J.P. Morgan’s Mobility Night places leadership’s commitment behind internal moves for Investment Bank Analysts

Being able to sample different lines of business within J.P. Morgan enables Analysts to broaden their backgrounds, gain wide-ranging knowledge about the bank’s platform and benefits the firm through the unique experiences they are able to bring to their work, according to senior bankers who have done that very thing in their careers.

“Lateral moves give people broader exposure which eventually will lead to the big vertical moves,” Steve Black, co-CEO of the Investment Bank told a standing room-only crowd of Analysts at the firm’s first Mobility Night. “Every move will broaden your background, skills and experience and will equip you to be a stronger leader at the firm.”

The event included a panel discussion followed by informal networking, giving the young Analysts the chance to meet bankers and traders from various businesses within the IB. The Mobility Night is part of a concerted effort to smooth the way for internal moves within the firm. For example, the firm has recently begun posting open Investment Bank and Asset and Wealth Management positions on the internal intranet.

Black said, “This event is addressing these issues and to let you know, unequivocally, that the Management Committee is fully supportive of mobility as one tool to develop your career and our business.”

While the event was designed to show the firm’s support for internal mobility, Black said the firm also recognized that some Analysts might be perfectly happy in their current position and that the bank supported that choice, as well. 

Underscoring the evening’s theme, senior officials from the Investment Bank, the Commercial Bank and Highbridge Capital Management, a hedge fund acquired by J.P. Morgan in 2004, participated in a panel moderated by Don McCree, head of Global Credit, who also heads the Global Resource Development Council.

Panelists described the mobility choices they made in their careers and offered insights on finding mentors, how to approach their supervisor and having the confidence to take the step to make a big move.

For Blythe Masters, global head of Global Currency and Commodities, she credited the support of a great boss and mentor early in her career who encouraged her to take on new opportunities as they came up. “Over time, I began to seek out new assignments. “Try to position yourselves well for these opportunities and make it clear that you’d be interested. You’d be amazed how frequently these opportunities come up.”

Offering further encouragement, Doug Braunstein, head of Americas Investment Banking, noted that almost all the senior client executives had spent time in other products or in other regions. Braunstein said it was “unacceptable” for a manager to be unsupportive of an internal move, adding that isn’t how J.P. Morgan operates. “It is perfectly acceptable,” he said, “for a manager to say, ‘here are the pluses of staying here and let me help facilitate that inquiry over there and then let’s come talk about that again.’”

Anil Bhalla, a managing director in Client Coverage for Asia Pacific, recounted his assignments in New York, India, Hong Kong, Tokyo and London during his 28 years with the firm. “Define what you’re looking for and then seek it out,” he said, adding that employees sometimes need to overcome what he called the “fear factor,” in being concerned about how the manager might react. “Get over that fear and talk to your manager,” he said. “It works both ways.”

He also noted there is no perfect moment to make a mobility decision. “Mobility is 70% about planning and preparation for what you want to do and where you want to go and 30% about a leap of faith,” Bhalla said. “You must expect the unexpected which is what makes it exciting.”

Bill Winters, co-head of the IB, said this year’s $1 billion investment in growth posed new avenues for the Analysts because the funds will be used to expand product lines and regional activities. Winters reassured the attendees that if a move didn’t work out, their careers would not be sidetracked, noting that everyone on the stage had experienced setbacks in their careers. “But to take a risk in doing something that you think makes sense and we think makes sense and you give it your best shot, fantastic,” he said. “If it doesn’t work out, if you’ve exemplified the best values of our firm and gave it your best shot, then that could be a tremendous learning experience from which to grow.”

To a question about how the Analysts can “plot” their careers over the next 20 years, Masters said the industry transforms itself so rapidly that undertaking the exercise would be counterproductive. Instead, she told the audience to be guided by whether the opportunities will be fun, challenging, enhance their development and enable them to work with people they respect and will learn from.

McCree said it didn’t matter whether the internal move crossed regions or products. Noting he had done both, he said: “I’m a firm believer in finding what you like to do. Long term you’ll be successful if you come to work everyday exhilarated by clients, transactions and the strategies you’re involved in.” With the firm’s expanding global reach, it has become easier to make international moves than it had been previously, he added, “but having a variety of experiences is very beneficial for professional development.”

Even beyond the Investment Bank, there are opportunities, demonstrated by the presence of Todd Maclin, CEO of Commercial Banking, and Todd Builione, chief strategic officer of Highbridge. Maclin said the broad commercial bank footprint and mid-cap client focus offers young professionals opportunities in markets across the U.S. and engagement in coverage at an earlier point in their careers.

Afterwards, one of the attendees, Anne Shih, in Industrials client coverage, said, “The session provided a great forum to explore different areas of the firm.”

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