J.P. Morgan Wealth to Add Support for Branch-Based Advisors

The new, four-division structure will consist of: East, led by Ayerov; West, led by Hartung; Central South, led by Wilson; and Midwest, whose divisional director will be hired. The new division will include Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma through the Great Plains to North Dakota and Minnesota.

The company is also creating new divisional support roles, it said. "One in each division will focus on the needs of our top-performing advisors," according to the memo. "We previously had advisors and leaders in expansion markets as a separate market expansion team. They will now be integrated into the 4 divisions."

Mark Tibergien, of Mark Tibergien Insights, pointed out: "JP has always been disciplined about its organizational structure with a focus on command and control. Whether they have defined the geographic lines right, it's hard to know. But I'm sure they look at the relationship of clients and prospects to offices and advisors to make that judgement. They can also evaluate the performance of its leaders when they create tighter structures."

The firm is "not unlike the military in terms of how they think about staffing, size of units (e.g. team, squad, platoon, battalion, brigade, division)," according to Tibergien. "Each has a defined size, role, reporting structure and level of accountability. It also informs their training."

But he said: "Where it becomes a challenge is in linking two or more different business models in a way where their interests are aligned. Most commonly, they pay the banker a referral fee for getting business to the wealth side. The question is when does the banker become enough of a believer that they use the wealth advisor to help their own financial lives."

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