MONIED INTERESTS: Twelve financial powerhouses are flooding the states big metro areas with high-paying jobs.

• Author: Caldwell, Neill
• Position: NC BANKING

Big money is finding North Carolina to be a great place to grow. To be more precise, some of the world's biggest financial institutions such as Credit Suisse, Fidelity and Vanguard are expanding in the Charlotte and Triangle regions with finance, operations and technology jobs that tend to pay significantly more than state averages. Twelve companies studied in our survey employ nearly 19,000 people in North Carolina's two big metro areas, with several thousand more jobs in the pipeline.

Like many industries, financial services has consolidated in recent decades with the bigger companies taking market share away from smaller institutions. Several of the companies reporting the fastest growth in assets under management--particularly Dimensional Fund Advisors, Fidelity and Vanguard--have set up major N.C. operations. The exception is Charles Schwab & Co., which has a limited presence in the state. While North Carolina's biggest banks have substantial brokerage or wealth-management divisions, none are attracting new clients as rapidly as these rivals.

Though the companies tend to be extremely profitable, most haven't been shy about asking for government incentives to cushion their expenses. North Carolina has pledged about $230 million to nine of these companies, with payments tied to meeting hiring and investment targets.

Allstate Corp.

CHARLOTTE

* Northfield Township, III.-based public company

* N.C. employees: declined to comment

* Key N.C. leader: declined to comment

* Stock-market value in early May: $32 billion

The insurance giant said in 2017 it would add 2,250 jobs in Charlotte by 2021, joining 1,400 existing employees. It is the largest publicly held property and casualty insurer, serving more than 16 million households. It had $40 billion in revenue in 2018. Allstate has agreed to lease a building in Charlotte's South End neighborhood for its expansion, according to media reports. A company official declined comment.

Allstate received $25 million in state and local incentives in 2017 and pledged that the new jobs would average about $47,000 annually.

AXA SA

CHARLOTTE

* Paris-based multinational public company

* N.C. employees: declined to comment

* Key N.C. leader: Patrick Parry, senior director

* Stock-market value in early May: $53 billion

Formed in 1816, the insurance company said in 2017 it planned to add 550 employees to its 475-person Charlotte operations center that provides underwriting, customer service and other functions...