J.P. Morgan Private Bank unveils new U.S. family office unit in UHNW power grab

The biggest American bank is about to get even bigger, with its launch of a new family office business to target the richest families in the country. 

J.P. Morgan Private Bank, a division of megabank JPMorgan Chase, said on Wednesday that it had launched a new U.S. family office practice, which will help it cater specifically to the richest of the richest and their families — those who, even among the ultrahigh net worth, are highfliers. 

The effort comes as competition heats up to serve the ultrahigh net worth client segment as it demands increasingly sophisticated services. More advisors in recent years have launched breakaway firms from wirehouses, often seeking to cater to those same clients. Family offices have also grown over the past several years as a subset of the industry, and Goldman Sachs introduced a program called One Goldman Sachs to cross-sell services across its bank to ultrawealthy clients — including family offices. 

The U.S. still tops the world as the nation home to the greatest number of billionaire citizens, according to Forbes — a fact not lost upon rivals like UBS and Bank of America's Merrill Wealth Management, which are also angling to swallow more of the same U.S. wealth pie. But with JPMorgan Chase's advantages in certain areas, the bank is hoping to win that eating contest. 

"The firm already works with over 40 percent of U.S. families with a net worth in excess of $100 million and more than half of America's billionaires," the bank said in a press release Wednesday. 

Read more: JPMorgan pushes wealth management goals with private bank's Midwest and South regions

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"There's still about 60% we don't work with, so our goal is to deepen [ties] with our existing families, make sure we are giving them everything they need and also try to attract new families to J.P. Morgan Private Bank, because we want to be the leader in the family office space and advising the largest families here in the U.S," said William Sinclair, the head of the Financial Institutions Group and head of the U.S. family office initiative at the Private Bank, in an interview. 

Sinclair had been promoted to lead the new unit with Jamie Lavin Buzzard, the new head of family office investments and advice at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Lavin Buzzard was also promoted into the role. Their transitions occurred internally over the past year, since the bank first began work on assembling the new team, a person familiar with the matter said. 

Joining them are over 150 specialist professionals, including 40 formerly practicing partner-level estate and tax attorneys, who will offer bespoke services helping advisors in the private bank with client services around estate planning, life insurance and "strategic wealth transfer techniques," the bank said in a press release Wednesday. 

In addition to those legal experts, the new team will draw on expertise from the private bank's advice lab, global investment opportunities and outsourced chief investment officer teams and will collaborate with new Private Bank unit 23 Wall on connecting clients to resources across the bank, the press release said. 

Read more: JPMorgan builds unit for world's richest families in wealth bet

Sinclair added that the bank already works with over 1,000 family offices. By joining forces with 23 Wall, which connects it to the investment bank and other divisions, it will expand private bank services coverage "to 700 families with $4.5 trillion of assets providing institutional access to the firm's deal flow, balance sheet and intellectual capital, along with the ability to co-invest with the world's largest families," the bank said in its press release.

J.P. Morgan Private Bank

The bank's new unit is planning to stand out with services "across multidisciplinary advice and investments, served up in a way that [clients] can holistically access," said Lavin Buzzard in an interview. 

This includes advice ranging from areas like capital markets expertise to philanthropy and strategic asset allocation for endowments and foundations, Lavin Buzzard said. 

In addition, Sinclair said, the access to custody services and the bank's deep balance sheet are unique sells. 

Curiously, another area where the bank's new unit could be of especial interest to ultrarich families is in offering guidance around prenuptial agreements. 

Read more: Prenups are rare. Here's why that's bad for wealth management

"The reason why we choose to lean in [in] this area is, premarital planning is simply an estate planning tool," Lavin Buzzard said.

"We try to start early. Help them think about what their wishes are … be there to educate, inform and make sure they can carry out their wishes with regards to their wealth for multiple generations."