JPMorgan To Trim Wealth Jobs After Periodic Review Of Staff

JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) is set to cut hundreds of jobs in its asset and wealth management division, with most of the employees in support roles across the unit, per Bloomberg. These global reductions come after the company’s periodic review of staffing, per a person familiar with the matter.

Darin Oduyoye, a spokesman for the bank stated, “It is normal course of business for us to review our staffing annually to ensure appropriate levels, and adjust as necessary. We continue to invest in our business and talent, including hiring top advisers in key markets and expanding our product and service offering.”

Per a regulatory filing, JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management division had nearly 24,000 employees at the end of 2018.

It is almost like a ritual for most of the Wall Street’s securities firms to review and adjust staff periodically. It is done to recognize underperformers and dismiss them in order to give an opportunity to junior workers. Moreover, reviewing of staff helps firms to trim workers from one unit to expand another.

Recently, JPMorgan has announced that it plans to move roughly 300 investment banking employees from the London office to other hubs in the European Union (EU) in case of a no-deal Brexit. Apart from the company, several financial institutions are preparing for Brexit. In February 2019, Barclays (NYSE:BCS) revealed plans to shift some equity and credit derivative sales jobs to Paris as it revamps operations ahead of Brexit. Likewise, Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) and HSBC Holdings (NYSE:HSBC) began relocating jobs to Paris.

Notably, JPMorgan, after consolidating its branch network for years to control costs and improve operating efficiency, has reinitiated its strategic expansion plan. The bank is aiming to enter 15-20 new markets by the end of 2022 by opening roughly 400 branches.

JPMorgan’s shares have gained 2% in the past three months compared with the industry’s growth of 7.4%.



Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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