By focusing on retail, while linking banking with insurance, Lloyds has made a dull business lively and profitable.

ECONOMIST: The doomed and the dangerous | The

Initially all focused on a geographic or business line silo for banking, insurance, wealth and investment management.

FORBES: Why Jamie Dimon And Jon Corzine Couldn't Find Their Money

Energy-rich Qatar is an important hub for infrastructure finance, with ambitions to develop further business in wealth management, private equity, retail banking and insurance.

ECONOMIST: A bouquet of desert flowers | The

In business-process-offshoring, the big industries will remain banking and insurance.

ECONOMIST: India

U.K. Prime Minister Cameron called on India to further open sectors such as insurance, banking and retail to overseas investment and to make it easier for foreign companies to do business there.

WSJ: What's News

Now Ketterer likes banking and insurance concern ING Group, applauding the Dutch company's financial health, its willingness to ditch lagging business units and its push into new locales.

FORBES: Big Bets