Awards for Excellence 2019
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Superlatives seem tailor-made for JPMorgan Chase. It is the most profitable bank in the US, with record net income and record revenues in 2018 – a feat repeated in the first quarter of 2019. And its extraordinary overall performance is built on the unshakeable foundation of its US franchise, making it our choice this year as the US’s best bank.
Underlying this strength is chief executive Jamie Dimon’s belief that what is good for JPMorgan is good for the US. He links the importance of his firm to the health of the country’s economy at every opportunity.
And he is the first to recognize that this is a two-way street.
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Jamie Dimon |
As he told investors when presenting JPMorgan’s 2018 results: “Our customer-centric business model has benefited from a healthy and engaged US consumer that is spending, saving and investing.” But the bank is no mere rider of a buoyant tide – it sets out to shape the success of the economy even as it looks to provide the best return to shareholders.
It is opening new branches and is set to open more, reflecting Dimon’s view that a main street presence is critical for its customers. Some 90 new locations will be opened this year alone. It has launched its AdvancingCities initiative – a $500 million five-year plan that aims to support job creation and wage growth through providing capital to areas that need it the most.
And – not least through Dimon himself – it actively lobbies to improve the lot and prospects of the American people, intervening in the political discourse to make its voice heard in everything from infrastructure development to job- and wealth-creation measures in local communities.
Two new programmes in 2019 continue this theme. The bank’s $350 million New Skills at Work initiative seeks to help people prepare for the kind of transformation to a digital economy that the bank itself is helping to drive. Advancing Black Pathways, meanwhile, has the goal of “bridging the racial wealth divide and making the firm and the country better,” in Dimon’s words.
As ever, the two objectives are in lockstep.
Away from its commercial and consumer bank, JPMorgan’s corporate and investment banking division dominates the US market with almost unbeatable volume, providing the base for its immense global performance in the years since the financial crisis – reflected in Euromoney’s choice this year of JPMorgan as the world’s best investment bank.
According to Dealogic, for the awards period of the year to the end of March 2019, JPMorgan led in US debt, with top positions in high-yield and financial institutions (FIG), as well as placing second in investment-grade debt. It is second in US asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities.
It is third for all equity capital markets work and, of course, it lends more than any other bank.
Its markets businesses more than match up to origination and advisory, with the leading fixed income franchise and an equities business that is now a clear number two and that, in spite of extremely challenging conditions during 2018, still delivered record revenues.
Incumbency has obvious risks: such players may over time settle for pure financial dominance without responsibility. JPMorgan Chase, with notable lack of complacency, shows no signs of doing that. Its relentless push for growth in all the areas in which it operates is intended to benefit not only its shareholders but the country at large.
