JPMorgan went on a shopping spree in 2021 to secure its present leadership far into the future. This was at the same time as its already large share of US deposits – driven even higher by savers’ flight to safety in the pandemic – prevents it from buying banks in its home market.
Among 30 or so bolt-on deals, it acquired OpenInvest in June. OpenInvest is an environmental, social, governance (ESG) investment management products and impact reporting services company.
In September, JPMorgan took a 75% stake in the payments platform of Volkswagen Financial Services, which provides purchase and lease finance as well as in-vehicle mobile payments for subscriptions for parts, for entertainment, parking, refuelling and generally buying stuff from connected vehicles. It is a new and growing business that fits with a bank positioning itself at the cutting edge in payments technology.
Also in June, JP Morgan took a 40% stake in C6, the Brazilian full-service digital bank, and purchased UK wealth management platform Nutmeg.
