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01 Overview
02 Talent Pipeline
03 Industry Ecosystem
04 Labor Analysis
05 Operating Cost Analysis
06 Quality of Life

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Greater Phoenix

A top hub in the nation for the finance & insurance industry

 

Greater Phoenix is a top market in the nation to locate, relocate or expand your finance and insurance business operations. In fact, the region’s finance and insurance sector is one of the largest in the nation.

 

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Contents

1
Overview
2
Talent
Pipeline
3
Industry
Ecosystem
4
Labor
Analysis
5
Operating
Cost Analysis
6
Statutory
Incentives
1

Overview

Greater Phoenix is exceptionally positioned to absorb both new-to-market finance and insurance companies, and expansion of the existing cluster.

Value Proposition

Exceptional Talent Pipeline

Arizona offers specialized programs at universities across the state to train top talent. The state provides University alignment and partnerships to match talent to employers.

Infrastructure

Greater Phoenix offers consistent and reliable internet and power coverage. With new freeways and rail to connect workforce and companies efficiently as well as access to a leading domestic and international airport, this region was designed for finance business relocation success.

Competitive Operating Costs

In addition to affordable real estate and benefit costs to peer markets, Greater Phoenix also provides a number of quality insurance company relocation incentives to further decrease your business’s operating costs.

Educated Workforce

Arizona offers a highly specialized workforce for the finance and insurance industries. The workforce in greater Phoenix enables firms to locate important cybersecurity, fraud, and analysis divisions in the market.

Large Existing Cluster

Greater Phoenix is the sixth largest finance & insurance cluster in the United States, indicating a higher industry concentration and specialization. The region also has the largest location quotient of any top-20 finance & insurance market.

2

Talent Pipeline

Greater Phoenix boasts competitive non-distance program completions at colleges and universities in the concentrations of accounting, finance, economics, mathematics and customer service related degrees.

Greater Phoenix Talent Pipeline

Arizona’s institutions of higher education are training the finance and insurance workforce of the future via innovative partnerships and high-quality programs. Whether you are a start-up or just looking to relocate your finance and insurance company to greater Phoenix, the region offers easy hiring thanks to a quality workforce pipeline while also driving additional talent to the region due to the excellent quality of life Arizona offers. More information about Arizona’s talent pipeline is below.

Notable Programs in Finance and Insurance - Related Fields

Competitive Programs

In a competitor markets’ talent pipeline analysis, Greater Phoenix has become one of the top finance and insurance cities and pulled ahead of popular cities like Salt Lake City and Charlotte in total degree completions for finance and insurance-related programs.

  • Arizona State University has been named the #1 Most Innovative School in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 by U.S. News & World Report as well as the top 1% of the world’s most prestigious universities by Time of Higher Education. ASU was also ranked #5 for best-qualified graduates by the Wall Street Journal and #6 online MBA program in the nation by U.s. news & World report.
  • The University of Arizona was named the #4 Management Information System program by U.S. News and #7 MS in Cybersecurity by Cyber Degrees. UofA was also ranked #10 in entrepreneurship by U.S. News & World Report while they also ranked the university #21 for Undergraduate Business Program in the nation.
3

Industry Ecosystem

Greater Phoenix is a top market by employment in this sector and has strong numbers to reinforce that statement. This market demonstrates competitive advantages for finance and insurance in non-workforce dimensions, especially in comparing operating costs.

Arizona Ecosystem

The Greater Phoenix region is home to a number of companies producing disruptive technology in the finance and insurance space. The region is able to support local startups and recent transplants which has resulted in an increase of finance company relocation to Greater Phoenix.

Location Quotient or LQ is a measure of market specialization in an industry by comparing the share of that market’s employment in an industry to the national proportion of that industry’s employment. For example, Phoenix’s LQ of 1.74 indicates that the market has 71% higher concentration of the finance and insurance cluster than the nation as a whole.

 

 

FinTech Sandbox

Following the example set by the United Kingdom, on March 22, 2018 Arizona became the first state in the U.S. to create a Regulatory Sandbox Program (RSP) where financial services companies can test innovative products and technology in market for up to 24 months without obtaining a license or other authorizations that might otherwise be required.

House Bill 2434, written by the Office of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich and signed by Governor Doug Ducey, encourages the development of emerging industries like FinTech, blockchain and cryptocurrencies throughout the state.

Three things to know about the Sandbox Program

  1. Loans and transactionsSandbox participants may make consumer lender loans (up to $15,000 per individual loan and $50,000 per consumer) or provide products or services as a money transmitter (up to $2,500 per transaction and $25,000 per consumer).
  2. Arizona user base capped at 10,000User base for FinTech product is capped at 10,000 customers. However, the attorney general may allow companies in the sandbox to transact with up to 17,500 customers if the company is financially solvent and has proper risk management protocols in place.
  3. Limitless participantsThere is no limit on the number of participants in the sandbox at any one time. The program ends on July 1, 2028.

Finance Operations in Greater Phoenix

Greater Phoenix is home to a dynamic and growing finance and insurance cluster. Many of the finance sector’s leading firms have a significant presence in Greater Phoenix.

Insurance Operations in Greater Phoenix

In the last five years, GPEC has helped numerous market leaders, including the three below, expand their footprint in Greater Phoenix. These companies have added nearly 11,000 jobs to the region, helping grow the dense cluster that exists today.

Banne Health
Godaddy
Honeywell Aerospace
4

Labor Analysis

Greater Phoenix has a robust supply of human capital to ensure all available positions are filled quickly with top talent making the region very attractive to relocate or start your finance and insurance company.

Labor Costs

Median wages in Greater Phoenix are generally lower than peer markets like Charlotte, Columbus, and Dallas. Below is a table of median wages across peer markets for relevant occupations.

Scroll to the side to see how Greater Phoenix stacks up against other cities in terms of median wages for finance and insurance operations.

Occupation Phoenix Charlotte Columbus Dallas Salt Lake City
Customer service representatives $34,783 $36,501 $35,262 $35,992 $34,420
General and Operations Managers $92,252 $112,765 $102,134 $108,886 $72,922
Office Clerks, General $36,826 $ 33,365 $36,763 $34,791 $33,684
First-Line Supervisors of Office and Administrative Support Workers $54,714 $57,108 $56,343 $58,453 $53,076
Software Developers and Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers $ 100,276 $102,414 $97,132 $109,557 $105,567
Accountants and Auditors $70,880 $78,004 $71,115 $77,266 $64,584
Insurance Sales Agents $54,545 $56,683 $52,396 $69,727 $39,416
Management Analysts $77,153 $94,333 $80,855 $86,635 $68,633
Financial Managers $115,080 $149,878 $126,581 $143,143 $105,914
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators $58,989 $65,488 $59,878 $68,110 $52,428
Computer Systems Analysts $90,509 $94,525 $89,159 $94,065 $74,217
5

Operating Cost Analysis

Greater Phoenix has the lowest annual operating cost for finance and insurance operations among competitor markets. Despite having one of the largest talent pools among peer markets, the region has low employee payroll costs due to the region’s low cost of living and affordable housing.

 

The Annual Business Operating Cost Analysis has been prepared using the following parameters as an estimate for finance operations in competitor markets. Component and custom analyses to match your company’s operations can be provided upon request.

Assumptions – Finance

  • $10,000,000 personal property investment
  • 100,000 square foot Central Business District Office, Lease
  • Utilities (per month): Included in Lease
Occupations Employment
Customer Service Representatives 100
Financial Analysts 100
Software Developers, Applications 35
Information Security Analysts 25
Loan Officers 25
Credit Analysts 25
Web Developers 15
Office Clerks,General 10
Network & Computer Systems Administrators 5
Human Resources Specialists 5
Computer & Information Systems Managers 3
General & Operations Managers 2
Total 350

Annual Operating Cost and Total Industry Jobs

6

Statutory Incentives

Even with the highly competitive tax environment in Greater Phoenix and Arizona, there exist several tax incentives that can be utilized to mitigate operating costs. Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of all incentives available within the state of Arizona.

 

This document and report is only a guide for potential incentives. Actual incentives will depend on actual project parameters, and varying program qualifications and requirements as determined by the Arizona Commerce Authority.

Quality Jobs Tax Credit

The Quality Jobs Tax Credit program awards $9,000 of tax credits over three years for qualifying companies. The chart below highlights minimum qualifying capital expenditure and wage rate within an urban area, while the texts describe additional program parameters.

 

Finance and Insurance Industry in Phoenix

Companies in Greater Phoenix

  • Aetna
  • Allstate
  • American Express
  • Bank of America
  • Charles Schwab
  • Chase Bank
  • Discover
  • Edward Jones
  • Humana
  • Liberty Mutual
  • Nationwide
  • Progressive
  • State Farm
  • United Healthcare
  • Vanguard
  • Wells Fargo

Want to see a full list of companies in Greater Phoenix? Download the complete report.