It wasn\u2019t that long ago that students graduating with financial degrees in Fort Worth knew they would likely have to go out-of-state at least at some point in their careers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Brandon Bledsoe, now Fort Worth market president at Amegy Bank, remembers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Fort Worth native graduated in the mid-1980s from the University of Texas at Austin. He knew, like many others with degrees in business and finance, that finding work in his hometown would be difficult.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou went to Dallas or maybe go to work for one of the big banks for Houston or maybe go further east,\u201d he said. \u201cBack then, you left the nest a lot of times.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, as he and many other local business leaders see, Texas is no longer on the periphery in financial services. In many cases, North Texas has become the center of it, they say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That shift has been occurring for some time with Charles Schwab and others setting roots down in the region, but it came to the forefront with last year\u2019s announcements of stock exchanges planting their flags here as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dubbed colloquially as Y\u2019all Street, the Texas Stock Exchange was announced in 2025 and first out of the gate with a homegrown capital market backed by major institutional investors including BlackRock, Citadel Securities, Charles Schwab and JPMorgan Chase.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq quickly followed suit by bolstering their Texas operations, all looking to tap into the state\u2019s growing strength as an economic powerhouse, said Steve Cotton, president of Cotton Wealth Management Associates in Dallas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe new Texas stock exchanges are going to attract even more companies to move here,\u201d he said. \u201cThe state is already attracting companies here because of our lower cost of living, no state income tax and low regulation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Texas basically hung out the welcome sign to businesses, and this will give them one more reason to move here, Cotton said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As these exchanges take shape, don\u2019t expect to see a trading floor with a flurry of ticker-tape. They will be technology-based with nary a trading floor in sight.<\/p>\n
These new exchanges also promise lower listing and compliance costs, easier capital access for Texas businesses and new opportunities for local and retail investors, according to the Texas Economic Development Organization.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Providing easier access to capital is one key component for Edward Crawford, co-CEO of Fort Worth and Dallas-based Coltala Holdings. Crawford was recently named to the NYSE Texas Advisory Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s happened is the going-public journey has been stretched from three to four years to eight years,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s more complicated, more expensive, so it\u2019s about lowering the barriers. You shouldn\u2019t have to pay an arm and a leg to go public. That\u2019s a big reason I\u2019m interested in this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While New York City remains the largest market for financial services employment overall, the Dallas-Fort Worth area is ranked second, according to some surveys. Dallas and Collin counties are home to many of the local jobs.<\/p>\n
However, Fort Worth and Tarrant County can tout major employers including Charles Schwab, Deloitte and GM Financial and Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, which recently announced that its AllianceTexas location is now that organization\u2019s U,S. headquarters<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe DFW region\u2019s economy is now the 24th largest in the world, with a GDP exceeding $638 billion,\u201d said Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership. \u201cFort Worth is contributing to that momentum, adding more than 11,000 jobs over the past three years across a wide range of industries.\u201d<\/p>\n Carlos Munguia, president and CEO of Amegy Bank for the Dallas-Fort Worth region, says that along with the state\u2019s lower cost of doing business, higher education has played a role<\/a> in attracting financial services to the area.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Gov. Greg Abbott came into his job in 2015, there were four Tier 1 schools in the state,\u201d he said. \u201cNow there\u2019s 16. There\u2019s a strong labor and talent pipeline here, and these companies know that. They\u2019re planning to be here for a long time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n None of the exchanges have been shy about tapping into the state\u2019s mythic qualities to provide a bit of Texas-sized bluster.\u00a0<\/p>\n The NYSE Texas launched at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, and Nasdaq Texas began its full operational launch at the Alamo, also commemorating the 190th anniversary of that iconic battle.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cotton sees that as fine, but worries that the Texas exchanges might lose sight of their mission and become the playground of the rich and richer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve done a good job attracting capital, but small business needs a voice in this too or it won\u2019t be as impactful,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m saying this as a conservative Republican, but that concerns me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.\u00a0<\/p>\n