Record asset prices and banks doing “dumb things” to stay competitive are reminiscent of the environment that led to the 2008 financial crisis, according to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
The bank is seeing tangible benefits of AI adoption, but also monitoring its loan portfolio for potential risks that could arise from disruption.
Markets are sitting near record levels and the vibes are good, but one bank chief is ill at ease.
JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon says he doesn’t know when or what series of events could lead to the next financial crisis, but he’s concerned about the possibility given the state of the general market environment and its similarities to the one preceding the Great Financial Crisis.
“My anxiety is high over it,” Dimon said in a meeting with investors this week, per a transcript provided by AlphaSense. “I’m not assuaged by the fact that asset prices are high. In fact, I think that adds to the risk.”
Dimon, like other prominent leaders in the financial industry, is drawing parallels between the current state of affairs and the years that led to a sharp global economic downturn and the S&P 500 losing roughly half its value.
The CEO dismissed concerns about the impact artificial intelligence would have on the bank—JPMorgan’s stock got hammered on Monday, alongside Citigroup (C), Morgan Stanley (MS) and others after a AI-doom report went viral—and said that historically, most people are surprised by the type of companies that can’t pay their debts when borrowing stops being easy.
Financial industry veterans are increasingly pointing to cracks in the market that could lead to a downturn.
“The surprise has often been which industry – you didn’t expect newspapers in 2000, Warren Buffett businesses, you didn’t expect utilities and phone companies in 2008 and 2009. And this time around, it might be software, because of AI,” he said.
If software is the victim in this cycle, a small piece of the bank’s loan book may get “caught up in it,” the JPMorgan chief said. However, the bank itself “will be a winner” in terms of AI adoption, he said. “We’ve always had the strategy to use technology, do a better job for customers, and we’re quite good at it.”
What is troubling Dimon is that current financial conditions have ratcheted up competitive dynamics among banks, with some doing “dumb things” such as taking on risky loans. “Unfortunately, we did see this in 2005 and 2006 and 2007,” he said. “Everyone was making a lot of money. People were leveraging to the hilt. The sky was the limit.”