“‘I think it’s a mistake to assume that everything is hunky-dory.’”
JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said Wednesday he remains cautious in the face of “powerful forces” ranging from war to fiscal policy, despite growing consensus that there will be a soft landing for the U.S. economy.
“I think it’s a mistake to assume that everything is hunky-dory,” Dimon told CNBC-TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “When stock markets are up, it’s kind of like this little drug we all feel … like, ‘It’s just great.’”
But it’s important to remember that the world has received an enormous amount of fiscal stimulus from central banks, he noted.
“I’m a little more on the cautious side,” Dimon said. “We’re facing a lot of things in ’24 or ’25.”
He cited the war in Ukraine, terrorist activity in Israel, the Red Sea conflict with Houthis in Yemen and the long-term effects of zero-interest rates.
“You have all these very powerful forces that are going to be affecting us,” he said.
With an eye on the U.S. presidential race that’s shaping up between current Republican front-runner Donald Trump and President Joe Biden, the JPMorgan Chase
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executive urged people to consider why supporters of the Make America Great Again movement are choosing Trump.
“When people say MAGA, they’re actually looking at people who voted for Trump and they’re basically scapegoating them — [saying] that you are like him. [But] I don’t think they’re voting for Trump because of his family values.”
He said Trump opponents should “take a step back” and be honest and more respectful to their fellow Americans. Negative talk about MAGA is going to hurt Biden’s re-election campaign, he said.
“[Trump] was kind of right about NATO, kind of right about immigration, he grew the economy quite well, tax reform worked, he was right about some of China,” Dimon said. “I don’t like how he said things about Mexico. But he was wasn’t wrong about these critical issues. And that’s why they’re voting for him.”
Also in Davos, JPMorgan Chief Operating Officer Daniel Pinto told Bloomberg that the bank appears to be set up for a strong year, and that it will continue to add staff even as other banks cut back.
“We will increase our staff this year for sure,” Pinto said. “Where we see opportunities and we can help our clients, for sure we’ll focus on that.”
The bank sees potential growth in retail banking, in investment banking after a tough couple of years of dealmaking, and in payments, he said.
On the bank’s call with analysts on Jan. 12, Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Barnum said the bank is focused on hiring advisers for its asset- and wealth-management unit, as well as hiring bankers domestically and internationally in its commercial bank.
JPMorgan Chase ended the quarter with 309,926 employees, up from 308,669 at the end of the third quarter and 293,332 in the year-ago fourth quarter.
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