问答题 Financial institutions deal with financial assets，assets that promise fluture payments flrom financial contracts．such as securities and loans．These instjtutions also deljver services， relying on their reputations to attract customers for relationships often based on trust．Similarly，a nonfinancial business expects future benefits in the form of cash from sales of its tangible and service products as well as from owning a recognizable trademark or slogan or a patent on a production process．Because so many things are assets，it is convenient to divide them into two major subsets：real assets and financial assets．Real，tangible assets are those expected to provide benefits based on their fundamental qualities．A person’s home transfers benefits commensurate with the quality of its construction，its location，and its size．A corporation’s main computer provides benefits based on its speed．the size of its memory，the ease of its use，and the frequency with which it needs repair．A financial asset，in contrast．is a contract that offers a promise of payment in the future from the party that issued the contract． Like other businesses，a financial institution acquires and uses assets so that the value of their bene．fits exceeds their costs．The key difference between financial institutions and other firms is that most of the assets that financial institutions hold aye financial assets．Financial institutions use funds flrom their own creditors and owners to acquire financial claims against others．They may lend funds to individuals．businessesand governments or they may purchase ownership shares in other businesses．The furure benefits that financial institutions expect to receive thus depend on the performance of the parties whose financial liabilities they purchase．The main distinction between financial institutions and other 6nns is not s0 much in how they raise funds，because all businesses issue financial liabilities to do so．but in what they do with these funds．