Asset & Wealth Management at $5.1 TrillionWide moat

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) — moat facet

The best business inside a bank is the one that lends almost nothing: a 40 percent return on equity, earned on fees that arrive whether or not anyone is borrowing.

The best business inside JPMorgan is the one that lends almost nothing.

Assets under management, $tn4.8TQ4 20255.1TQ2 2026Up 18% year on year, with record net inflows in 2025 and a 48% ROE in the June quarter.
The best business inside a bank is the one that lends almost nothing.

Asset & Wealth Management held $5.1 trillion of assets under management as of the June 2026 quarter, up 18% year on year1, and produced a 40% return on equity in 2025 on $24.1 billion of revenue2 — against 32% for the consumer bank and 18% for the wholesale bank3. In 2025 it took record net inflows.

The economics are different in kind. Managing money earns a percentage of the assets, requires very little capital, and produces revenue that arrives whether or not anybody is borrowing. It is the closest thing in a bank to a software business.

It also compounds off the rest of the firm. Wealth management households passed three million in 20254, most of them arriving through the branch network and the consumer bank rather than being competed for on the open market — distribution the firm already paid for.

The limitation is that fee revenue is levered to asset prices. An 18% rise in AUM in a year is mostly markets, not inflows, and the same mechanism works in reverse.

The measure is net flows rather than AUM. Assets rise when markets rise; flows are the only evidence that clients are choosing to be there.

Moat trajectory: Widening

AUM up 18% year on year with record net inflows in 2025, a 40% return on equity for the year and 48% in the June quarter. The highest-returning segment is also the fastest-growing.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Assets under management
$5.1 trillion, up 18%

At a 40% return on equity for 2025 and 48% in the June 2026 quarter, on $24.1bn of revenue — the smallest segment and the most profitable, because managing money needs almost no capital. Watch net flows rather than AUM: assets rise when markets rise, flows show clients choosing to be there.

Source: JPMorgan Chase second-quarter 2026 earnings release ↗
⚠ Threats to the moat
⚠ THREAT 01
Fee Rates Have Been Falling for Twenty Years
Assets can grow 18 percent while revenue grows far less, because the industry's price per dollar managed has only ever moved one way.
References
  1. ReportedAssets under management reached $5.1 trillion in the June 2026 quarter, up 18% year on year.
    JPMorgan Chase & Co., second-quarter 2026 earnings release (Form 8-K, exhibit 99.1) — net income $21.2bn ($7.70 per share), or $16.9bn ($6.14) excluding significant items; ROE 24%, ROTCE 29% and ROTCE excluding significant items 23%. Reported revenue $57.3bn and managed revenue $58.0bn; expense $27.3bn with a reported overhead ratio of 48%; credit costs $2.5bn with $2.4bn of net charge-offs and a $149M net reserve build. Average loans up 10% year on year and average deposits up 7%. CET1 Standardized 14.1% and Advanced 14.2%, total loss-absorbing capacity $590bn, Standardized RWA $2.1tn, cash and marketable securities $1.5tn; book value per share $133.01 up 9% and tangible book value per share $113.35 up 10%; Basel III CET1 capital $303bn; supplementary leverage ratio 5.5%; net payout over the last twelve months 73%. Segment returns: CCB ROE 34% with client investment assets up 21%, a Card Services net charge-off rate of 3.34%, card sales volume up 10% and active mobile customers up 6%; CIB ROE 22% with investment banking fees up 30% year on year, a #1 ranking for global investment banking fees at 9.3% wallet share year to date, markets revenue up 35% with fixed income up 6% and equity markets up 86%, and average client deposits up 11%; AWM ROE 48% with AUM of $5.1tn, up 18%. Significant items were a $4.6bn net gain related to Visa shares ($1.27 of EPS) and $1.0bn of gains on certain equity investments ($0.29). Jamie Dimon: 'These results were the product of a particularly favorable environment with an elevated level of market activity, as well as rigorous execution, years of consistent investment and thoughtful capital deployment.' — Q2 2026 · publ. 2026-07-14 · source ↗
  2. Reported2025 returns on equity by segment: Asset & Wealth Management 40%, Consumer & Community Banking 32%, Commercial & Investment Bank 18%.
    JPMorgan Chase & Co., fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings release (Form 8-K, exhibit 99.1) — fourth-quarter net income $13.0bn ($4.63 per share), or $14.7bn ($5.23) excluding a significant item; full-year 2025 net income $57.0bn ($20.02 per share), 2025 ROE 17% and ROTCE 20%. Fourth-quarter reported revenue $45.8bn and managed revenue $46.8bn; net interest income $25.1bn, up 7%; expense $24.0bn; credit costs $4.7bn with $2.5bn of net charge-offs. CET1 Standardized 14.5% and Advanced 14.1%, total loss-absorbing capacity $564bn, Standardized RWA $2.0tn, cash and marketable securities $1.5tn; book value per share $126.99 up 9% and tangible book value per share $107.56 up 11%; Basel III CET1 capital $288bn; supplementary leverage ratio 5.8%; net payout over the last twelve months 82%. Segment returns: CCB 4Q ROE 25% and 2025 ROE 32% with a Card Services net charge-off rate of 3.14%, debit and credit card sales volume up 7% and active mobile customers up 7%; CIB 4Q ROE 19% and 2025 ROE 18%, investment banking fees down 5% year on year with a #1 ranking for global investment banking fees at 8.4% wallet share for the year, markets revenue up 17%; AWM 4Q ROE 44% and 2025 ROE 40%, AUM $4.8tn up 18%. Payments revenue reached a record $5.1bn. In 2025 the firm opened 1.7 million net new checking accounts and 10.4 million new credit card accounts and grew wealth management households to over 3 million. The significant item in 4Q25 was a $2.2bn credit reserve established for the forward purchase commitment of the Apple credit card portfolio, a $0.60 decrease in EPS. — Q4 and FY2025 · publ. 2026-01-13 · source ↗
  3. Reported2025 returns on equity by segment: Asset & Wealth Management 40%, Consumer & Community Banking 32%, Commercial & Investment Bank 18%.
    JPMorgan Chase & Co., fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings release (Form 8-K, exhibit 99.1) — fourth-quarter net income $13.0bn ($4.63 per share), or $14.7bn ($5.23) excluding a significant item; full-year 2025 net income $57.0bn ($20.02 per share), 2025 ROE 17% and ROTCE 20%. Fourth-quarter reported revenue $45.8bn and managed revenue $46.8bn; net interest income $25.1bn, up 7%; expense $24.0bn; credit costs $4.7bn with $2.5bn of net charge-offs. CET1 Standardized 14.5% and Advanced 14.1%, total loss-absorbing capacity $564bn, Standardized RWA $2.0tn, cash and marketable securities $1.5tn; book value per share $126.99 up 9% and tangible book value per share $107.56 up 11%; Basel III CET1 capital $288bn; supplementary leverage ratio 5.8%; net payout over the last twelve months 82%. Segment returns: CCB 4Q ROE 25% and 2025 ROE 32% with a Card Services net charge-off rate of 3.14%, debit and credit card sales volume up 7% and active mobile customers up 7%; CIB 4Q ROE 19% and 2025 ROE 18%, investment banking fees down 5% year on year with a #1 ranking for global investment banking fees at 8.4% wallet share for the year, markets revenue up 17%; AWM 4Q ROE 44% and 2025 ROE 40%, AUM $4.8tn up 18%. Payments revenue reached a record $5.1bn. In 2025 the firm opened 1.7 million net new checking accounts and 10.4 million new credit card accounts and grew wealth management households to over 3 million. The significant item in 4Q25 was a $2.2bn credit reserve established for the forward purchase commitment of the Apple credit card portfolio, a $0.60 decrease in EPS. — Q4 and FY2025 · publ. 2026-01-13 · source ↗
  4. ReportedThe firm opened 10.4 million new credit card accounts and grew wealth management households past three million in 2025.
    JPMorgan Chase & Co., fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings release (Form 8-K, exhibit 99.1) — fourth-quarter net income $13.0bn ($4.63 per share), or $14.7bn ($5.23) excluding a significant item; full-year 2025 net income $57.0bn ($20.02 per share), 2025 ROE 17% and ROTCE 20%. Fourth-quarter reported revenue $45.8bn and managed revenue $46.8bn; net interest income $25.1bn, up 7%; expense $24.0bn; credit costs $4.7bn with $2.5bn of net charge-offs. CET1 Standardized 14.5% and Advanced 14.1%, total loss-absorbing capacity $564bn, Standardized RWA $2.0tn, cash and marketable securities $1.5tn; book value per share $126.99 up 9% and tangible book value per share $107.56 up 11%; Basel III CET1 capital $288bn; supplementary leverage ratio 5.8%; net payout over the last twelve months 82%. Segment returns: CCB 4Q ROE 25% and 2025 ROE 32% with a Card Services net charge-off rate of 3.14%, debit and credit card sales volume up 7% and active mobile customers up 7%; CIB 4Q ROE 19% and 2025 ROE 18%, investment banking fees down 5% year on year with a #1 ranking for global investment banking fees at 8.4% wallet share for the year, markets revenue up 17%; AWM 4Q ROE 44% and 2025 ROE 40%, AUM $4.8tn up 18%. Payments revenue reached a record $5.1bn. In 2025 the firm opened 1.7 million net new checking accounts and 10.4 million new credit card accounts and grew wealth management households to over 3 million. The significant item in 4Q25 was a $2.2bn credit reserve established for the forward purchase commitment of the Apple credit card portfolio, a $0.60 decrease in EPS. — Q4 and FY2025 · publ. 2026-01-13 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 23, 2026