How JPMorgan is making a big push into wealth management

Jamie Dimon has been CEO of JPMorgan since 2005.
Business Insider

JPMorgan, headed up by CEO Jamie Dimon since 2005, is the biggest US bank by assets.
The firm is setting out to double the size of its financial advisor force catering to rich clients.
It's also made a number of wealth leadership changes and new hires.
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JPMorgan is the biggest US bank by assets and a bellwether for the global financial system. So when the firm's senior-most leaders talk, Wall Street pays attention.

Private banking and wealth management are a key part of JPMorgan's future.

JPMorgan is planning to significantly expand its financial advisor force, bringing the firm closer in size and scope to its rival firms in wealth management.

The bank in June said it's buying UK robo-advisor Nutmeg, which oversees some $4.9 billion for around 140,000 investors. The 9-year-old startup already used portfolios with active and passively managed exchange-traded funds provided by JPMorgan Asset Management.

JPMorgan also has big plans for employees at the bank's roughly 4,900 US branches. The bank is aiming to have all US branches staffed with licensed relationship bankers who can offer investment advice to clients by the end of the year, Insider reported.

Jamie Dimon succession planning

JPMorgan has been headed by CEO Jamie Dimon since 2005, and he's the longest-running big bank chief on Wall Street. Dimon, who turned 65 in March, had a health scare in March 2020. But it's long been something of a running joke to bank watchers that, whenever pressed on retirement plans, Dimon will often respond by saying five more years.

The bank last week granted Dimon a big stock award that pays off as the firm's shares rise, and he has to stay around five more years to collect it. Dimon's long-term stewardship, management-succession planning, and JPMorgan's strong performance since 2005 were some of the factors considered in granting the award, the bank said in a filing.

Dimon's eventual retirement as CEO of JPMorgan still has more questions than answers. But a leadership shakeup gave new clues about the top internal candidates when he does eventually hand over the reins.

The bank on May 18 promoted two women to co-lead the firm's massive consumer and community banking business: consumer-lending chief Marianne Lake and chief financial officer Jennifer Piepszak. The pair will take over running the division from Gordon Smith, who's retiring this year from his roles as co-president and co-chief operating officer of the firm and CEO of CCB. Smith had also been rumored to be in the running for the top job before announcing his retirement.

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Compensation increases for junior bankers

JPMorgan has increased first-year investment-banking analysts' base pay to $100,000, Insider has learned.

Across Wall Street, young bankers have been dealing with a heavy load of deal work over the last year. JPMorgan's move came after a rush of firms this spring showered junior bankers with one-time bonuses, special perks like Peloton bikes, base-pay bumps, or all-expense-paid vacations to combat burnout.

JPMorgan's investment-banking coheads said this spring that they had recently hired 65 analysts and 22 associates and that there were plans to hire 100 more junior bankers and support staff. Overall, investment banks are still stretched thin when it came to junior talent, with some fast-tracking lateral interviews or looking for more career switchers to fill roles.

JPMorgan was one of the earliest banks to ask employees to return to the office on a full-time basis, along with Goldman Sachs.

Other recent moves at JPMorgan

collage (1) — Melissa Goldman and James Reid
JPMorgan

JPMorgan in May named James Reid and Melissa Goldman to be CIOs of two newly-formed groups to help modernize tech for employees.

Reid is CIO of the firm's employee experience and corporate technology organization, which is modernizing the tech employees use internally. And Goldman, also the firm's chief data officer, is CIO of the finance, risk, data, and controls (FRDC) technology group.

JPMorgan also hired another ex-Marcus executive, Sherry Ann Mohan, chief financial officer for business banking, CNBC first reported. Mohan, who will start August, was previously at Goldman Sachs for 15 years and most recently the CFO of the consumer business, including the Marcus brand and Apple Card..

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