JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed Tuesday to buy Global Shares, a provider of cloud-based software for managing employee share plans, as the biggest U.S. bank scoops up firms to fend off competition.
Global Shares will be integrated into JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management arm, run by Mary Erdoes, the bank said in a statement Tuesday. The Cork, Ireland-based software firm has almost $200 billion in assets under administration, more than 650,000 employee participants and roughly 600 corporate clients. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
The acquisition will expand JPMorgan’s ability to provide “new, innovative capabilities to private and public companies” and help their employees manage wealth, Erdoes said in the statement.
JPMorgan has been on a buying spree: 2021 was its most active year for purchasing and taking stakes in smaller firms since at least the financial crisis. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has described a landscape full of competitive threats, and he has vowed to spend whatever it takes to stay ahead. That point was punctuated in January when the firm’s executives told investors they expect expenses to jump this year.
“Over the last few years, just really across the firm, Jamie’s had us very focused on expanding the services that we’ve been providing to clients and continuing to strengthen our franchises,” Mike Camacho, JPMorgan’s head of wealth management solutions, said in an interview. “When these opportunities come across, the firm really wants to make sure that we pursue them quite aggressively.”
In addition to Ireland, Global Shares operates in 16 locations across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
Its JPMorgan deal started to come together as Global Shares was embarking on a fundraising round last year, with Erdoes and other JPMorgan executives going to Ireland to hammer out the details, according to Camacho and Global Shares CEO Tim Houstoun.
“The largest market for our product is in the U.S., and with JPMorgan’s brand and network we expect to significantly expand penetration,” Houstoun said in an interview.
Canadian stocks are on a roll in 2025 as the country prepares to name a new Prime Minister.
Two C-level leaders reveal the new time-saving tools they've implemented and what advisors are doing with their newly freed-up hours.
The RIA led by Merrill Lynch veteran John Thiel is helping its advisors take part in the growing trend toward fee-based annuities.
Driven by robust transaction activity amid market turbulence and increased focus on billion-dollar plus targets, Echelon Partners expects another all-time high in 2025.
The looming threat of federal funding cuts to state and local governments has lawmakers weighing a levy that was phased out in 1981.
RIAs face rising regulatory pressure in 2025. Forward-looking firms are responding with embedded technology, not more paperwork.
As inheritances are set to reshape client portfolios and next-gen heirs demand digital-first experiences, firms are retooling their wealth tech stacks and succession models in real time.
