SUMMARY
Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU), also known by its primary subsidiary The Prudential Insurance Company of America, is a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the United States and in over 30 other countries. Principal products and services provided include life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, pension- and retirement-related investments, administration and asset management, securities brokerage services, and commercial and residential real estate in many states of the U.S. It provides these products and services to individual and institutional customers through distribution networks in the financial services industry. Prudential has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America and has organized its principal operations into the Financial Services Businesses and the Closed Block Business.
SUMMARY
As Marriott International has grown to be a leading lodging company with nearly 3,700 properties and 18 brands in 72 countries and territories worldwide, we remain grounded in a set of core values: put people first, pursue excellence, embrace change, act with integrity and serve our world. Our relentless focus on innovation and action fuel the way we do business. With the most powerful brand portfolio in the world, we set the bar for the hospitality industry.
Yet our strength lies in more than just a business model. It’s our unique and storied heritage–a way of doing business–that enriches relationships and instills a passion for who we are. Together, we are opening doors of opportunity…for our guests, owners and franchisees, and associates.
SUMMARY
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is an American multinational diversified financial services company with operations around the world. Wells Fargo is the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by assets and the largest bank by market capitalization. Wells Fargo is the second largest bank in deposits, home mortgage servicing, and debit cards. In 2011, Wells Fargo was the 23rd largest company in the United States. Wells Fargo is headquartered in San Francisco, California, but has major “hubquarters” in other cities throughout the country. In 2007 it was the only bank in the United States to be rated AAA by S&P. The firm’s primary U.S. operating subsidiary is national bank Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., which designates its main office as Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Wells Fargo in its present form is a result of an acquisition of San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Company by Minneapolis-based Norwest Corporation in 1998 and the subsequent 2008 acquisition of Charlotte-based Wachovia. In 2012, Wells Fargo had more than 9,000 retail branches and 12,198 automated teller machines in 39 states and the District of Columbia. It has over 270,000 employees and over 70 million customers.
SUMMARY
The New York Life Insurance Company (NYLIC) is one of the largest mutual life-insurance companies in the United States, and one of the largest life insurers in the world, with about $287 billion in total assets under management, and more than $15 billion in surplus and AVR.[2] The company ranks #71 on the 2011 Fortune 100 list, making it the highest privately held insurance company on that list. In 2007, NYLIC achieved the best possible ratings by the four independent rating companies (Standard & Poor’s, AM Best, Moody’s and Fitch). In June 2009, the same four rating companies reaffirmed New York Life’s “superior” financial strength, which became a selling point in national TV ad campaigns that same year. The company is now one of only three life insurers to hold the highest ratings currently awarded to any life insurer by all four rating agencies (Moody’s: Aaa, A.M. Best: A++. Standards & Poor’s: AA+, Fitch: AAA. All of these are for financial strength. ). Other New York Life affiliates provide an array of securities products and services, as well as institutional and retailmutual funds.
SUMMARY
Limited Brands (formerly known as The Limited Inc.) is an American fashion retailer based in Columbus, Ohio. Due to success of Flagships Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works, Limited Brands posted $10.36 Billion in revenue in 2011. Listed as #256 in Forbes annual Fortune 500 list of top companies.
SUMMARY
Pfizer, Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in New York City, and with its research headquarters in Groton, Connecticut, United States. It is the world’s largest pharmaceutical company by revenues. Pfizer was founded by cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart in New York City in 1849 as a manufacturer of fine chemicals. Pfizer’s discovery ofTerramycin (oxytetracycline) in 1950 put it on a path towards becoming a research-based pharmaceutical company. Pfizer has made numerous acquisitions, including of Warner–Lambert in 2000, Pharmacia in 2003 and Wyeth in 2009, the latter acquired for US$68 billion. Pfizer is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and its shares have been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since April 8, 2004.
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Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is an American chain of retail home improvement and appliance stores that has retail stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Founded in 1946 in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the chain now serves more than 14 million customers a week in its 1,714 stores in the United States and 31 in Canada. Expansion into Canada began in 2007, with the opening of a store in Hamilton, Ontario, in early 2008. Lowe’s started the construction of two stores in the Mexican city of Monterrey officially entering the Mexican market. In 2011 Lowe’s released plans to build over 150 stores in Australia over the next five years, hoping to compete with the $46 billion industry. Lowe’s Companies, Inc. is 43rd on the Fortune 500 list. As of 2010, the chain is based in Mooresville, North Carolina. Lowe’s is the second-largest hardware chain in the United States. Globally, Lowe’s is also the second-largest hardware chain.
SUMMARY
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is an American multinational banking corporation of securities, investments and retail. It is the largest bank in the United States by assets. It is a major provider of financial services, with assets of $2 trillion and according to Forbes magazine is the world’s second largest public company based on a composite ranking. The hedge fund unit of JPMorgan Chase is one of the largest hedge funds in the United States. It was formed in 2000, when Chase Manhattan Corporation merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. JPMorgan Chase is one of the Big Four banks of the United States. According to Bloomberg, as of October 2011 JPMorgan Chase surpassed Bank of America as the largest U.S. bank by assets. Through its predecessor, the Bank of the Manhattan Company, it is the 22nd oldest bank in the world.
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Hugo Boss currently has at least 6,102 points of sale in 110 countries. Hugo Boss AG directly owns over 364 retail stores with over 1,000 stores and shops owned by franchisees. There are two core brands, BOSS and HUGO:
Boss Black: Modern classic clothing which is more widely distributed than other lines, and has the broadest product range. Boss Orange: Originally quirky styling, with bohemian influences, this line was relaunched in 2010 as denim based casual wear. Boss Selection: Higher priced clothing aimed at a more mature market, with emphasis on English tailoring styles. Boss Green: Previously known as Boss Sport, was relaunched in 2003 as a golf-style active wear collection; and Hugo: Fashion forward styling, with a more European look.
SUMMARY
Trading on its century-old name, Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) sells upscale men’s, women’s, and kids’ casual clothes and accessories — quite a change from when the company outfitted Ernest Hemingway and Teddy Roosevelt for safaris. A&F operates some 1,070 stores in North America, Europe, and Japan and also sells via its catalog and online. Its carefully selected college-age sales staff and use of 20-something models imbue its stores with an upscale fraternity-house feel. A&F runs a fast-growing chain of some 540 teen stores called Hollister Co., and a chain targeted at boys and girls ages seven to 14 called abercrombie kids. Its three-year-old, just-for-women brand, Gilly Hicks, has about 20 stores.
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Celebrating its 90th year of innovation, Pitney Bowes is a $5.6 billion company that employs 33,000 worldwide and provides software, hardware and services that integrate physical and digital communications channels.
Long known for making its customers more productive, Pitney Bowes is increasingly helping other companies grow their business. Every connection is a new opportunity™.
SUMMARY
Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States.
Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.
SUMMARY
Food Lion LLC is a subsidiary of Brussels-based Delhaize Group (NYSE: DEG). Founded as Food Town in 1957, today Food Lion is one of the largest supermarket companies in the United States. Food Lion LLC operates approximately 1,300 supermarkets, either directly or through affiliated entities, under the names of Food Lion, Bloom, Bottom Dollar, Harveys and Reid’s. These stores meet local customer needs and preferences for the freshest and best quality products.