(35 marks)Q1. Comparison of four key financial institutions: commercial banks, insurance companies, investment banks and investment funds in Australia from the perspective of a potential investor who would like to invest into the institutions Criteria for comparison include: (1) classification (the group of financial institutions it belongs to); (2) market sector of operation; (3) key business activities; and (4) main source of income. Organize your groups comparison in a relevant table. Your groups research should be supported by a fact finding of real life examples of a commercial bank, insurance company, and investment bank and investment fund in Australia. Your groups discussion on each example should reflect the above mentioned criteria and the following information: (i) what is the code of stock listed, (ii) when was the companys stock was first listed, (iii) what is the current market capitalization of that stock, (iv) the current total share outstanding, (v) who is the chairman and who is the CEO of that company, (vi) a graph of five year dividend payment for each company and (vii) next dividend date. Using ASX and ASIC websites for the fact finding. Your group is not allowed to choose the cases I have used as examples in this assignment instruction.

Example: Commonwealth Bank is a commercial bank, which is categorized in the group of Authorized Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) in Australia. Commonwealth Bank operates in banking market sector. Its key business is taking deposit from individuals as well as businesses, and then lend those pooled savings to other individuals and businesses. Its main source of income is the difference between the interest rates it charges the borrowers and the interest rates it pays the depositors. The code of listed commonwealth bank stock on Australian Stock Exchange is CBA. The stock was first listed on 12/09/1991. The total outstanding share 1,770,239,507. As of 18 February 2020, CBA market cap is 158.37bn, Ms Catherine Livingstone is the CBAs Chairman, Non Exec. Director and Mr Matthew Comyn is the Managing Director, CEO, Director. The next dividend payment date is 31 March 2020.

Dividend payment by CBA 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Dividend payment by CBA 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020