JPMorgan to Plow $1.5 Trillion Into US Security Industries
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has pledged to direct $1.5 trillion over the next 10 years to industries that strengthen U.S. economic security and resilience; it’s a venture that will invest billions of dollars in companies and hire bankers and other professionals.
The campaign will increase the amount of capital, resources and personnel that the largest U.S. lender currently devotes to sectors as diverse as rare earth minerals, pharmaceutical precursors and robotics, or to ventures developing defense, aerospace and energy technologies such as drones, battery storage or grid resiliency.
JPMorgan estimates that this effort will add as much as $500 billion to the total it has already generated.
Chief Executive Jamie Dimon is launching the initiative amid trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Last week, President Donald Trump vowed to impose 100% tariffs on goods from China after announcing stricter export controls on products that use even traces of certain rare earth elements and the equipment and technology to process them.
“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too dependent on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing, all of which are vital to our national security,” Dimon said in a statement Monday announcing the bank’s goal. “We must act immediately.”
Dimon, 69, has become more outspoken about U.S. security in recent years. In a letter to shareholders in May, he specifically cited China, writing that the country relies too heavily on potential rivals for critical military products. In 2023, he wrote that U.S. supply chains for critical products and materials “must be domestic or open only to fully friendly allies or partners.”
Beyond loans and direct investments, there are a variety of ways major investment banks can provide financing to industries without opening their own wallets. This may include handling stock or bond sales or arranging third-party financing. JPMorgan said the $1.5 trillion goal would include financing facilitated by the firm. He said the initiative would include an asset and wealth management arm that oversees client investments.
“This is not philanthropy. This is 100% business,” Dimon said on a conference call Monday to discuss the announcement. “We will use our resources of researchers, bankers and investors and scan the United States and perhaps the world for new opportunities.”
Last year, JPMorgan made loans across the company and raised a total of $2.8 trillion in capital.
Under the new initiative, the bank will invest up to $10 billion in equity and venture capital to help select companies expand, innovate or accelerate strategic production. The firm also said it will advocate for policies that support these efforts.
Dimon said Monday that JPMorgan will hire an investment team as well as private bankers who “can deal not just with the world’s best companies, but governments as well.”
With help from Peter Eichenbaum.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.
