Wanted: Star bankers and investment talent to steer JPMorgan Chase’s new $1.5 trillion “resiliency” plan, which the firm announced Monday.
“If you think you’re the right person, just give us a call,” CEO Jamie Dimon said in a Monday morning call with reporters, issuing an open invitation for interested parties. He said the bank intends to hire a “top-notch investment team” to deploy the $10 billion in capital the firm has pledged for equity and venture-style investments in companies it thinks can give America an edge over its rivals.
“We’re very focused on people,” Dimon added.
The plan, dubbed the Security and Resiliency Initiative, is designed to bolster American security, innovation, and infrastructure with dollars from the private sector as opposed to government agencies. To see it through, the firm says it will prioritize hiring specialists in four industries: defense and aerospace, frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, energy independence, and advanced manufacturing and supply chains.
Dimon said that Mary Erdoes, CEO of asset and wealth management, and Doug Petno, co-CEO of the commercial and investment bank, will spearhead the hiring push without disclosing specific headcount targets.
“Some may come from inside. Some may be hired outside. But they’re going to be your top bankers — working not just with the best companies in the world, but with governments around the world,” Dimon said.
Wall Street recruiting levels at investment banks have yet to rebound to pandemic-era highs. While JPMorgan’s initiative may not be enough to change that on its own, it could open doors within the firm for bankers with niche expertise.
Dimon says the goal is to create a ‘top-notch’ team
Petno, the investment banking chief, said the firm will form a new investment team. The goal for its $10 billion in earmarked capital, the firm said, is to provide financing, alongside strategic guidance, for companies driving innovation or for those that need a boost to rev up manufacturing.
“First, we need to populate the team that will run the investing to complete the $10 billion commitment,” Petno said, adding that the investments would combine cash financing with other structures beyond conventional equity or debt.
“There will be specialized experts that understand the 27 subsectors, and understand that type of investing. That’s a de novo build,” he added — in other words, a process starting from the ground up.
The two dozen key sectors JPMorgan has outlined include AI and quantum computing, battery storage, secure communications, and critical-minerals manufacturing; as well as smaller segments like shipbuilding, nuclear energy, and robotics.
“The rest will fall in commercial banking and investment banking across those 27 industries,” Petno continued. “We just need the right subject matter expertise and bankers in the right locations, product, and industry to handle the additional volume.”
JPMorgan is the largest US bank by assets and headcount, with a more-than-300,000-person workforce worldwide. Dimon has leveraged his platform atop the megalithic bank to address major policy issues he’s passionate about, often writing about them in shareholder letters and earnings releases.
Brian Mulberry, senior client portfolio manager at Zacks Investment Management, said the initiative signals confidence in both the US economy and the industries JPMorgan aims to finance.
“It’s a very strong, positive signal that Jamie Dimon, as the head of one of the largest banks in the world, is willing to aggressively participate in financing these types of businesses,” Mulberry told Business Insider. “This is the private market, Wall Street, stepping in and saying, ‘We see the future being so profitable and so good, we are confident and comfortable providing the private financing.'”
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