“We believe our DEI is proper and legal,” said Jamie Dimon, chair and CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase, on March 12, referencing the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
“We do not have quotas,” Dimon added at BlackRock’s Retirement Summit in Washington. “We do merit hiring based upon your brain, your heart, your soul, your capability, your background and stuff like that.”
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives have been under attack recently, both in finance and other industries. On Jan. 21, President Donald Trump issued an executive order mandating federal agencies to determine which universities, foundations and corporations should be investigated for their DEI policies, among other things.
The move aligns with pressure mounting on finance companies, including J.P. Morgan Chase, to diminish or abandon their DEI efforts. Several right-leaning advocacy groups have filed proxy proposals calling for such companies to leave DEI behind.
Many of the largest publicly traded money managers concentrating on alternatives have mentioned diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives fewer times over the past several years, according to PitchBook’s analysis of 10-K filings.
Dimon said he thinks J.P. Morgan Chase has “the proper rules, requirements and things like that, and if there are disagreements, if you don’t think we’re right, bring it on, but let us know.”
“We reach out to all different communities around the world,” he added. “That's what we do, and we are very commercial. It's good for the long-term health of the country.”
Separately, Dimon said that about 25% to 30% of clients he consults on business investment "are maybe changing or hesitating because of some uncertainty about future laws, future requirements, future regulations, future trades, future tariffs, stuff like that."
"Uncertainty is not a good thing," Dimon added, though he gave the caveat there is always some degree of uncertainty.
"The more these things get settled quicker, I think it'll be easier for people to move on," he said.
