In the late 1700s, it was the start of the battle of stock exchanges: in 1773, the London Stock Exchange was formed, and the New York Stock Exchange was formed just 19 years later.

And while London was a preferred destination for international finance at the time, Visual Capitalist's Jeff Desjardins notes that England also had laws that restricted the formation of new joint-stock companies. The law was repealed in 1825, but by then it was already too late.

In the U.S., exchanges in New York City and Philadelphia took full advantage by dealing in stocks early on. Eventually, for this and a variety of other reasons, the NYSE emerged as the most dominant exchange in the world – helping propel New York and Wall Street to the center of finance.

THE CENTER OF FINANCE

Wall Street, and the U.S. in general, are now synonymous with finance – and most of the world’s largest banks, funds, and investors maintain a presence nearby. The biggest asset management companies, which pool investments into securities such as stocks and bonds on behalf of investors, are no exception to this.

Today’s chart shows all global companies with over $1 trillion in assets under management (AUM).

Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist

Not surprisingly, all but 17.1% of assets managed by this $1 Trillion Club are overseen by companies based in the United States.

Even further, outside of Northern Trust (Chicago), Pimco (Newport Beach), and Capital Group (Los Angeles), the remaining U.S. companies are based in the Northeast specifically – either on Wall Street, or just a short drive away.

THE NEWEST ENTRANT

The newest entrant to the $1 trillion club is Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which is managed by Norges Bank Investment Management. It’s the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, and it was “never forecast” to get so big.

The Norwegian fund recently joined France’s Amundi ($1.6 trillion), the UK’s Legal & General ($1.3 trillion), and Japan’s Goverment Pension Investment Fund ($1.2 trillion) as non-U.S. members of this exclusive club.