Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, has signalled a strong end to 2020 for Wall Street, despite a turbulent year.
Speaking at the Goldman Sachs’ virtual financial conference, Dimon has said that JPMorgan’s investment banking revenues are up approximately 20% in the fourth quarter. This points towards a strong end to the year 2020, meaning that market volatility and central bank interventions will have actually paid off for Wall Street in the end.
JPMorgan Chase remains the world’s largest investment bank in terms of revenue, and Mr. Dimon was the first of any major investment banking chiefs to speak about his predictions for the final 3 months of 2020. At the end of the 40 minute Q&A session at the Goldman Sachs’ virtual financial conference, no one had asked Mr. Dimon about JPMorgan’s performance in the final quarter, but he decided to offer up the 20% figure anyway, adding it may be “a little more”.
Slightly Down on 3rd Quarter
This does suggest a slowdown when compared to the third quarter of 2020, however only a very slight one. When compared to 2019, JPMorgan’s combined trading & investment revenue was up 25% in the third quarter of 2020 – meaning the final quarter of the year is only 5% slower than the last (or maybe slightly less, according to Mr. Dimon. The second quarter of 2020 brought the highlight of 2020, as a “bonanza quarter” in Wall Street saw investment & trading combined revenues up a whopping 66% on last year.
“We hit the bottom, and we’re growing”
Speaking about the first 9 months of 2020, Mr. Dimon claimed it was “reflective of an extraordinary environment”. On the subject of long term predicted trends for trading and investment revenues, he added that “we hit the bottom, and we’re growing”. The investment growth in the first three quarters of 2020 was largely aided by unprecedented asset purchase programs launched by the Federal Reserve, which acted as a catalyst for market activity.
Other Major Investment Banks Singal Similar Strong End
Although no other major chief executives have commented on their projected revenues for the final quarter of 2020, a number of key figures from inside other major American investment banks have backed up Mr. Dimon’s projections.
Speaking at the Financial Times banking summit, chief financial officers at Citigroup and Morgan Stanley said they had seen promising trends in the final quarter of 2020 for their respective investment banks. Additionally, Jason Goldberg, banks analyst at Barclays, commented on Mr. Dimon’s guidance, saying it was “not surprising” but “better than expectations at the start of the quarter”.
