J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is shaking up its investment banking division as part of a bold move by investment-banking co-Chief Geoffrey Boisi to streamline operations, better serve clients and reduce costs amid an earnings drought.
Under the new plan, which was unveiled by Boisi yesterday at the UBS Warburg Financial Services Conference in New York, J.P. Morgan will shuffle some of its bankers and realign banking groups to become leaner and more client-focused.
The reorganization comes amid another round of layoffs, which could put as many as 500 bankers out of jobs.
The Post reported on April 11 that J.P. Morgan was planning to revamp its investment bank and lay off between 400 and 500 banking employees.
The changes at J.P. Morgan come after the bank found that fewer than 30 percent of its bankers had five or more active clients, Boisi told investors. That amounts to about one deal per banker. Boisi wants to raise that figure to five to seven deals per banker.
“Increased productivity per banker is a major focus of ours,” he said.
As part of the reorganization, J.P. Morgan will create a “client solutions” group to help put bankers in front of clients more effectively.
Boisi plans to discuss the reorganization with the banking division at a department meeting later today.