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.

The 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. So if you were looking to start or relocate your finance or insurance business in a particular area, it would be interesting to know that Phoenix’s LQ of 1.66 indicates that the market has a 66% higher concentration of the finance and insurance cluster than the nation as a whole.

FINTECH SANDBOX

In March of 2018, Governor Doug Ducey signed House Bill 2434 into law making Arizona the first state in the nation to enact a groundbreaking regulatory FinTech “sandbox.” Arizona joins countries such as the United Kingdom, Singapore, United Arab Emirates and Australia in encouraging FinTech investment by instituting sandboxes encouraging business owners and entrepreneurs to relocate and start their finance and insurance company in the Greater Phoenix region.

In Arizona’s sandbox, startups, entrepreneurs and even established companies can launch products on a limited, temporary scale to consumers to test innovative products, services, business models, and delivery mechanisms in the real market without incurring regulatory costs and burdens that would otherwise be imposed. This makes the Greater Phoenix area one of the top financial cities in the country and, also, an attractive opportunity for movers and shakers looking to start an insurance business or relocate their finance company.