The Year in Preview

Financial services: Predictions for the industry in 1998 sound like a Southern California weather report: more of the same. Expect more mergers and acquisitions like the ones seen in 1997, which included H.F. Ahmanson’s $900-million purchase of Coast Savings and NationsBank Corp.’s $1.2-billion acquisition of San Francisco investment bank Montgomery Securities. Driving this trend are globalization, deregulation and a belief by investors and managers that acquisitions are the cheapest way to achieve growth for shareholders. There also will be more consolidation-related problems as these giant mergers go forward, analysts say. This doesn’t bode well for bank customers in 1998, many of whom are already suffering from poor service and account glitches.