With NYC not even two hundred miles away and regarded as one of the financial capitals of the world, we often forget the strong financial history right here in Boston.
The Massachusetts Bank, for example, was founded in 1784 and was the second bank to receive charter in the history of the United States. It remained the only bank in Boston until the Union Bank was formed in 1792, which merged with Boston-based institutional investment powerhouse State Street in 1925. Today financial services continues to be a pillar of the Massachusetts economy, boasting 180,000 jobs and ranking as the third largest sector in the state.
A traditionally conservative industry where open communication is often limited by risk and regulation, we looked at some of the largest financial services companies headquartered here in Massachusetts to see which are leading the way in leveraging Twitter and Facebook:
Social Media Leaders:
Fidelity Investments
Founded: 1946 HQs: Boston Employees: 38,000
About: Fidelity is one of the largest privately held mutual fund and financial services groups in the world. Twitter: 4,225 followers; 522 tweets; listed 249 times. Facebook: 5,256 fans
Liberty Mutual
Founded: 1912 HQs: Boston Employees: 45,000
About: Liberty Mutual is a privately held diversified global insurer and the fifth largest property and casualty insurer in the US. Twitter: 2,118 followers; 2,282 tweets; listed 153 times. Facebook: 4,741 fans.
MFS Investment Management
Founded: 1924 HQs: Boston Employees: 1,650
About: MFS is a private asset management company, famous for inventing the mutual fund in 1924. Formerly known as Massachusetts Financial Services, MFS is now owned by Sun Life of Canada. Twitter: 276 followers; 408 tweets; listed 23. Facebook: 437 fans.
Putnam Investments
Founded: 1937 HQs: Boston Employees: 1,700
About: Putnam is a global money management firm.
Twitter: 1,081 followers; 115 tweets; listed 45 times. Facebook: 428 fans
John Hancock
Founded: 1862 HQs: Boston Employees: 24,000
About: John Hancock provides financial products and wealth management services. It was acquired by Manulife, a leading Canadian insurance company, in 2004. Twitter: 102 followers; 256 tweets; listed 3 times. Facebook: 247 fans
Eastern Bank
Founded: 1818 HQs: Boston Employees: 1,700
About: Eastern Bank is the largest independent, mutually owned bank in New England and the largest community bank in Massachusetts. Twitter: None. Facebook: 920 fans.
Social Media Laggards:
Boston Financial Data Services
Founded: 1973 HQs: Quincy Employees: 1,650
About: Boston Financial is a third-party transfer agent for the mutual fund industry, formed as a joint venture between State Street Corporation and DST Systems, Inc. Twitter: 13 followers, 138 tweets, 0 listed. Facebook: None.
Eaton Vance
Founded: 1924 HQs: Boston Employees: 1,059
About: Eaton Vance is a public investment management firm (NYSE: EV), with a current market cap of $3.75B. .
Twitter: None. Facebook: None.
Interactive Data Corporation
Founded: 1818 HQs: Bedford Employees: 1,600
About: Interactive Data is a leading provider of financial information and analytical software to global markets. Twitter: 23 followers; 21 tweets; listed 1 time. Facebook: None.
MassMutual Financial Group
Founded: 1851 HQs: Springfield Employees: 27,000
About: MassMutual is a privately held company that provides life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services, and annunity products. Twitter: None. Facebook: None.
State Street Corporation
Founded: 1792 HQs: Boston Employees: 28,940
About: State Street is a publicly traded financial services holding company (NYSE: STT), with a current market cap of $22.81B. Twitter: None. Facebook: None.
