The financial services sector is flourishing in Phoenix. According to the new Financial Services Operations Center Report from JLL, the financial services sector has accounted for 30% of the total office market leasing in the last 24 months with a total of 88 lease transactions.

“Phoenix has always been known as a good financial services market. We had campuses with Wells Fargo, American Express and Schwab. They were strong back-office operations, and they were quiet, to be honest. People knew that they were here, but they kept quiet and they had great business models for back-of-the-house financial services users,” John Pierson, managing director at JLL, tells GlobeSt.com, adding that State Farm invested significantly in the market in 2013, which lead to the rapid expansion of the sector in the market. “That spurred additional companies to take a hard look at Phoenix.”

Now, Phoenix is attracting big names in the financial services sector, including American Express, Freedom Financial and Vanguard, all of which are occupying significant square footage. “Phoenix has absolutely been on the radar, and from an employment standpoint, it has been a strong market,” says Pierson. “Employers have found the right talent both in the IT sector and in the processing and operations sector to fill their needs.”