Tuesday, 2 December 2025

ROA of Banks, Investment Banks and Financial Companies

ROA of Banks, Investment Banks and Financial Companies

Banks, investment banks and financial companies rely on borrowing large amounts of money that they hope to loan out at higher interest rates to businesses and consumers.

A company like Freddie Mac, which deals in residential mortgages, carries $175 billion in short-term debt and $185 billion in long-term debt. If your business is borrowing money at 6% and loaning it out at 7%, there is no way your return on total capital ROTC is going to even approach 12%.

In these instances, Warren Buffett likes to look at what the bank or finance company earned in relation to the total assets under its control. The rule here is, the higher the betterAnything over 1% is good and anything over 1.5% is fantastic.



Learning Point

With banks, investment banks, and financial companies, look for a consistent return on assets ROA in excess of 1% and a consistent return on shareholders' equity ROE in excess of 12%.


 

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Also read:

https://myinvestingnotes.blogspot.com/2025/12/why-return-on-assets-roa-is-critical.html

Why Return on Assets (ROA) is a critical and preferred metric for evaluating banks, investment banks, and financial companies (as opposed to Return on Total Capital, or ROTC).

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