The race to the monetary world’s most prized throne — Jamie Dimon’s perch atop JPMorgan Chase & Co. — is drawing nearer to its long-awaited conclusion.
When the biggest U.S. financial institution final shook up its management two years in the past, a couple of half-dozen names appeared on lists of Dimon’s potential heirs. However one other overhaul introduced Tuesday pushed two girls towards the entrance of the sector: Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak.
Jennifer Piepszak. (Picture: Bloomberg)
The financial institution named them co-heads of its huge client and group banking enterprise, a spot that was held by one in every of Dimon’s two lieutenants, co-President Gordon Smith, who’s retiring on the finish of the yr. The remaining co-president, Daniel Pinto, is broadly seen as the plain alternative for Dimon in an emergency, however as a much less possible candidate in a sluggish and orderly handoff to the following era.
The financial institution’s board has requested Dimon to stay in his function for a big variety of years, JPMorgan spokesman Joe Evangelisti mentioned Tuesday. That might imply one other half-decade or so, an individual with data of the scenario mentioned.
“This time does really feel totally different,” mentioned Wells Fargo & Co. analyst Mike Mayo of the promotions. “One of many new two heads of client is probably going the last word subsequent CEO of JPMorgan.”
No person in international banking is extra outstanding than Dimon, who was instrumental in constructing two Wall Road powerhouses — Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan — and has served because the trade’s voice since navigating the 2008 monetary disaster and setting revenue information. Since taking the helm of JPMorgan on the finish of 2005, he has disillusioned many would-be heirs by making a working joke out of periodically asserting plans to remain one other 5 years. Even now, at 65, he hasn’t mentioned what yr he may step down.
Lake, 51 and acquainted to the financial institution’s buyers as its former chief monetary officer, has lengthy been seen as a possible successor. She acquired a crack at working a significant enterprise line in 2019 when Dimon put her accountable for client lending, a bunch of companies that generate a couple of fourth of the corporate’s income.
Piepszak, additionally 51, has been charting a comparatively speedy ascent, elevating her profile with shareholders when she succeeded Lake as finance chief two years in the past and joined the financial institution’s working committee. She beforehand led JPMorgan’s credit-card enterprise for 2 years and earlier oversaw financing operations for the mortgage enterprise throughout a interval during which it confronted a bunch of crisis-era settlements with regulators. She got here up by way of JPMorgan’s investment-banking operations and jumped to the buyer enterprise in 2010.
Marianne Lake. (Picture: Bloomberg)
Lake is “extraordinarily well-known to buyers, and now she has much more business-line expertise, so she must be thought-about a frontrunner,” mentioned Mayo. However Piepszak “is an individual on the transfer too.”
Lake will run funds, commerce and lending, which incorporates bank cards, residence lending and auto financing, Smith wrote in a letter to workers. Piepszak will lead client and enterprise banking, in addition to wealth administration.
Each girls have already been examined by the financial institution’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Lake oversaw the financial institution’s lending to households throughout a yr during which tens of millions of Individuals misplaced jobs or work — not less than quickly — forcing them to juggle payments as Congress argued over rounds of stimulus funds.
And Piepszak’s overseen the New York-based financial institution’s funds as firms and different shoppers raced to attract down credit score strains, tapped markets and stockpiled deposits to get by way of the turmoil. It was finally a interval during which Wall Road thrived, serving to lead JPMorgan to a collection of earnings information.
Dimon introduced the promotions as JPMorgan shareholders held their annual assembly, and per week earlier than he and different U.S. banking CEOs are set to testify to Congress. In previous appearances, the group has been grilled by lawmakers over the trade’s sluggish progress in elevating girls and diversifying its management.
Among the many six greatest U.S. banks, solely Citigroup has ever named a girl CEO. And in that case the milestone was reached solely this yr, when Jane Fraser took over.
In different administration modifications introduced Tuesday Jeremy Barnum, 48, will succeed Piepszak as CFO.
Smith, 62, has overseen JPMorgan’s sprawling client financial institution for nearly a decade, and in 2018 he added the titles of co-president and co-chief working officer — each roles that he shared with Pinto, 58. Final yr, Smith and Pinto took over as appearing co-CEOs when Dimon was sidelined with emergency coronary heart surgical procedure simply because the Covid-19 pandemic was erupting throughout the U.S.
Nonetheless, even when he was promoted to co-president and co-COO, Smith wasn’t thought-about amongst Dimon’s likeliest heirs. Whereas Smith and Pinto may — and finally did — step in throughout Dimon’s well being emergency, candidates together with Lake have been doubtlessly stronger contenders for an orderly handoff, an individual conversant in the board’s pondering mentioned on the time.
Smith joined JPMorgan in 2007 from American Specific Co., the place he spent greater than 25 years, to run the credit-card providers enterprise. That offers him the uncommon distinction of getting served alongside Dimon throughout the 2008 monetary disaster.
If Dimon stays one other half-decade, Pinto could be on-hand to step in have been one other emergency to come up, and he would in any other case be anticipated to assist put together the following era of leaders. And if Dimon have been to unexpectedly speed up his exit, Pinto would nonetheless be a possible candidate to exchange him.