JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said the bank is on the prowl for its next big acquisition.
"We are looking, and we will be much more aggressive with acquisitions across the board," Dimon said Tuesday during the New York-based bank's annual investor meeting. "I do think we'll have opportunities to do that."
Dimon added that takeovers could be in adjacent business lines like the last two deals the bank did — payments firms InstaMed and WePay — or it could be in new areas. Targets could be anywhere in financial services and technology — with the exception of another deposit-taking bank, which would be prohibited by regulators. To be clear, JPMorgan prefers to grow businesses organically versus making a takeover.
Mergers in the financial industry have begun to heat up as established players have snapped up fintech upstarts. Dimon's comments come the week after rival bank Morgan Stanley announced a $13 billion takeover of discount broker E-Trade. Last month, Visa said it was buying fintech startup Plaid for $5.3 billion. Smaller banks and asset management firms are facing pressure and will need to consolidate, Dimon said.
Dimon added that the motivation for deals is growing competition, from tech giants like Amazon and Google as well as smaller fintech firms and private equity companies. "That's the world we are going to face, and we're prepared," Dimon said.
Under Dimon, JPMorgan has held annual investor meetings to update stakeholders on performance targets, market conditions and areas of opportunity. The bank reiterated guidance given at last year's investor meeting, saying that the company would target an approximate 17% return on tangible equity and 55% efficiency ratio in the medium term. Given the relative lack of news, the bank said it may no longer hold investor meetings every year in the future.