The world’s best bank for wealth management: JPMorgan Private Bank

JPMorgan Private Bank is the world’s best bank for wealth management for a third year in a row. Led by Mary Callahan Erdoes, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase’s asset and wealth management division, the US financial firm oversaw $5.4 trillion in client assets under management at the end of 2023, and boasts a 200-year legacy as a trusted fiduciary to many of the world’s wealthiest families.

Its asset and wealth management team posted full-year net income in 2023 of $5 billion, up 24%, with total client assets under management rising last year by the same amount, driven by strong net inflows and rising markets. The wealth-management business also posted record revenues of $8.9 billion in 2023.

JPMorgan Private Bank does particularly well when uncertainty is injected into the market – and there has been plenty of that in recent years. Private wealth gravitates toward the largest and most secure financial institutions at times like these: places where families know their money is in safe hands. And there is no lender larger and stronger in this field.

There is good reason for this. JPMorgan Private Bank’s strength is built upon the power of its parent, and in turn, the solid foundations of the US currency and the world’s largest economy. But it is also built on the singular nature of its strengths: its wealth-management business profits from the lender’s phenomenal ability to suck in deposits.

Some US rivals may be larger in terms of the number of relationship managers they deploy, but none are as global in terms of scale and reach. JPMorgan Private Bank is a truly international wealth manager, with booking centres dotted across multiple markets and continents. Moreover, it has suffered none of the turmoil endured by some of its biggest global peers.

Many investors are coming to the bank through Wealth Plan, JPMorgan’s financial-planning platform that enables them to explore their options online and then have that process seamlessly integrate into a conversation with a client adviser. The bank launched it in December 2022, and during 2023 about a million plans were created.

JPMorgan Private Bank is also recognized as North America’s best bank for wealth management in this year’s awards. The firm was named the best in the world at Euromoney’s Private Banking Awards ceremony held earlier this year, the result of an external judging process – with decisions scrutinized and screened by Euromoney’s editorial team – that lauded the private bank’s “strong capabilities” and “commitment to excellence” across the wealth spectrum, which in turn were reflected in the firm’s “status as a leader in private banking and wealth management.”

The private bank’s power and standing is highlighted by the recent news that it has hired the Gray-Polverini Group from Merrill Lynch. The five-member team, led by Eric Gray and Lance Polverini, specializes in serving ultra-high net-worth clients, most notably the founders of companies and C-suite executives who run privately owned and publicly listed companies. The Los Angeles-based group oversees $28 billion in client assets under management and generates more than $10 million in annual revenues.

“We tailor portfolios with top-tier analysis and leverage tech and AI for real-time insights,” says Adam Tejpaul, chief executive of JPMorgan’s International Private Bank. “Clients demand quick, quality insights and we’re excited to deliver.

“Despite advancements, our commitment remains being there for our clients. We’re expanding globally, hiring a diverse range of advisers and investing in our people to consistently provide a first-class business in a first-class way,” he adds.

During the awards period, JPMorgan Private Bank continued to do the simple things well, and to navigate and be navigated by the markets, its own clients and instincts. In 2023, the firm disbursed $412 million directly to charitable institutions and is constantly seeking ways to allocate capital to philanthropic causes and worthy ideas. The JPMorgan Chase Foundation was instrumental in the formation of a new €3.5 million fund, called the Alliance for Gender Equality in Europe, supporting female financial inclusion.

Other new and longstanding causes extolled and supported by JPMorgan Private Bank also catch the eye. The JPMorgan Future Leaders Exchange is a long-running annual programme that helps the bank to serve the next generation of global financial and economic leaders. It teaches the next generation of wealthy individuals key financial skills, such as multi-asset investing, and helps them in turn to hone their leadership skills.

Or take the global wealth manager’s PB-IQ offering, a set of 10 tools that matches client data and information to the right person across multiple sources and levels within the private bank. The point here is to help relationship managers and client advisers to develop and deepen relationships with the customer.