JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon seems set on building the Amazon.com of the financial world.
In an annual letter to shareholders, the head of the largest U.S. bank said he sees opportunities for his company to expand “almost everywhere” — including in businesses where it’s already dominant and one that’s been particularly tough across the industry in recent years.
“We see growth opportunities even in fixed income, currencies and commodities, where we already have the No. 1 market share,” Dimon wrote, pointing to an area where competitors have pulled back amid a slump in client transactions. Those operations will benefit as capital markets around the world expand, and JPMorgan can win more business “in various products and in certain regions where we have low share,” he said.
In other areas — such as investment banking, asset management and consumer and commercial banking — the bank plans to hire, add branches, enter new markets or roll out new technology, he said. In some cases, it already has announced specific targets.
Below are excerpts from the letter, showing how Dimon, 62, characterized growth prospects in specific divisions:
Asset & Wealth Management
“In the United States, our share of the ultra-high-net-worth market ($10 million or greater) is 8 percent. We believe we have a superior business and that we can grow our share by essentially adding bankers, branches and better products.”
“In the high-net-worth business ($3 million to $10 million) and the Chase affluent business ($500,000 to $5 million), our market shares are only 1 percent and 4 percent, respectively. We have no doubt that we can grow by adding bankers and locations, particularly because we have some exciting new products coming soon. There is no reason we can’t more than double our share over the next 10 years.”
Investment Banking
“Country by country and industry by industry, there are still plenty of opportunities to increase our low market share. For example, we have 10 percent share in the United States but less than 5 percent share in Asia.”
Corporate Banking
“In treasury services and custody, where our market shares are 4.7 percent and 8 percent, respectively, we believe we can grow significantly by adding bankers, building better technology, entering new countries, building better products and continuing to do a great job for clients.”
Consumer Banking
“We recently announced that we will start to expand the consumer branch business into cities like Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Over the next five years, we hope to expand to another 15-20 new markets.”
Earned-Income Tax Credit
In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal late Wednesday, Dimon said an expansion of the earned-income tax credit would help the U.S. adapt to globalization and technological change.
Converting the EITC into a payroll credit would get the benefit to more Americans in need, and calculating it automatically on behalf of recipients would help reduce fraud, Dimon said in the editorial.
“Supplementing workers’ wages is an investment, not a gift,” Dimon said. “It draws more people into the workforce and increases the likelihood they will remain employed.”
The U.S. also must reform education to improve Americans’ productivity and earning power, and change regulations to help former prison inmates re-enter the workforce, Dimon said.
