Prior to the 1980s, most preferred stocks were issued by regulated utility companies. From 1950 to 1979, 90 of the 108 preferred stock offerings were made by utilities. In the mid-1980s, financial firms began to issue preferred stocks, but the explosive growth in preferred stock issued by financial firms did not occur until after the Federal Reserve’s 1996 ruling on Tier 1 capital. Financial institutions became the dominant issuers of preferred stocks by the late 1990s. While non-financial firms in aggregate have been issuing a steady 30 to 60 new preferred stocks a.
