Dimon said this in response to a question while speaking at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York City.
He began his response by saying that JPMorganChase can grow every business internally, organically. Dimon said the bank can do this in all its businesses, including payments, banking, innovative economy, global investment banking, asset management, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), consumer credit card, travel and connected commerce.
“But, yes, looking at acquisitions is important,” Dimon said. “It keeps you quite smart, and I do think there might be opportunities. So, we are on the lookout, but it’s got to make sense, it can’t just be a pie in the sky type of thing.”
The right opportunity would be something that JPMorganChase could integrate and that would enhance its business.
If the bank buys something, “we’ll explain to you why we think it’s a great purchase,” Dimon said.
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At the same time, he said, asset prices are high.
“I’m not that fond of buying stock at these prices, or companies, and we’re quite patient with capital. It’s not burning a hole in our pocket at all. If it sits there for a while, no problem,” Dimon said.
Earlier in the conversation, Dimon said that after a dividend, JPMorganChase’s preference is to reinvest the money if it thinks it can get a good return.
He said the bank could end up with $40 billion or $50 billion of excess capital because there is such demand from hyperscalers, countries, global capital markets and deficits around the world that can only be handled by very large financial institutions.
Dimon said JPMorganChase could invest that capital in expenses such as bank branches that could deliver an adequate return.
“We’ve always constantly invested in looking ahead,” Dimon said.
JPMorganChase said May 14 that by the end of the month, Chase will have opened 18 new branches in May and 52 new branches this year. The bank will have also renovated more than 160 branches since January.
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