Companies across the country rely on banks to provide credit that supports their investment, success, and ultimately the growth of our economy. Whether it be a midwestern manufacturer investing in new equipment, a hospital adding a new operating facility to improve care, or an accounting firm purchasing a new building to support its growing employee base, companies of all stripes rely on bank lending to finance the investments that they need to support their growth as well as the customers and communities that they serve.
Forum members are a leading source of credit to American companies. Importantly, Forum members provide corporate lending to an extremely wide swath of industries. The breadth of Forum member lending across the corporate spectrum is important because it allows Forum members to broadly support the economy. As economic conditions change and some industries grow more quickly than others, Forum members can leverage their breadth to effectively and efficiently channel lending to where it is needed most.
In the chart below, we report the aggregate amount of credit provided by Forum members to companies through their lending activities. To be clear, this is only one important part of the story, since Forum members also underpin America’s capital markets, where credit and other critical services such as underwriting and risk management allow companies and their employees to thrive
As can be seen in the chart above, Forum members’ lending activities are broadly distributed across various industry sectors. Forum members are lending nearly $600 billion to the Industrials sector that would include companies such as General Electric, Caterpillar, and Lockheed Martin to name a few. Forum members are also lending nearly $500 billion to the Consumer & Retail sector which would include companies such as Walmart, Target, and Home Depot. In addition, Forum members are lending nearly $400 billion to the Technology, Media, and Telecom sector which would include companies such as Google, Amazon, and Cisco. These examples demonstrate the broad support that Forum members provide to help grow the economy, keep America competitive and support local communities.
The roughly $4.8 trillion in direct lending from Forum members is a critical source of funds to drive investment and economic growth. Companies across the industry spectrum and across our country rely upon Forum members to invest in growth, provide income and benefits, and support American prosperity.
Forum members support a dynamic, pro-growth policy agenda to ensure that American companies, workers, and individuals reap the benefits of the critical lending provided by our country’s leading banks.