trading and platform development

Engineering, mining, and sciences for sector-specific research analysis and investment banking

However, for the vast majority of non-finance degree holders, securing a job in finance is likely to pose a significant challenge. This is more so because thousands of positions were eliminated by banks and financial institutions in the aftermath of the 2008 global recession.

Using a combination of the tips discussed above should enable a non-finance graduate to substantially improve his or her chances of launching a career in finance.

The Best And Worst Banks Of 2023

FINANCE – Higher interest rates provided a healthy boost to banks’ balance sheets in 2022, but it wasn’t always an easy year to be a banker–particularly if you worked for one of America’s trillion-dollar-plus behemoths.

For the 14th year, Forbes is ranking the 100 largest (by assets) publicly-traded U.S. banks and thrifts, based on nine metrics measuring their credit quality and profitability. Topping the list for the third time in the last four years is CVB Financial, the parent company of $16.4 billion-in-assets Citizens Business Bank. Based in the Los Angeles suburb of Ontario, it has 35,000 customers and specializes in serving small and medium-sized businesses.

“We focus on primarily privately-owned, family-operated businesses. It’s really that great American success story that we want to bank,” says David Brager, who has worked for the bank for 20 years and took over as CEO in 2020. CVB’s net profit was up 11% last year and its network of just 60 branches makes it one of the most efficient banks in the nation.

Meanwhile, capital markets revenue dried up for large banks that had fewer deals to finance, and loan loss provision expenses piled up as consumers, with their pandemic stimulus cash running out, started to look stretched. U.S. banks cumulatively generated $260 billion in net income in the 12 months through September 30, 2022, a 6% decline from the previous year, according to data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Still, 96% of all FDIC-insured institutions were profitable, and small community banks around the country are thriving.

“It was a year of extremes, and that’s sort of what we’re expecting in the early going this year,” says Stephen Biggar, director of financial services research at Argus Research. “It was a much more wild swing in some of the revenue sources than you’re used to seeing.”

All four of the nation’s trillion-dollar banks are stuck on the bottom third of the list, with $1.9 trillion-in-assets Wells Fargo sliding from 97th to dead last at 100th. Its efficiency ratio, which divides operating expenses by total revenues, was the sixth-worst at 72.6%, compared to a median of 58.4%. (A lower ratio is better, of course.) Wells also ranked in the bottom quintile in seven of our other eight metrics, which include Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio, a test of a bank’s liquidity; net charge-offs as a percentage of total loans; and return on average tangible common equity. S&P Global Market Intelligence provided the data as of last September 30, and the rankings are done solely by Forbes. (Banks that are subsidiaries of larger institutions were excluded, as were banks where the top-level parent is based outside the U.S.)

Wells Fargo’s net profit in the 2022 calendar year fell 40% to $12.1 billion, hampered by its provision for a $1.7 billion civil penalty and $2 billion in restitution for 16 million consumers ordered by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The sweeping order covered illegal fees and mishandling of auto loans, failures to grant mortgage modifications, and surprise overdraft fees on checking accounts. The bank has been plagued by criticism of its treatment of consumers since 2016, when its opening of millions of accounts–without customers’ consent–came to light. It said in a statement that it has “accelerated corrective actions and remediation since 2020,” eating into its profits.

JPMorgan Chase, America’s largest bank with $3.8 trillion in assets, fell from 48th last year to 70th. Its operating revenue growth of 2.0% through last September is down from 3.0% on last year’s list, slipping to 80th in the rankings. Its $37.7 billion in net income in the 2022 calendar year reflected a 22% decline from 2021, as its efficiency ratio was pressured by stagnant revenue growth and higher spending on compensation, technology and marketing. Meanwhile, Citigroup moved up slightly to No. 81 and Bank of America weighed in at 86, up from 91 last year.

Biggar notes that while smaller banks may get as much as 75% of their revenues from net interest income, at large banks it’s more of a 50/50 split between interest income and everything else. “Clearly the tailwind of interest rates rising had a much more favorable impact on your traditional regional bank than it did on the global banks,” says Biggar. “They were facing this massive shortfall relative to 2021 within capital markets revenue.”

That’s not a problem for CVB Financial, which specializes in serving businesses with up to $300 million in revenue in Southern and Central California, though it also offers typical accounts for individuals.

“The physical footprint of our bank is smaller, the average customer is larger, and there’s operating efficiency in that model,’’ says CEO Brager.

CVB is a lean operation with a near best-in-class efficiency ratio at 38.6%, compared with an average of 56.2% among all FDIC reporting institutions. In fact, it ranked in the top half of every metric Forbes tracked. Its net profit in 2022 was $235 million, and it has been profitable for 183 quarters in a row, covering most of its history since it was founded in 1974.

Next up, Abilene, Texas-based First Financial Bankshares is debuting at No. 2 as the top-performing consumer-focused bank on the list. It finished 2019 with $8.3 billion in assets, but it now has $13.1 billion and serves 350,000 Texans after the pandemic supercharged its growth. Chairman and CEO Scott Dueser, who has worked for the bank since 1976 right out of college at Texas Tech, says its average net new accounts added in the years prior to the pandemic was about 5,000. But it added 12,000 accounts in 2020 and another 16,000 in 2021. Dueser brought Ritz-Carlton cofounder and former COO Horst Schulze on board as a consultant to teach customer service.

“We were one of the first banks out of the blocks on PPP [Paycheck Protection Program] loans. We put it on a software that we have that you could fill out the application on your phone or your computer immediately,” says Dueser. “We were closing PPP loans within three days. It was a huge success for us, because we did so many of them, but we also moved their [PPP borrowers’] deposits.”

Founded in 1890 as Farmers and Merchants National Bank in Abilene, when it was a frontier town of 3,000, the bank gathered $33,000 in deposits in its first year. Dueser says the bank has made money in all 133 years of its existence and has increased its earnings for 35 years in a row. Its 79 locations are now clustered on the outskirts of big cities, primarily surrounding the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and Houston and sprinkled along the Interstate 20 corridor between Dallas and Abilene to the west, capturing the sprawl that made Texas the second state to surpass a population of 30 million last year. First Financial’s 43.8% efficiency ratio is the 11th-best on the list, and it’s in the top five in CET1 ratio.

First Financial and CVB Financial represent a common theme of smaller regional banks dominating the top of the list. The largest bank in the top 10 is Pasadena, California-based East West Bancorp, with $62.6 billion in assets. The highest-ranked institution with at least $100 billion in assets is Capital One, which is primarily a credit card company and came in at 14th.

Despite the relative underperformance on profitability and credit quality metrics, the big four trillion-dollar banks still have $11.1 trillion in assets, representing 42% of the $26.4 trillion the FDIC tracks in 4,746 commercial banks and savings institutions and another 4,308 community banks. The total number of banks has been shrinking for decades–10 years ago, there were 7,181 FDIC-insured commercial banks and savings institutions–as banks have merged to make compliance and back-office operations more efficient and to keep up technologically with larger peers.

“There are a few national banking franchises that help consumers who want to visit a branch while they’re traveling, but others prefer the community touch,” Biggar says. “Small businesses also tend to like to deal with a friendlier touch, so those continue to have value.”