New York is typically a stronger source of financial services foreign direct investment (FDI) than it is a destination. This became more clear in the year ending October 2018.
The US’s top financial centre, New York attracted a total of $124m-worth of investment projects against the $2.4bn it generated over the same period, according to estimates by greenfield monitor fDi Intelligence. Respectively, these figures represent a contraction and an expansion on the previous year, and mirror the trend for overall capital expenditure in the top 10 US financial centres across inward and outward tables.
New York tops all rankings. Nine out of the 18 investment projects into the US hub came from UK-based firms. FDI inflows into New York’s financial centre did not diverge muchfrom the estimated average capital expenditure of about $6.9m.
New York reciprocated in the outward table, where the UK was the largest recipient of projects: a total of 10 out of 76. In the outward table, however, the range of individual investment sizes was more broad, from less than $10m for a dozen projects, to the more than $250m that fDi Intelligence estimates asset manager Compass Group is spending to open an office in São Paulo.
In the most recent inward FDI table, Chicago climbed two places to reach second position, with $81.5m, followed at a short distance by Nashville.