Financial magnet: Strong

Financial magnet:

Strong market fundamentals point to future growth

Tampa Bay’s “Wall Street of the South” moniker is well deserved, and not just as a result of the existing business-friendly tax structure, which no doubt is a key attractor. Long-standing financial centers — New York, Chicago, Boston — are also getting a run for their money from Tampa’s low cost of doing business, skilled labor force and competitive pricing within its class-A office space compared to the rest of South Florida.

The success the sector has generated in the Tampa Bay MSA is clearly evidenced in the numbers. Banking and finance employed close to 592,400 financial services professionals as of November 2020, and employment growth remained strong despite COVID.

The local presence of financial industry heavyweights is another testament to the health and robustness of the region’s financial sector. Raymond James Bank, Bank of America and Truist are the Top 3 household names in terms of local deposits and market share. Total 2020 deposits amounted to $64 billion in 2020, an 11.45% increase compared to 2019’s $57.4 billion. The three top institutions alone represent 47% of Tampa’s financial market. Rounding out the Top 5 in terms of deposits are Wells Fargo ($16.6 billion) and JPMorgan Chase Bank ($7.12 billion). Landscape Ranked by asset value and looking only at Tampaheadquartered lenders, the Top 3 largest banks and credit unions — Suncoast Credit Union ($12.32 billion), The Bank of Tampa ($2.7 billion) and GTE Financial ($2.51 billion) — held assets valued at $17.53 billion in 2020. Despite the pandemic, the region’s financial institutions saw asset value growth across the board compared to 2019, ranging from 12.16% for Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union to 30.83 percent for the Bank of Tampa.

Although experiencing a COVID-induced slowdown compared to previous years, Tampa’s M&A market was still able to make some noise in 2020 and early 2021, totaling $35.5 billion just in 2020. Health insurance company Centene Corp took the acquisition crown with its $17.3 billion cash and stock deal for WellCare Health Plans Inc. The second-biggest deal was software developer Roper Technologies’ $5.35 billion all-cash deal for private equity-owned insurance software vendor Vertafore Inc. Rounding out the Top 3, IT products and services company Apollo Global Management unwrapped $5.2 billion for arts retailer Michaels to help get 2021 rolling. Considering healthcare and ( )