JPMorgan’s New Asia Chief Sees Growth Opportunities

A branch of Huaxia Bank in Shenyang, China. Sheng Li/ReutersA branch of Huaxia Bank in Shenyang, China.

Over his four years at JPMorgan Chase, Jeff Urwin has taken an increasingly global role. Now, the next stop in his career involves moving halfway around the world.

The bank announced Tuesday that Mr. Urwin, its global head of investment banking, would be taking on additional duties as the chief executive of Asia-Pacific operations. That means moving to Hong Kong this weekend, and it will be the first time that the position has been based in the region.

The move is a sign of how seriously JPMorgan takes its plans to become a major player in all markets, Mr. Urwin said in a telephone interview.

“This highlights the importance of the Asian region,” he told DealBook. “Having a global head outside the U.S. helps us to strike an even better balance.”

Mr. Urwin’s star has been rising quickly in his time at the bank. A former co-head of investment banking at Bear Stearns, he joined JPMorgan in 2008 after it purchased his former employer in a government-brokered sale.

In 2010, he was named a co-head of investment banking for the United States and Canada. A year later, he was promoted to global head of investment banking coverage, capital markets and mergers and acquisitions, a role that had been vacant for years.

In his latest position, Mr. Urwin will continue to oversee JPMorgan’s investment banking operations and report to James E. Staley, the chief executive of the investment bank.

But Mr. Urwin will also oversee a broad range of new businesses as well, including the Asian branches of the firm’s asset management and treasury services arms.

One of his main missions will continue to be pushing JPMorgan’s investment bank to think globally. For years, the firm had largely divided the unit into regional operations, Mr. Urwin said, while its clients were increasingly viewing the world as a single canvas.

There’s plenty of work to be done. In Europe, the firm has an opportunity to fill in the gap left by faltering institutions there, especially in debt capital markets. “We’ve been looking to step up for European clients in the face of a changing competitive landscape,” Mr. Urwin said.

By contrast, opportunities in Asia are in more straightforward long-term growth, he said. Mr. Urwin stresses that the different submarkets within the region — China versus Japan versus Australia, for example — remain very different from one another.

But he and his team must confront some changes throughout the banking industry as well, especially at a time when many firms are tightening their belts amid slower-growing revenues. That has sometimes meant significant job cuts across Wall Street.

Mr. Urwin insists that what it happening now is not necessarily new: underperformers are leaving, while overachievers are being rewarded. And senior executives who are no longer as productive are opting to make a change in scenery.

“We’re not seeing a lot of structural layoffs in the industry; we’re seeing much more discipline to encourage higher performers,” he said. “This is a hugely dynamic industry that will always have a lot of adjustments.”