1 The Investment Environment 11     Table 1.7 Balance Sheet of Financial Institutions*   Assets $ Billion % of Total Liabilities and Net Worth $ Billion % of Total   Tangible assets Liabilities Equipment and structures $ 528 3.1% Deposits $ 3,462 20.1% Land 99 0.6 Mutual fund shares 1,564 9.1 Total tangibles $ 628 3.6% Life insurance reserves 478 2.8 Pension reserves 4,651 27.0 Money market securities 1,150 6.7 Bonds and mortgages 1,589 9.2 Financial assets Other 3,078 17.8 Deposits and cash $ 364 2.1% Total liabilities $15,971 92.6% Government securities 3,548 20.6 Corporate bonds 1,924 11.2 Mortgages 2,311 13.4 Consumer credit 894 5.2 Other loans 1,803 10.4 Corporate equity 3,310 19.2 Other 2,471 14.3 Total financial assets 16,625 96.4 Net worth 1,281 7.4 TOTAL $17,252 100.0% TOTAL $17,252 100.0%   *Column sums may differ from total because of rounding error. Source: Balance Sheets for the U.S. Economy, 1945-94, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, June 1995.         convenience and cost savings the bank offers the borrowers and lenders allow it to profit from the spread between the rates on its loans and the rates on its deposits. In other words, the problem of coordination creates a market niche for the bank as intermediary. Profit op- portunities alone dictate that banks will emerge in a