How America’s biggest banks Performed

First, I would like to state that in this article the size of the banks has been determined by their total assets. In this regard the threshold was placed at 200 billion dollars and above, worth in assets to qualify as a big bank in the U.S.

The reader needs to understand that in this case size does not determine performance as you will get to see when you read this article. This information has been aggregated from Forbes top 100 banks and SNL’s data. The metrics used include (ROE) Return on average equity, NPLs (Non performing loans) as a percentage of total loans, Reserves as a percentage of NFLs and Leverage ratio.

Performance of the ten largest banks in U.S.

1. State Street this Boston based bank with 217 billion in total assets takes the top spot after a review of its assets, capital and profitability. ROE=10.0%, NPLs/total loans=0.0 (this is good), Reserves/NPLs=1,000+%, Leverage ratio 7.2%.
2. Bank of New York Mellon this New York based bank with 372 billion in total assets takes the number two spot in performance among America’s biggest banks after a review of its assets, capital and profitability. ROE=6.2%, NPLs/total loans=0.4, Reserves/NPLs=96%, Leverage ratio 5.6%.
3. Capital One Financial this McLean based bank with 290 billion in total assets takes the number three spot in performance among America’s largest banks after a review of its assets, capital and profitability. ROE=10.1%, NPLs/total loans=1.6%, Reserves/NPLs=140%, Leverage ratio =10.1%.
4. Citigroup this New York based bank and among the top 5 largest banks with 1.9 trillion in total assets takes the number four spot in performance among America’s biggest banks after a review of its assets, capital and profitability. ROE=6.4%, NPLs/total loans=1.8, Reserves/NPLs=171%, Leverage ratio= 8.1%.
5. U.S. Bancorp this Minneapolis based bank with 361 billion in total assets takes the fifth spot in performance among America’s biggest banks after a review of its assets, capital and profitability. ROE=14.7%, NPLs/total loans=0.9, Reserves/NPLs=193%, Leverage ratio= 9.6%.
6. JPMorgan Chase this New York based bank and the nation’s largest bank with 2.463 trillion in total assets takes the sixth spot in performance among America’s biggest banks after a review of its assets, capital and profitability. ROE=9.3%, NPLs/total loans=2.1%, Reserves/NPLs=113%, Leverage ratio= 6.9%.
7. PNC Financial Services this Pittsburgh based bank with 309 billion in total assets takes the seventh spot in performance among America’s biggest banks after a review of its assets, capital and profitability. ROE=9.8%, NPLs/total loans=2.3, Reserves/NPLs=80%, Leverage ratio= 11.1%.
8. Wells Fargo this San Francisco based bank and among the top 5 largest banks with 1.488 trillion in total assets takes the eighth spot in performance among America’s biggest banks after a review of its assets, capital and profitability. ROE=13.3%, NPLs/total loans=2.7%, Reserves/NPLs=67%, Leverage ratio= 9.8%.
9. Bank of America this Charlotte based bank and among the top 5 largest banks with 2.129 trillion in total assets takes the ninth spot in performance among America’s biggest banks after a review of its assets, capital and profitability. ROE=3.7%, NPLs/total loans=2.9, Reserves/NPLs=69%, Leverage ratio= 7.8%.

The U.S. banking industry is currently experiencing slow growth after the crisis but this has not stopped banks from working towards improving on performance. Regulation (Basel III and Volcker rule) may pose another challenge and this has forced the American banks to spend and do their research on impacts. This has continued and will continue to affect the performance of the entire banking industry.