NICO Holdings Valuation Multiples

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company with a wide array of subsidiaries engaged in diverse activities. The firm's core business segment is insurance, run primarily through Geico, Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group, and Berkshire Hathaway Primary Group. Berkshire has used the excess cash thrown off from its operations to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe (railroad), Berkshire Hathaway Energy (utilities and energy distributors), and the companies that make up its manufacturing, service, and retailing operations (which include Precision Castparts, Lubrizol, Clayton Homes, Marmon, and IMC/ISCAR). The conglomerate is unique in that it is run on a completely decentralized basis. Berkshire is expected to generate close to $375 billion in revenue in 2025.

JPMorgan Chase is one of the largest and most complex financial institutions in the United States, with more than $4.4 trillion in assets. It is organized into four major segments: consumer and community banking, corporate and investment banking, commercial banking, and asset and wealth management. JPMorgan operates and is subject to regulation in multiple countries.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Beijing. The bank listed its shares in mainland China and Hong Kong in 2006. It is China's largest by asset scale and by share of lending and deposits. Central Huijin Investment (China's sovereign wealth fund manager) and China's Ministry of Finance are ICBC's two largest shareholders, each with a stake of around 35%. ICBC operates over 16,000 outlets. Of these, 413 outlets are in 49 countries and regions overseas. Corporate banking, retail banking, and wholesale banking accounted for 48%, 40%, and 12% of total revenue, respectively, and 58%, 23%, and 18% of profit before tax in 2024. Overseas banking and other business contributed 13% of total revenue and 11% of profit before tax in 2024.

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.

As one of the Big Four banks, ABC is headquartered in Beijing. The bank evolved from a state-owned specialized bank to a state-controlled commercial bank. It was listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchanges in 2010. ABC operates a more than 20,000-branch network in China, providing corporate and retail banking products and services, and carries out treasury operations for its accounts or for its customers. Shareholders Central Huijin, China's state-owned investment company, and the Ministry of Finance own 40.14% and 35.29%, respectively. Corporate banking, retail banking, and wholesale banking accounted for 39%, 55%, and 3% of total revenue in 2024, respectively. Rural banking and urban banking contributed 49% and 51%, respectively, of total revenue during the same period.

Established in 1865 in Hong Kong, London-based HSBC is one of the largest banks in the world, with assets of USD 3 trillion and over 40 million customers worldwide. It operates in more than 50 countries with over 200,000 full-time staff. Hong Kong and the United Kingdom are its two largest markets. The bank offers retail, commercial and institutional banking, global banking and markets, wealth management, and private banking.

China Construction Bank, headquartered in Beijing, is China's second-largest bank. It went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2005 and listed shares in mainland China in 2007. Central Huijin Investment, China's sovereign wealth fund manager, is the largest shareholder with a 57% share. Fullerton Financial Holdings (a subsidiary of Temasek) is the second-largest shareholder with a 4.99% stake. CCB strives to provide customers with comprehensive financial services. The corporate banking, retail banking, and wholesale banking business segments accounted for 26%, 45%, and 27% of profit before tax, respectively, in 2024.

Beijing-headquartered Bank of China was founded in 1912. The bank has evolved as a central bank, international exchange bank, and state-owned bank specializing in foreign trade business. BOC was listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges in 2006. It provides a comprehensive range of financial services to customers across Greater China and overseas. Central Huijin, a Chinese state-owned investment company and BOC's largest shareholder, controls 64%. BOC has the most extensive global reach among Chinese banks, with operations in 64 countries and regions.

Royal Bank of Canada is one of the two largest banks in Canada, with around CAD 2.3 trillion in assets at the end of fiscal 2025. 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 market businesses in the US, UK, and other countries. RBC is a top 15 investment bank globally.

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.

Wells Fargo is one of the largest banks in the United States, with approximately $2.1 trillion in balance-sheet assets. The company has four primary segments: consumer banking, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth and investment management. It is almost entirely focused on the US market.

Citigroup is a global financial-services company doing business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citigroup's operations are organized into five primary segments: services, markets, banking, US personal banking, and wealth management. The bank's primary services include cross-border banking needs for multinational corporates, investment banking and trading, and credit card services in the United States.

Santander's focus is on retail and commercial banking. Latin America is geographically the most significant operation, with Brazil making the largest contribution. Its continental European business is mainly in Spain and Portugal. Santander's UK presence is the result of its acquisition of Abbey building society. In the US, Santander operates a vehicle finance business and a regional bank focused on the Northeastern states.

Toronto-Dominion is one of Canada's two largest banks with over CAD 2 trillion in assets. TD Bank operates four business segments: Canadian personal and commercial banking, US retail banking, wealth management and insurance, and wholesale banking. The bank derives more than 50% of its revenue from Canada and has dominant market share in nearly all banking products and services. TD has around 44% of its revenue from its US operations. Its US footprint spans from Maine to Florida, with a strong presence in the Northeast.

Allianz was founded as a transport and accident insurance firm in 1890 by Carl von Thieme and Wilhelm von Finck, the founders of Munich Re. It took the company five years to expand the business into Europe and North America and subsequently list in Berlin. After World War I, individuals were confronted with the loss of wealth, life, and security and Allianz founded a life business in the 1920s. In the years after World War II, Allianz's foreign assets were seized, and it lost its foreign business. By relocating its head office from Berlin to Munich in 1948, Allianz began the long road of rebuilding its domestic business. It took 20 years for the company to reacquire its prior foreign interests, starting in Austria. It became the largest European insurer in the postwar boom era.

Commonwealth Bank is Australia's largest bank with operations spanning Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. Its core business is the provision of retail, business, and institutional banking services. The bank has emphasized its focus on banking in recent years with a numbers of asset divestments in wealth management and insurance.

DBS Group is a Singapore-based banking group offering a full range of services to consumers, small to midsize enterprises, and corporations and institutions. Its main presence is in Singapore and Greater China. The acquisition of Lakshmi Vilas Bank has strengthened DBS' operations in India, and the acquisition of Citibank’s Taiwan operation should bring additional growth in Greater China. DBS' wealth management division is one of the largest in Asia, with assets under management of SGD 488 billion as of December 2025.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group is roughly tied with Mizuho Financial Group for the status of Japan’s second-largest bank after Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. As of March 2025, its market share of domestic loans was 7.3%, compared with 8.4% for MUFG. It has a larger consumer finance business than the other two megabanks, owning 100% of the Promise business and SMBC Card. It also controls one of Japan’s largest leasing companies and SMBC Aviation Capital, one of the top five aircraft lessors globally. In securities, its SMBC Nikko unit is Japan’s third-largest retail broker, although SMFG has lagged somewhat in institutional securities business and asset management.

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.

China Merchants Bank was founded in 1987 and is headquartered in Shenzhen. The bank is China's seventh-largest listed bank by assets, with the largest distribution network among China's joint-stock banks. CMB's network has been expanding rapidly. Its outlets are located mainly in China's more developed areas, including the Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas. The firm has 18% and 82% of its shares listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges, respectively. It has no foreign strategic investors. China Merchants Group is its largest shareholder, with a 30% stake. Retail banking, corporate banking, and wholesale banking accounted for 49%, 51%, and 0% of total profit before tax, respectively, and 40%, 58%, and 2% of total revenue in 2024.

UBS is a global financial institution built around its core strength in wealth management, serving high and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. In Switzerland, it also operates as a traditional retail and commercial bank. Its investment bank and asset management divisions complement the wealth business, providing tailored solutions to UBS clients while serving third-party customers by leveraging UBS' global reach and expertise.

As the largest life insurance company in China, China Life commands about 16% market share by end-2024. The firm offers group and individual life insurance through exclusive agents, bancassurance, and other marketing platforms. While the bulk of profits stem from life insurance policies, additional operations include short-term policies such as accident and health insurance. The company is focusing on building a senior-care ecosystem and reforming a new agent team for long-term growth.

UniCredit is one of the two largest Italian retail and commercial banks, but roughly a half of its operations is outside Italy. UniCredit has a strong presence in Germany, Austria, and Central and Eastern Europe. It generates most of its revenue from retail banking, but also maintains a sizable corporate and investment bank.

Ping An Insurance was founded in 1988 and headquartered in Shenzhen. As an integrated financial service provider, the company offers healthcare services and integrated financial products. Ping An is China's second-largest life and P&C insurer. The company strives for an integrated financial services platform comprising life insurance, P&C insurance, banking, and other financial services. These business segments contributed 58%, 11%, 32%, and negative 4% of the company’s pretax profits, respectively, in 2024.

Intesa Sanpaolo is an Italian banking group resulting from the merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI in 2007. The Italian segment still accounts for by far the most of its earnings. Still, Intesa also has a growing international presence, focusing on some smaller countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Intesa has an enviable market position in the Italian savings market that it services through its private banking, asset management and life insurance operations, which accounts for around 25% of its revenue. While Intesa does have a sizable corporate banking business, it has limited exposure to securities trading and underwriting.

ACE acquired Chubb in the first quarter of 2016 and assumed the Chubb name. The combination made the new Chubb one of the largest domestic property and casualty insurers, with operations in 54 countries spanning commercial and personal P&C insurance, reinsurance, and life insurance.

Mizuho Financial Group is roughly tied with megabank peer Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group for the status as Japan’s second-largest bank after Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. As of March 2024, Mizuho’s market share of domestic loans was 6.8%, compared with 7.2% for SMFG and 8.0% for MUFG. In Japan, Mizuho has more of a corporate focus than SMFG, which has a larger retail business. Its overseas weighting is slightly smaller than that of MUFG. Unlike its two Japanese megabank peers, which own foreign banks outright or hold noncontrolling stakes in local banks overseas, Mizuho expanded in recent years beyond its traditional Japanese borrowers, mainly through its core banking and securities units, focusing on the financing needs of global multinational corporations.

The merger of Banque Nationale de Paris and Paribas created BNP Paribas in 2000, making it the largest publicly traded bank in France. Although BNP Paribas has operations in about 80 countries, it considers France, Italy, and Belgium to be its home markets.

Capital One is a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia. Originally a spinoff of Signet Financial’s credit card division in 1994, the company is now primarily involved in credit card lending, auto loans, and commercial lending. Following the acquisition of Discover in 2025, the firm also has a modest personal loan business, though credit card lending provides the majority of the bank's revenue.

Bank of Montreal is a diversified financial-services provider based in North America with over CAD 1.47 trillion in assets by the end of fiscal 2025. BMO operates four business segments: Canadian personal and commercial banking, US personal and commercial banking, wealth management, and capital markets. The bank's operations are primarily in Canada, with a material portion also in the US.

Progressive underwrites private and commercial auto insurance and specialty lines; it has almost 24 million personal auto policies in force and is one of the largest auto insurers in the United States. Progressive markets its policies through independent insurance agencies in the US and Canada and directly via the internet and telephone. Its premiums are split roughly equally between the agent and the direct channel. The company also offers commercial auto policies and entered homeowners insurance through an acquisition in 2015.

HDFC Bank Ltd is an Indian bank. It operates in the following segments: Treasury, Retail banking, Wholesale banking, and Other banking business. The maximum revenue for the company is generated from its Retail banking segment, which serves retail customers through its branch network and other channels. This segment raises customer deposits and provides loans and other services to customers using different product groups. Its other operations include providing wholesale banking services to corporates, government entities, and other enterprises, generating income from its treasury operations, and performing para-banking activities such as offering credit cards, debit cards, etc. Geographically, the company generates a majority of its revenue from its operations in India.

The Bank of Nova Scotia is a global financial services provider with over CAD 1.46 trillion in assets as of the end of fiscal 2025. The bank has four major business segments: Canadian banking, international banking, global wealth management, and global banking and markets. It offers a range of advice, products, and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. The bank's international operations span numerous countries and are more concentrated in the Latin America region.

Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. is the longest-established Singapore bank, founded by the merger of three local banks in 1932. OCBC's operations include consumer banking, wealth management and private banking (in part through its Bank of Singapore subsidiary), small to medium-size enterprise and business banking, corporate and institutional banking, and insurance through majority-owned Great Eastern Holdings.

Zurich is a multiline insurer that writes business across both life and nonlife insurance and also owns Farmers Management Services. Zurich was founded in 1872 as a marine reinsurer to provide reinsurance to its parent company. The company subsequently expanded into transport and accident insurance and rode the wave of transport technology innovation that drove rising demand for insurance. One of Zurich’s early principles was that setting prices too low would result in unfair claims handling, which would be damaging to both customers and Zurich. Over the years, Zurich has sought to combine customer goodwill through claims and a sufficient premium. Zurich is one of the most successful European multilines.

The merger of the Dutch postal bank and NN Insurance in 1991 created ING. Through a series of further acquisitions, ING has built up a global footprint. The 2008 financial crisis forced ING to seek government support - a precondition of which was that ING should separate its banking and insurance activities, which saw ING revert to being solely a bank. ING has market-leading banking operations in the Netherlands and Belgium, and a range of digital banks across Europe and Australia. Its global wholesale banking operation is primarily focused on lending.

AXA’s origins date back to Ancienne Mutuelle, which was one of the few insurers that remained after the creation of the French social security system. With the threat of nationalization, a merger took place between Drouot and AXA (still known as Mutuelles Unies in 1982) and later Présence. Ten years later, AXA acquired North American life insurer Equitable Holdings. This was a time of expansion as AXA also bought the French insurer UAP. As markets crashed at the turn of the millennium, AXA decided to refocus its business and exited its stake in US investment bank Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. A few years later the firm expanded again with the acquisition of Swiss insurer Winterthur. About five years ago, AXA started to reshape its portfolio to technical risks.

CaixaBank SA is a Spanish bank that combines banking, insurance, and equity investment businesses. Its operations include retail banking, corporate banking, cash management, surplus management, and the allocation of income from financing the equity investment business. It consists of business segments of the Banking and insurance business, BPI, and Corporate center. The majority of its revenue comes from the Banking and insurance business. The company has a geographic presence in Spain, Portugal, America, the Rest of the European Union, and the Rest of the world. In which Spain generates the majority of its revenue.

Bank of New York Mellon is a global investment company involved in managing and servicing financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. The bank provides financial services for institutions, corporations, and individual investors, delivering investment management and services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. BNY is the largest global custody bank in the world, with $59.3 trillion in under custody or administration (as of December 2025), and can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute, or restructure investments. BNY's asset-management division manages about $2.2 trillion in assets.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce is Canada's fifth-largest bank with over CAD 1.1 trillion in assets at the end of fiscal 2025. It operates four business segments: Canadian retail and business banking, Canadian commercial banking and wealth management, US commercial banking and wealth management, and capital markets. It serves approximately 14 million personal banking and business customers, primarily in Canada and the US.

Al Rajhi Bank is an Islamic bank with a network of over 500 branches. Its segments include the Retail segment which includes accepting individual customer deposits, providing credit facilities, customer debit current accounts, fees from banking services, and remittance business; the Corporate segment which incorporates deposits of VIP, corporate customer deposits, credit facilities, and debit current accounts, Treasury segment through which it offers treasury services, Murabaha with SAMA and international Mutajara portfolio; and Investment services and brokerage and other that incorporates investments of individuals and corporate in mutual funds, local and international share trading services and investment portfolios.

ICICI Bank Ltd provides banking services. The company's operating segments include Retail Banking; Wholesale Banking; Treasury, Life insurance, Other Banking Business, and Others. The company generates maximum revenue from the Retail Banking segment which includes exposures of the Bank, which satisfy the four qualifying criteria of a regulatory retail portfolio as stipulated by RBI guidelines on the Basel III framework as well as includes income from credit cards, debit cards, third party product distribution, and the associated costs. Geographical segments include Domestic operations and Foreign operations. The company generates the majority of its revenue from the domestic operations.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, AIA is one of the largest pan-Asian insurance providers with diversifed products offerings including retirement savings plans, life insurance, and accident and health insurance. It was previously part of American International Group and went for a separate listing in Hong Kong in 2010. The firm also provides employee benefits, credit life, and pension services to corporate clients. AIA operates in 18 markets and serves the holders of more than 30 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.

Bank of Communications, or Bocom, is the only nationwide state-owned bank with its headquarters in Shanghai. As one of China's four oldest banks, Bocom became China's first state-owned shareholding commercial bank in 1987. Today, Bocom is amid a strategic transformation, building itself into a global wealth-management bank with wide-ranging financial operations, including insurance, brokerage, trust, and asset management.It operates a comprehensive financial services platform that includes corporate finance, personal finance, and money market operations. Bocom is known for its strategic importance in the process of RMB internationalization, particularly with its role as one of the first banks involved in the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, or CIPS.

Itaú Unibanco is the largest privately held bank in Brazil, the result of the 2008 merger between Banco Itaú and Unibanco. In addition to Brazil, the bank has significant operations in Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. Itaú's commercial and consumer loans account for 35% and 43% of the bank's total loans, respectively, while foreign loans account for 22% of its portfolio. The bank also operates the fifth-largest insurer in Brazil and is the second-largest asset manager in the country, giving it broad reach over the Brazilian financial system.

Dating back to 1879, Tokio Marine is Japan’s oldest insurance company and was its top property and casualty insurer in terms of market share for many decades. After mergers of its smaller rivals in the past few years, the company is now roughly the same size in the domestic nonlife market as MS&AD and Sompo, but it remains the most valuable listed Japanese insurer in terms of market capitalization due to its larger overseas business portfolio. The majority of its overseas business is in the US, where it has purchased four specialty insurers since 2008: Philadelphia Consolidated, Delphi Financial, HCC, and PURE.

State Bank of India is a bank in India. The bank's business segments include Treasury; Corporate/Wholesale Banking; Retail Banking and Other Banking businesses. The bank generates maximum revenue from the Retail Banking segment. The Retail Banking Segment comprises retail branches, which include Personal Banking activities including lending activities to corporate customers having banking relations with these branches. This segment also includes the agency business and ATMs. Geographically, it derives a majority of its revenue from India, It also operates in Foreign Countries.

Postal Savings Bank of China Co Ltd is headquartered in Beijing. The bank provides personal and corporate banking services that include savings business, micro loan, bank cards, settlement businesses, and others.