The Forest Road Company Funding, Investors & Competitors

JPMorgan Chase is a publicly traded financial services group based in New York that operates through the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. It serves consumers, small businesses, corporations, institutional investors and government clients in the United States and internationally. Its consumer and community banking activities provide deposit, borrowing and related financial services to individuals and businesses. Commercial and investment banking operations advise clients, arrange capital, extend liquidity, manage financial risk and provide payments and asset-custody services. Asset and wealth management businesses manage investments across multiple asset classes for individuals, financial advisers and institutions. The group earns interest, banking and transaction fees, advisory fees and investment-management income from these activities. It has also made private investments through affiliated vehicles, including the indirect ownership of JPMorgan Private Capital Asia’s investment in Tianrui Cement.

Bank of America is one of the largest financial institutions in the United States, with more than $3.4 trillion in assets. It is organized into four major segments: consumer banking, global wealth and investment management, global banking, and global markets. Bank of America's consumer-facing lines of business include its network of branches and deposit-gathering operations, retail lending products, credit and debit cards, and small-business services. The company's Merrill Lynch operations provide brokerage and wealth-management services, as does its private bank. Wholesale lines of business include investment banking, corporate and commercial real estate lending, and capital markets operations. Bank of America has operations in several countries but is primarily US-focused.

HSBC Holdings plc is the London-headquartered parent of the HSBC Group, one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations, which opened its doors in Hong Kong in March 1865 to finance trade between Europe, Asia and the Americas. Today it serves around 41 million personal, wealth and corporate customers in 56 countries and territories and has about 211,000 employees. It runs four businesses, Hong Kong, the UK, Corporate and Institutional Banking, and International Wealth and Premier Banking, which cover retail and commercial banking, global banking and markets, wealth management and private banking. For 2025 the group reported revenue of $68.3 billion, net interest income of $34.8 billion, profit before tax of $29.9 billion and total assets of $3,233 billion, and CEO Georges Elhedery targets a return on tangible equity of 17% or better, excluding notable items, in each year from 2026 to 2028. Its footprint has been simplified through disposals in Canada and Argentina and the sale of a French retained loan portfolio completed in late 2025, and it privatised Hang Seng Bank with the capital impact falling in January 2026. HSBC shares are listed in London, Hong Kong, New York and Bermuda.

Morgan Stanley is a global financial-services firm founded in 1935 that serves individuals, companies, institutional investors and governments. Its investment-banking and capital-markets businesses advise clients on transactions and help them raise financing. The firm also provides securities sales, trading, market-making and research services to institutional clients. Its wealth-management business supports individuals and organisations in building, preserving and managing their assets. Investment Management offers strategies across public and private markets for institutional and individual investors. The group earns revenue from financial advice, capital-raising services, trading and investment-management activities. It also provides workplace financial solutions for employers and their employees. Its international office network supports cross-border transactions and investment services. Morgan Stanley participated as an equity investor in the 2007 TXU acquisition, a role distinct from merely providing acquisition financing or advisory services.

Royal Bank of Canada is one of the two largest banks in Canada, with around CAD 2.5 trillion in assets at the end of July 2026. It is a diversified financial services company, offering personal and commercial banking, wealth management, insurance, corporate banking, and capital markets services. The bank is concentrated in Canada and has dominant market shares. RBC also has wealth and capital markets businesses in the US, UK, and other countries. RBC is a top 15 investment bank globally.

Wells Fargo is a United States financial-services company headquartered in San Francisco. It provides consumer and small-business banking, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management. Customers include individuals, households, small businesses, large companies and institutional investors. The company earns revenue from interest on loans, service fees, investment and advisory activities and other banking products. Its operations are concentrated primarily in the United States and include branches, digital banking and corporate financial services. Wells Fargo completed the acquisition of First Interstate Bancorp in April 1996, combining two large western banking networks and creating substantial branch overlap. The current listed company has undergone later corporate combinations, but the existing record represents the buyer identity used for the historical First Interstate transaction.

Goldman Sachs is a storied financial institution, founded in 1869 and best known for its role as a leading global investment bank. The firm has a sprawling reach across global financial centers and has been the leading provider of global merger and acquisition advisory services, by revenue, for the past 20 years. Since the global financial crisis, Goldman has expanded its offerings into more predictable, fee-based businesses like asset and wealth management, which contributed roughly 30% of postprovision revenue at the end of 2025. The firm generates revenue from investment banking, global market making and trading, lending, asset management, wealth management, and a small and declining portfolio of consumer credit card loans.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is the largest bank in Japan in terms of market capitalization and assets, with an 8.4% share of all domestic loans as of March 2025. It is the largest non-Chinese bank group globally and has a balance sheet slightly larger than those of JPMorgan Chase and HSBC Holdings. MUFG’s operations in Japan account for around half of profit, banking in Thailand and Indonesia for around 15%, and equity-method earnings from Morgan Stanley most of the rest.

The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Bank Group) is a Canadian multinational bank headquartered in Toronto, formed on February 1, 1955 by the merger of the Bank of Toronto, founded in 1855, and The Dominion Bank, founded in 1869. It serves more than 28 million customers through Canadian personal and commercial banking under the TD Canada Trust brand, US retail banking through TD Bank, N.A., wealth management and insurance, and wholesale banking. TD Canada Trust serves about 15 million customers through roughly 1,060 branches, while TD Bank, N.A. serves more than 10 million customers through about 1,100 branches in 15 US states and Washington, D.C. In fiscal 2025 the bank reported revenue of CAD 67.78 billion, net income of CAD 20.54 billion and total assets of CAD 2.095 trillion, with approximately 102,000 full-time equivalent employees. It earns net interest income on loans and deposits plus fees from wealth management, insurance, cards and capital markets activity. TD was the largest shareholder of TD Ameritrade from 2006 until Charles Schwab acquired it in 2020, and in 2025 it announced the sale of its roughly 10.1% stake in Schwab for about USD 14.6 billion after a USD 3 billion anti-money-laundering settlement with US regulators in October 2024. Raymond Chun is chief executive.

Citigroup is a global financial services group whose banking businesses serve corporations, institutional investors, governments and individual customers. Its core activities encompass Services, Markets, Banking, Wealth and United States consumer cards. Services provides cash management, payments, trade and working capital solutions, together with securities and issuer services across the group’s international network. Markets supplies trading and related financial products, while Banking supports corporate financing and investment banking transactions. Wealth serves investment and financial planning needs, and the consumer card business provides credit products to individuals. The group earns income from lending, transaction and advisory services, investment activities and client asset management, using its cross-border network to connect customers with financial markets and banking services.

Santander runs five global businesses: retail and commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth management and insurance, payments, and a digital platform Openbank. Spain is the largest single profit contributor, followed by Brazil, the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom.

UBS Group is a publicly listed Swiss banking and wealth-management group headquartered in Zurich. Its businesses span global wealth management, personal and corporate banking in Switzerland, asset management and investment banking. The group serves individuals, family offices, corporations and institutional investors across major financial markets. Revenue comes from advisory and asset-management fees, net interest income, securities trading and underwriting, and other banking services. UBS had controlled UBS Securities since increasing its interest above 50% in 2018. The 2025 acquisition of BSAM's remaining 33% raised UBS's ownership of the mainland Chinese securities company from 67% to 100%. That purchase consolidated a regulated operating subsidiary rather than representing a passive portfolio trade.

Despite its Spanish origins, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria generates only around one-fourth of its profits in Spain. We expect that on a normalized basis, BBVA's market-leading Mexican bank should contribute half of its earnings, while its Turkish operation should account for another 15%. The balance of BBVA's earnings comes from smaller operations in South America. BBVA is overwhelmingly a retail and commercial bank, with corporate and investment banking forming a minor part of the overall business. BBVA also offers insurance and investment products through its banking networks.

UniCredit is a pan-European banking group headquartered in Milan, with retail, corporate, investment and private banking operations in Italy, Germany, Austria and Central and Eastern Europe. The group was formed in 1998 through the merger of Credito Italiano and Unicredito and traces its origins to Banca di Genova, founded in 1870. It operates in Germany through HypoVereinsbank and in Austria through Bank Austria, and serves more than 15 million clients. UniCredit is listed on the Borsa Italiana and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It reported revenue of EUR 24.8 billion and net income of EUR 9.7 billion in 2024. Its acquisitions include HVB in 2005, Capitalia in 2007, Aion Bank and Vodeno in 2025 and its Italian life insurance joint ventures, and it has built stakes in Commerzbank and Alpha Bank. Andrea Orcel is chief executive.

JD Digits is a Beijing digital-technology company serving financial institutions, merchants, enterprises and public-sector organizations. Its products cover supply-chain and consumer finance, payments, insurance, asset management, risk analytics, smart-city systems and blockchain infrastructure, using data and artificial intelligence to digitize financial and commercial operations.

Creditas Financial is a Grand Cayman-incorporated vehicle finance broker connecting UK car dealers with lenders. Based in Market Drayton, Shropshire since 2007, it arranges hire purchase, leasing, and PCP deals for new and used vehicles up to 250,000 pounds. Partnerships with Close Brothers and Paragon Bank support approvals within hours for brokers handling 5,000 deals yearly.

Anchorage Digital is a San Francisco institutional digital-asset platform founded in 2017 by Diogo Monica and Nathan McCauley. Its group provides qualified custody, trading, staking, settlement, governance, and token-lifecycle services to institutions through regulated operating entities. Anchorage Digital Bank is a federally chartered digital-asset bank in the United States, while other group companies serve clients in additional jurisdictions. Asset managers, protocols, foundations, corporations, and other professional market participants use the platform to hold and transact crypto assets while applying institutional controls. The company earns fees from custody and related financial and technology services. Its 2025 acquisition of Hedgey added token vesting, allocation, distribution, and grant-management workflows to the product suite.

Jubao Internet Technology is a Haikou-based internet finance platform and subsidiary of HNA Group. Established as JBH, it designs and markets financial products including wealth management and lending services for individuals and corporations across China. Backed by HNA's aviation and logistics resources, the company holds licenses for online lending and payment services, prioritizing user experience through mobile apps and secure transactions.