In just the past few years Connecticut has become the North American headquarters for UBS and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.) Other firms with major operations in the state include: The Hartford, Travelers, GE Money and ING. Connecticut’s Central Coast is headquarters to regional banks People’s United Bank and New Alliance Bank. As well as smaller boutique financial services firms. And Yale University’s $17 billion endowment is managed from New Haven.

The industry is supported by a cluster organization, IFS. The group represents the interests of financial services companies at the State Legislature and through programming offered throughout the year.

Strategically situated between New York City and Hartford, Connecticut’s Central Coast offers easy access to both locations. Metro North commuter rail provides service from the region to Stamford, Greenwich and Grand Central Station in NYC.

More than 122,000 people were employed in financial services in Connecticut as of 2008. The industry employs people in jobs from stock trading to research to insurance.

To ensure a future workforce Connecticut has developed programs to continue education of the workforce. Working with the industry and a grant from the Department of Labor, Connecticut now offers 3 certificate programs in financial services. The programs: Insurance & Financial Services Specialist, Insurance & Financial Services Analyst and Business Analyst were designed to address the greatest needs in the workforce. The programs are taught at community colleges in Norwalk and Hartford. They are open to incumbent workers and prospective employees.

In addition to job creation tax credits financial services companies are eligible for other tax credits as well.

The credit is available to financial institutions that build and occupy a facility located in Connecticut of at least 900,000 square feet, and create and maintain an average of 1,200 to 2,000 qualified employees in Connecticut. The credit is allowed for ten consecutive years, but this period may be extended for an additional five years if the taxpayer employs an average of at least 3,000 employees in the income year following the ten year period. The credit is allowed for a maximum of 15 consecutive years. Depending upon the number of qualified employees employed by the financial institution, the amount of the credit allowed to an eligible financial institution varies from 30% to 50% of its corporation business tax liability.

Yale University serves a dual role in attracting financial services companies to Connecticut’s Central Coast. Yale’s business school is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 10 in the country. While this is impressive so is the role Yale serves as a resource to financial firms. Yale attracts the brightest minds from around the world and research that will define the future. Companies that can tap in to Yale’s wealth of knowledge will be strategically poised to capitalize on new trends.