Co-CEO of Consumer and Community Banking
After Marianne Lake was
The pair stressed that while there would be two CEOs of the business segment — which generated more than $50 billion in revenues in 2020 and banks 60 million-plus households — they would act as one.
“We said to the team that we want this not to be complicated,” Lake said in an interview. “If one of us makes a decision, you can assume it’s on behalf of both of us and we will be the glue behind the scenes.”
Putting two CEOs in charge of JPMorgan’s consumer and community banking division — which includes home lending, auto finance, small business, U.S. wealth management and Chase consumer banking and credit cards — makes sense at a time when the firm continues to grow at a remarkable clip.
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Assets totaled $3.7 trillion on June 30, up 15% from a year earlier. The company is also attracting traditional bank customers as it continues to add branches across the U.S. It now has Chase branches in all lower 48 states.
Lake joined JPMorgan Chase 20 years ago as chief financial officer of credit trading in the firm’s London office. Her past jobs include global controller of the investment bank; chief financial officer for the entire firm, a post she held for six years; and CEO of consumer lending, the $28 billion segment that accounts for 23% of total revenues and employs more than 40,000 people.
Lake has been straightforward about the competitive landscape in which JPMorgan operates and the fact that the company still has work to do as it competes with fintech firms and other nonbanks. At a recent industry conference, she said the bank looks to “build or partner or buy anything that can meaningfully accelerate” its ability to provide the best products and services to customers.
“We want to be the bank for everyone, the bank for all Americans,” she said at the conference. “[That] means we need to have products and services and solutions that are suitable for all customer segments and if we have gaps we need to fill them, and we're working on it.”
Her breadth of experience puts Lake in the category of CEO contenders when current Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon retires. When asked about her CEO aspirations, she points out that she is and already has been a chief executive of major business lines.
“I treat everything like I’m the CEO of it,” she said. “I think I can have my cake and eat it right now.”
