JPMorgan Takes Aim at Rivals in Wealth Business Revamp -- Update
December 11 2019 - 4:38PM
Dow Jones News
By David Benoit
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is taking a bigger swing at wealth
management, revamping its business units in an effort to better
compete with big-bank rivals such as Morgan Stanley.
The bank is creating a unit that will combine its U.S.
wealth-management operations for affluent clients and the Chase
branch network's financial-advisory business, according to a memo
reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The restructured business will
also include JPMorgan's new You lnvest online brokerage, the memo
said.
JPMorgan is facing an industry where big rivals and hot startups
are fighting to appeal to millennials and first-time investors.
Charles Schwab Corp. announced last month it would buy TD
Ameritrade Holding Corp., cementing its hold in discount
brokerages.
The change positions the bank to have one set of operations for
clients with up to $25 million in assets. (JPMorgan's private bank
for ultrawealthy clients will remain separate.) The new unit will
be headed by Kristin Lemkau, currently the bank's marketing chief,
the memo said. The bank plans to name a new head for its marketing
efforts in the coming weeks, it added.
JPMorgan Chief Executive James Dimon has long said he wants to
strengthen the bank's wealth-management business, a strategy that
has helped smooth out the earnings of other big banks. In his
annual letter to shareholders in early 2018, he said he saw "no
reason" the bank couldn't double its market share in this area.
But JPMorgan's fragmented approach to targeting clients has made
that difficult. The new structure is more in line with Bank of
America Corp.'s Merrill or Morgan Stanley, but those banks employ
thousands more advisers than JPMorgan.
JPMorgan has in recent years targeted affluent clients with
offerings such as its Sapphire credit cards and Chase Private
Client, which provides financial advice inside branches to
customers with around $5 million or less in assets.
Write to David Benoit at david.benoit@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 11, 2019 16:23 ET (21:23 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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