NEW YORK CITY—The Big Apple has prevailed—for the second consecutive year—over London in a new survey ranking global cities' importance as financial centers.
New York was picked for the top spot by 59% of respondents, against 38% who named London, according to Bloomberg News' reporting of a Kinetic Partners survey of almost 300 finance professionals. New York went into the lead last year, when 49% named it as the preeminent financial center while 44% chose London in the survey.
“There's a new breed of financing now—crowdfunding,” Eastern Consolidated principal and executive managing director David Schechtman tells GlobeSt.com. “The new technology companies are doing that and creating significant financial centers by purchasing buildings in the sexier parts of the city.”
These firms have a founding father, so to speak, in Manhattan, he notes. “Google is here now so all of the tech startups that hope to eat from the trough of Google are here too and there's billions of dollars in equity behind them.”
New York is poised to continue dominating the race to the top among global cities, Schectman asserts. “We are going to continue to be ahead because real estate in London can't be as bought as freely as in New York much of it is still owned by the crown.”
In addition, he says, “we have the largest public works projects under way with Hudson Yards, Atlantic Yards and the World Trade Center. These three developments alone are going to be major.”
In addition, Kinetic notes in announcing the survey, our European neighbor is seeing its star decline in the wake of a string of scandals and question marks over the United Kingdom's continued membership in the European Union.
At least $34.4 billion paid by UK banks as restitution for bad insurance and the populist tide flowing against EU membership and foreigners have combined to tarnish Britain's image. The outcome of the Kinetic survey underlines the finding of a poll by Z/Yen Group Ltd. in March, which showed New York replacing London as the world's leading financial center for the first time.
Kinetic's survey shows opinions have reversed in the past two years. In 2012, 65% of respondents cited London as the leading financial center and 31% chose New York, according to the report.
“This shift from just two years ago is a testament to the resilience of the New York market,” says Julian Korek, CEO of London-based Kinetic. “New York has proven that it can draw and maintain institutions that believe it is the best place to grow their businesses.”
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
