Without the war London would remain the undisputed world financial capital, including investment banking, insurance, etc. Despite the wars, London can still be considered an equal of New York in terms of global finance. If we look at the largest banks in the world in 1913, British banks were 9 out of the 20 of the largest in the world as shown below. Even with the United States, Russia, Germany, and Japan emerging as the great powers in the century, London and Paris remained the hubs for world finance and as a result Britain and France were the world's leading creditor nations with Germany third and the U.S. fourth. Capital markets are always slower to respond to the economic realities it seems as Vienna was still fifth and not far behind New York, with several large banks being based there.
British overseas investments totaled $20 billion in 1914, and were more than double of France's at $9.7 billion and Germany's $5.8 billion. Of British capital invested abroad, only $1.05 billion was invested in Europe versus $5.4 billion for France ($2.5 billion in Russia alone). Foreign investments generated nearly $1 billion per year in income, or around 10% of the national income.
TOTAL LIQUID ASSETS 1913
1. Imperial Bank of Russia $612,829,000
2. Lloyds Bank $507,605,000
3. London City and Midland Bank $456,643,000
4. Credit Lyonnais $435,060,000
5. London County and Westminster Bank $429,780,000
6. Deutsche Bank $384,463,000
7. Societe Generale $352,885,000
8. Bank of England $347,259,000
9. National Provincial Bank of England $330,348,000
10. HSBC $299,533,000
11. Barclay & Co. $295,912,000
12. Comptoir National d'Escompte de Paris $275,317,000
13. Bank of Spain $274,062,000
14. Direction der Disconto-Gesselschaft $243,325,000
15. Dresdner Bank $233,203,0000
16. Banco de la Nacion Argentina $230,010,000
17. National City Bank (New York) $215,420,000
18. Parr's Bank $212,515,000
19. Russian Bank for Foreign Trade $209,337,000
20. Union of London and Smiths Bank $204,802,000
In terms of trade, Britain was still the world's largest trading nation, but in several markets it was being eclipsed by the United States and Germany. Russia for instance imported nearly 4 times as much from Germany as it did from Britain in 1913. British exports still dominated trade with India, the dominions (with the exception of Canada), the Southern Cone (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru and Uruguay), the United Staes and much of the British Colonial Empire. In Europe France, Greece, Portugal, Sweden and the Ottoman Empire were the only countries where British Imports were number 1.
German imports dominated much of Europe, with German imports dominating every single one of its neighbours except Belgium. Even politically hostile France imported almost as much from Germany as it did from the UK in 1913. Additionally, in South America German exports had raced ahead of France and in Mexico and Central America ahead of Britain. Unlike Britain however, the bulk of German trade and investment was firmly oriented towards Europe. It was probably for that reason that Germany fought two world wars to achieve political dominance on the continent.
With regards to manufacturing, the Britain's manufactured goods were losing out to both German and American firms, especially in industrialised economies. The rise in coal exports to European countries increased and this was seen as a worrisome trend by economists. Textile exports were nearly one-fourth of British exports, with 14% of British exports being textiles to India and the Dominions. The exports of manufactured goods to foreign markets remained stagnant and was lower in 1913 than in 1870, while those to the Empire grew by 38%.
Nearly one-fourth of British imports were manufactured goods, with Germany being the leader and Britain having a deficit in manufactured goods to Europe. In the dominions, British goods were being eclipsed by American goods as evidenced by the importation of American marques (often built in Canada) to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In India, Japanese textiles were quickly becoming a threat and were already dominating trade to China.
Shipping, insurance, banking and commerce made up for the British trade deficit. Shipping rose steadily having reached 60% of world tonnage in 1890, but decreasing to 40% in 1914. Trading in commodities was also important as London had the leading exchanged for many of the world's goods. Many foreign companies raised capital in the London market, with American railways, etc all being backed by loans in London. In short, Britain would still evolve into a financial/service-based economy, but one of much greater preeminence in the world. This would be due to several factors including it being an English-speaking area with very prominent institutions of higher learning (Cambridge, Oxford), along with a commitment to rule of law, government transparency and democratic institutions.