Best City for Finance Professional (insurance, brokers, home)

[US-Traveller]

What city on this list is the best city for an investor (hedge fund manager, stock broker, private equity manager)?

San Diego, California
- Finance is not a major sector in San Diego's economy. San Diego's three largest sectors are defense, manufacturing, and tourism, respectively. San Diego has a sizable high-income market to target, but doesn't have any sign of growth in the top income brackets. So what makes this city better than the others?

Los Angeles, California
- Finance is no longer a major sector in Los Angeles's economy. In the 1990's many of Los Angeles's banks folded or merged with other banks. International Trade, Entertainment, and Aerospace, respectively. Los Angeles has a very large high-income market that is ever expanding, but recent growth has slowed. So what makes this city better than the others?

San Francisco, California
- Tourism, Finance, and Technology, respectively are the three largest sectors in San Francisco's economy. San Francisco is home to the worlds largest stock brokerage- The Charles Schwab Corporation, as well as the Wells Fargo Bank Corporation. The San Francisco Bay Area is home to more billionaires than any other region in America. San Francisco has an ever expanding population of high-income individuals fueled by tech. So what makes this city better than the others?

Seattle, Washington
- Technology, Finance, and Retail, respectively are the three largest sectors in Seattle's economy. Seattle is home to Amazon.com, Microsoft, and several other technology and software companies. Seattle's economy has been hit harder than others by the current recession, primarily because of the failure of one of its largest employers Washington Mutual Bank, that was purchased at minimum by JP Morgan Chase. Seattle has a growing population of high-income individuals fueled primarily by tech, but it loses some individuals to the San Francisco Bay Area. So what makes this city better than the others?

Salt Lake City, Utah
- Trade, Transportation, Utilities, and Services, respectively are the four largest sectors in Salt Lake's economy. Salt Lake is home to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints a large employer, Idaho Potatoes, and several industrial banks. Salt Lake has grown rapidly and now is home to a decent sized affluent population, but the population is miniscule when compared to cities like San Francisco, Chicago, or Los Angeles. So what makes this city better than the others?

Chicago, Illinois
- Finance, Trade, Publishing, Manufacturing, Insurance, and Food Processing are all large parts of Chicago's economy. Chicago is ranked by MasterCard as the 4th most important business center in the world. Chicago also has the second largest central business district. Chicago is home to the Chicago School of Economics, which explains Chicago's high market activity. Chicago is home to one of twelve Federal Reserve Banks (San Francisco is the only other on this list). Chicago has a large population of affluent individuals, but its hedge fund sector might be considered locked in because of the large and highly sucessful Citadel Group. So what makes this city better than the others?

NOTE: I am not looking to use your opinions for specific advice. I am looking to obtain the general opinion of the cities mentioned according to the career path stated.

[hsw]

Brokers aren't investors

Most HF and PE guys start their careers at various NYC investment banks in trading or M&A or corp fin before migrating to HF or PE

Vast majority of US' (and world's) major HF/PEs are either in Manhattan or, in case of HF, Greenwich

Distant second is SF region, either Silicon Valley's Menlo Park (VC/PE) or City of SF (HF/PE)...usually attracts guys who focus on tech-related investing and/or prefer CA weather/lifestyle over that of NYC region...but most needed to "serve time" in NYC early in their career

[US-Traveller]

Originally Posted by hsw

Brokers aren't investors

Most HF and PE guys start their careers at various NYC investment banks in trading or M&A or corp fin before migrating to HF or PE

Vast majority of US' (and world's) major HF/PEs are either in Manhattan or, in case of HF, Greenwich

Distant second is SF region, either Silicon Valley's Menlo Park (VC/PE) or City of SF (HF/PE)...usually attracts guys who focus on tech-related investing and/or prefer CA weather/lifestyle over that of NYC region...but most needed to "serve time" in NYC early in their career

Stock Brokers are generally investors on their own as well. Most of them have a Bachelors Degree in Economics.

I would disagree that most private equity people start their careers in New York, because many of the training programs are located near universities like Harvard. Bain Capital offers one of the most reknowned internship programs in private equity.

I would also disagree that all hedge funds are in New York. I would guarantee that there are more hedge funds outside of New York City and Fairfield County, Connecticut. For instance one of the largest Citadel by Kenneth Griffin is headquartered on South Dearborn in Chicago. While most large hedge funds have offices in New York, many are headquartered wherever the manager decides to live, or wherever there is demand for their services.

I guess the question I am asking is: From the above mentioned cities, which has the best market for new brokers, new hedge funds managers, or new private equity managers?